PARENTS MUST WARN CHILDREN ABOUT NEEDLES

It seems uncalled for, but it is a dilemma that parents in Nanaimo
face daily.

At the start of another school year, it behooves them to warn their
children about the dangers of picking up shiny, sharp objects that may
be detrimental to their youngsters' well-being.

Three-year-old Hunter Vokins has unwittingly become the poster child
for every parent's worse nightmare.

Hunter's parents don't know if their boy pricked himself with a dirty
needle found in the family's backyard earlier this year.

The fact that used needles are strewn across the city, on private
property, in school grounds and public parks is a disgrace and the
junkies who leave them discarded around town should be dealt with
severely. Unfortunately, they are irresponsible -- responsive only to
their need for their next fix.

Expecting them to be responsible enough to pick up their used needles
is ridiculous.

Some may point their fingers at VIHA for funding the needle exchange,
which gives out free needles, but that is misguided. Addicts will get
their needles somewhere else, if not the needle exchange. At least by
supplying addicts with clean needles, VIHA is helping to control the
spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis C.

It is up to the rest of us to ensure our children don't pick up any
needles in the street, playground or school yard.

While it may seem like a waste of resources, the Nanaimo-Ladysmith
school district has the right idea. Principals at district schools are
responsible to ensure that the grounds are free of dangerous
paraphernalia like needles. Some principals routinely do checks of
their school's property as do people who operate local daycare centres.

In the past two weeks alone, Block Watch participants collected almost
300 syringes -- some with blood in them.

And while VIHA officials say the chance of contracting a communicable
disease from discarded needles is very low, the fact children may be
harmed by those needles cannot be discounted.

It is naive for people like Nanaimo's social planner John Horn to
think the recently launched needle box program will actually reduce
the number of needles addicts will leave on the ground. It is a little
like saying putting ashtrays in cars will stop smokers from tossing
their butts out the window. For the conscientious smoker perhaps, but
there are still plenty of cigarette butts on the side of the road. And
junkies are not going to be as responsible as their tobacco-addicted
brethren.

It's an unfortunate fact of life today that parents and those who look
after our children must deal with. That means besides stressing to
your children the importance of looking both ways before crossing the
street, parents and caregivers must also stress not to pick up needles.

And the school district, sports clubs, daycares and those who own
other properties that children congregate on must continue to try to
eliminate this scourge before a child does get seriously hurt.

Drug addiction, as we have argued in the past, is a multifaceted
problem that requires a multifaceted solution.

It is obvious that different agencies such as the police, VIHA, school
district and those responsible for sports fields must come up with a
co-ordinated approach to deal with this solution.

It would be nice to think the police could complete a city-wide sweep
and throw all those addicts responsible for discarding needles
unsafely in jail. It would also be as naive as Horn thinking that
because the city is putting receptacles out for junkies to put their
used needles in that they will actually use them.

Unfortunately, the sobering reality is it up to parents and those who
teach our children to avoid unnecessary contact with any drug
paraphernalia. It may be an uncomfortable lesson but very necessary.