VIHA TO STUDY 'PUBLIC ORDER' AT NEEDLE SWAP

But Another Report Won't Solve Persistent Problems At Downtown Site,
Lawyer Says

Junkies continue to shoot up, defecate, buy drugs and collapse on the
streets around the Victoria needle exchange while area businesses
continue to try to shut it down and the health authority plans another study.

In short, months after criticism of the needle exchange on Cormorant
Street came to a head, nothing much has changed.

A lawsuit seeking to temporarily shut down the facility is expected
to go before a judge by the end of the month or early October.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Island Health Authority, which funds the
needle exchange, says it will pay for a third-party review of best
practices around needle exchanges so as to address the "public order" problem.

It is also waiting on the results of the mayor's task force on
downtown issues due in mid-October, said VIHA chief operating officer
Mike Conroy.

Victoria lawyer Stewart Johnston, whose Amelia Street law firm is off
Cormorant Street and is one of the parties seeking a temporary
injunction, doesn't put much faith in that.

"If history is any guide it will just be another report and what we
need is action," Johnston said.

AIDS Vancouver Island operates its seven-day, two-person needle
exchange on a $250,000 budget.

The agency said its funding has been frozen since the early 1990s,
despite a spike in demand.

Since 1996, the number of syringes distributed has jumped to one
million from 128,000, and clients have increased to 2,000 from 545,
according to the agency. AIDS Vancouver Island said it needs $585,000
- -- more than double its current operating budget -- to run an
expanded needle exchange in a new location.

AVI director Katrina Jensen is on holidays and staff have been
instructed not to talk about the issue pending the court battle.

The agency had been hoping the health authority would provide more
money for the service, allowing additional staff to be hired so that
the needle exchange could stay open either during the dinner period
or ideally all the time.

"I'm not sure that's the issue," Conroy said of the need for more funding.

Johnston said he supports an expanded and properly run service, but
is fed up waiting for change. Since demanding action several months
ago, Johnston said the response from the police and city work crews
has been outstanding.

"[The street] is clean and attractive. It's just that every afternoon
about 4 p.m. it's like Night of the Living Dead ... and it's horrible
until 6 a.m.

"When the police come, the junkies move along and the city crews come
and clean up the mess," Johnston said.

The needle exchange is part of what's called a harm-reduction
strategy -- to ensure addicts don't use dirty needles and spread
blood-borne diseases.

But without other essential services, and without more financial
support and a bigger facility, the needle exchange seems to be
creating more harm for addicts than it reduces, said Danielle
Topliss, a lawyer in Johnston's firm.

"It's not reducing the harm an addicted life poses to the drug addict
who doesn't have facilities to access, rehabilitation, addiction
counselling or detox [or treatment] beds," Topliss said.

Topliss said stakeholders have to get beyond whether the needle
exchange is a good concept and focus on how to run it properly.

Conroy said VIHA has helped the facility expand its reach over the
last year and yet the problems around Cormorant Street remain.

"It's a big issue, we've heard from the community and we're actively
looking at it," he said.