METHADONE CLINIC LAST STRAW

Needles, triple-X movies and a massage parlour can be found near a Surrey
elementary school.

And now, a methadone clinic has been established across the street.

"This is a bad area already, with all the hookers and stuff," said Bev Kuit,
mother of Grade 1 students Brittany, 6, and Cody, 7.

"We don't need this."

The provincially funded clinic is part of the Harm Reduction Program.

It has administered methadone under a pharmacist's care since opening across
from Grosvenor elementary a week ago.

Other services include physical examinations, counselling and help getting
lives back on track.

The office used to be a few blocks away, but it moved to get away from the
needle-exchange program.

But Whalley moms have had enough.

"I don't want my kids seeing people all buzzed out," Kuit said.

"Some are pretty scary. We don't know if they have AIDS.

"The kids find the needles on the playground and start poking other kids
with them," she said.

Mom Patty Cucksey spotted a white plastic bottle lying in the grass during a
tour.

"The drug users fill them with water and use use them to shoot up," she
said.

Residents say the clinic is typical of the problems since SkyTrain arrived
in 1993.

There is a 24-hour drop-in centre and a tent city under

SkyTrain's rails as well as two drinking establishments and a cheque-cashing
store.

A new Whalley community policing station has opened on King George.

Grosvenor's principal has urged Kuit to call off a demonstration this
morning outside the school gates at 13640 Hilton.

Ms. B. Robinson wrote a letter to parents saying the matter is under
control.

"Steps have been taken through the appropriate channels to deal with this
issue. The legal process is in motion," Robinson wrote.

Parents say they won't wait long.

"We're going to a meeting [tonight], and if it's not what I want to hear,
I'm pulling my kids out," said Kuit.

Checked-by: Don Beck