SAFE-INJECTION SITES PROVEN TO WORK

I feel that the Chamber of Commerce has done this city an injustice
by voting against the proposed safe-consumption site. It is ironic to
me that the first ones to complain about the addicts in their
backyard are the first ones to turn down a solution that has proven results.

There has been concern that safe consumption sites promote crime in
the neighbourhood, when in fact the exact opposite has occurred in
the neighbourhood that houses InSite, the safe consumption site in
Vancouver. There will always be illegal drug activity on our streets,
but it has been proven that understanding combined with harm
reduction equals cleaner, safer streets.

As a longtime member of the Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users
who volunteers his time on a regular basis to pick up dirty needles
in our community, I can tell you that the majority of what I find is
not on infamous Cormorant Street, home to AIDS Vancouver Island, but
the decrepit and forgotten Janion Building on Store Street, a
building that is privately owned and has been vacant for a few decades.

I am baffled that local businesses would rally together and form a
lawsuit against a non-profit organization with much-publicized
funding cuts and the best of intentions. People underestimate the
good that this organization does and only see the flies in the ointment.

SOLID is here to be part of the solution. If you are a business
owner, a city employee, or simply someone in the downtown area who is
in need of a volunteer to clean up a high drug-traffic area, please
call us at 298-9497.

Craig Ballantyne,

Victoria.