NEEDLES A PART OF HEALTH CARE

A needle exchange is not going to be a welcome neighbour. All the
assurances in the world about security and policing and good neighbour
agreements can't remove fears of noise, crime and disorder.

The failure to prevent all those problems at the former Cormorant
Street exchange suggests the fears are warranted.

But needle exchanges serve a significant public health purpose. They
reduce costly illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis and offer a chance
to link drug users with supports and services that can help them
stabilize often chaotic lives and even lead to treatment.

After a shameful 16 months without a true needle exchange, an advisory
committee has proposed a new site on Princess Avenue between Douglas
and Blanshard. It's about six blocks north of City Hall.

Neighbours are understandably concerned. The block has businesses on
one side and homes on the other. Some owners fear chaos, crime and
discarded needles. And they have seen that advanced plans for an
exchange on Pandora were cancelled because of protests.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority promises things will be
different this time. There will be a good neighbour agreement, better
security, regular police patrols and a client code of conduct that
bars loitering in the area. Residents' concerns will be quickly
addressed, VIHA promises.

Neighbours have a right to be skeptical. Health authorities are facing
tough budget decisions these days. Perhaps in six months, other
priorities will be more pressing than needle exchange security.

The exchange is needed. The neighbours have a right not to face undue
problems.

The answer is to put the guarantees in writing, with remedies, an
arbitration process and, perhaps, penalties. Perhaps immediate
neighbours should be offered the option of a buyout within a year if
they are unhappy with the situation.

That might also encourage more efforts to reduce the potential
problems. Victoria police, for example, would like to see several
smaller needle exchanges to keep any one area from having a high daily
population of drug users.

Even if Princess Avenue becomes the main location, there should be
satellites. The new Access Health Centre on Johnson -- a great asset
- -- is an obvious option. The idea of needle exchanges trouble many
thoughtful people who worry that they are condoning an activity they
find abhorrent or morally wrong.

But research has shown that exchanges don't encourage drug use. They
do mean fewer people share needles or reuse them repeatedly. Fewer
people, already drug sick, show up in emergency with huge abscessed
sores. Fewer people get HIV. And more people get needed health care
and support.

Addiction is a health issue. As a society, we respond to people who
need health care. And a needle exchange is part of that care.