DRUGS TURN STREET INTO WAR ZONE

VICTORIA -- A group of hard-core drug users has taken over one block
of a downtown Victoria street near the city's needle-exchange
headquarters, turning it into what neighbours call a nighttime war
zone.

The stretch of Cormorant Street features quaint heritage homes that
lured lawyer Stewart Johnston to move his practice there.

Johnston says it's quiet during the day but at night people scatter
used needles, garbage and even feces along the street.

He says cars have been vandalized and he fears for the safety of his
female staff.

The problem has become so extreme a volunteer who picks up needles in
the area to top up his disability allowance says he won't work on the
street because of the danger.

A spokesman for the needle exchange centre could not be reached for
comment.