NEEDLE EXCHANGE MUST STAY ALIVE

Neighbours Have Valid Concerns, But That Does Not Mean Closure Is The
Only Choice

Everyone claims to be committed to dealing with the problems being
created by drug abuse in the city -- crime, the eroding sense of
security, damage to businesses, sickness, death and despair.

Where's the action?

It has been more than six months since concerns about the needle
exchange's effects on the Cormorant Street neighbourhood rose to a
critical level. Almost all those in a position to solve the problem
- -- health officials, police, the business community, city council,
AIDS Vancouver Island -- came together and said the facility and
location were unsuitable. A solution was urgently needed, they agreed.

But since that January crisis, there has been no apparent progress.
Frustrated neighbours were expected to apply for an injunction
yesterday to force the needle exchange to close.

That would be a backward step.

Drug use and addiction are with us. There are 1,500 to 2,000
injection-drug users in the region. More than one-third inject daily.

Closing the needle exchange won't change that, or get addicts off the street.

But it will increase the risk that users will share needles,
hastening the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other illnesses. A 2003
study found about 13 per cent of injection-drug users in the region
were already HIV-positive; about 75 per cent had hepatitis C. On
average, each person with HIV will cost the health-care system an
extra $250,000.

Closing the exchange will also remove a link between drug users and
services that can help them stabilize their lives and perhaps move
beyond addiction. And it will mean more people shooting up in alleys
or parks, since they no longer have an alternative.

About 30 per cent of users report that they most often inject drugs
on the street; not surprising as 80 per cent of injection-drug users
also report unstable housing.

The anger of people living and working in the Cormorant Street area
is understandable. They have been patient, accepting assurances from
health and city officials that the problem would be addressed. Now
they have every right to force a solution.

Finding a new home for the needle exchange will not be easy. No
neighbourhood will readily welcome the facility.

But AIDS Vancouver Island has a reasonable plan for a needle exchange
that includes adequate space, a courtyard where people could gather
away from the street and a drop-in centre. With adequate supervisory
staff, that would reduce the impact on neighbours.

The main problem is money. A more effective exchange would cost more
to run. But the Vancouver Island Health Authority, responsible for
the services, has proposed cutting funding for AIDS services in the
capital region by one-third.

Failing to fund an adequate needle exchange creates much greater
costs, for health care, policing and social services, and in damage
to businesses, tourism, our sense of security -- and people's already
tragic lives.

The region's municipal, business and health leaders are doing great
harm by failing to honour their commitment to solve this problem.