PANDORA AREA NEEDS EXCHANGE

I appreciated the letter "Students and addicts a bad combination"
(June 10) from a St. Andrew's School parent, who obviously has regular
exposure to the Pandora Avenue community.

The writer articulated the historic and ongoing presence of "druggies
and homeless people" in the neighbourhood in which the school is
located. The letter described the regular and almost routine
activities of open drug use, drug trafficking and interactions with
police that occur right outside the school on a daily basis.

The points support the need for a fixed-site needle exchange in the
neighbourhood. As the writer states, the issues of homelessness and
illicit substance use are already firmly established in the
neighbourhood. The addition of a fixed-site needle exchange would not
create these issues; they already are there. The addition of a
fixed-site needle exchange would deliver services where they are most
obviously needed.

Rozalyn Milne

Victoria