NEEDLE ACTIVISTS HURT CAUSE: POLICE

Group Can Legally Hand Out Syringes, but It's Not 'Best Way to Get
Message Across'

The guerrilla needle exchange launched by Harm Reduction Victoria near
a downtown elementary school shows a lack of common sense and will
discredit the agency behind it, Victoria police say.

Yet while police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton had some harsh words
yesterday for Harm Reduction Victoria, which has been handing out
hypodermic needles in a downtown "no-go zone" since Sunday, he
admitted the group isn't breaking the law.

"We can't prevent them from handing out needles, but obviously we'd
encourage them to consider the neighbourhood and the concerns of
residents who live there," he said, noting police have received
several complaints and continue to actively monitor the area.

"Common sense tells us handing out needles within a block of an
elementary school probably isn't the best way to get your message across."

The "no-go zone" in question spans west-to-east from Blanshard Street
to Chambers Street and north-to-south from Balmoral Road to Yates
Street. Included in that area is St. Andrew's School, at 1002 Pandora
Ave. The zone is part of a code of conduct developed for the
mobile-delivery system that has distributed needles since a fixed site
on Cormorant Street closed last June. The code states no needles will
be handed out near schools, daycare centres or open businesses, and it
promises cleanup efforts will be made.

But Harm Reduction Victoria has been ignoring the code since Sunday --
when it held a protest marking one year since the fixed site closed --
and is unrepentant.

Asked whether the group's actions are undermining its credibility and
message, spokeswoman Kim Toombs would only say "there's no one
speaking to the issues faced by those who use drugs."

The group handed out 600 needles on Sunday and 300 on
Monday.

Although she recognizes the Cormorant Street site was no longer
working, Toombs said the lack of a fixed needle exchange has left the
marginalized and socially isolated drug-using community with few
places to turn. And it's also shifted focus away from the myriad of
issues facing many drug users.

Hamilton said Victoria police support the mobile needle exchange and
would support a fixed site, so long as its well run.

"If they're going to have a needle exchange, it needs to be resourced
and run appropriately and professionally," he said.