NEEDLES DISTRIBUTED IN 'NO-GO' ZONE

Police trying to stop practice by methadone clinic

Needles are being handed out in the so-called "no-go zone" in the 900
block of Pandora Avenue, Victoria police say.

"Over the last several months, VicPD has confirmed that needles are
being distributed through a pharmacy in that area and efforts to bring
this to the attention of VIHA and the Provincial Health Authority have
not been successful in stopping this practice," said a report into
street disorder written by Insp. John Craig, who heads the downtown
Focused Enforcement Team.

Police confirmed the pharmacy was the Pandora Pharmacy, a methadone
clinic at 922 Pandora Ave. No one from the clinic could be reached for
comment.

More people are shooting up in the street and leaving discarded
needles around, Craig said, which has sparked complaints from area
residents and businesses, he said.

The two-block "no-go zone" restricts distribution of needles and other
harm-reduction supplies between Blanshard, Chambers, Balmoral and
Yates streets and was set up because of the proximity to St. Andrew's
Elementary School at 1002 Pandora Ave.

The zone became off-limits in 2008 when a group called the Needle
Exchange Advisory Committee ordered that needles not be handed out
near schools, daycare centres or open businesses.

Shannon Marshall, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health
Authority, said VIHA has been aware of the pharmacy acting as a
secondary needle exchange site for the past six months.

The pharmacy receives its supplies from the B.C. Centre For Disease
Control, Marshall said. She said the pharmacy is a private business
and receives no funding from the health authority.

Marshall said all VIHA-affiliated operations, like the AIDS Vancouver
Island mobile needle exchange, respect the no-go protocols.

But VIHA passes out drug-injection gear under what it calls a
distributive model. Needles can be obtained at most VIHA offices, like
public health outlets, but those operations are not designated
specifically for the distribution of needles.

In years past, activists have taken it upon themselves to pass out
needles in the 900 block of Pandora Avenue as a means of drawing
attention to the need for a fixed, designated needle-distribution
site.

Those activities ended after the summer of 2009 when the activists
decided to stop, saying they didn't want to take on a responsibility
of VIHA.

The last designated, fixed-site needle exchange, operated on Cormorant
Street, closed in 2008 after six years of operation.

Neighbours of the Cormorant Street facility, fed up with the
disturbances, violence, blood, feces and other refuse, finally
convinced the landlord to evict the exchange.

Since then, any attempts at finding a home for a needle exchange or
distribution system have been met with community objections.