NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM STALLED

Frustrated with their progress in negotiations with the Ville Marie borough
over the purchase of a downtown space, organizers at the Cactus needle
exchange centre are planning to distribute clean syringes outside city hall
this evening in an attempt to persuade

Mayor Gerald Tremblay to get involved.

"The borough has been giving us real difficulties," said Marianne Tonnelier,
the managing director of Cactus. "We need for the mayor to break his
silence."

Cactus, currently on St. Hubert St., offers clean needles to intravenous
drug users and runs programs aimed at helping addicts and street youth. The
centre receives thousands of visits each year.

This spring, the group received a $1-million federal grant so they could
move into a new space and expand.

The group settled on a lot at Sanguinet and Ste. Catherine Sts., the only
site that fits their needs.

"When we approached the city, we got the impression that they would be
willing to work with us toward the purchase of the land, but we've never had
an answer from the mayor's office and we need help to stop the borough from
blocking us."

Tonnelier said that the borough is suffering from "a not-in-my-backyard
syndrome," and that she suspected that the Universite du Quebec a Montreal
was putting pressure on the borough not to allow the project because it
would interfere with their own downtown expansion plans.

Yesterday, through a spokesperson, Ville Marie councillor Robert Laramee
said he would reserve comment until he had heard what the group supporting
the clinic had to say tonight.