7-YEAR-OLD CHOMEDEY GIRL PRICKS HERSELF WITH DIRTY SYRINGE
FOUND NEAR HER HOME

Accidental Pricking Highlights Chomedey South's Problematic Area

Chomedey South is often seen as a paradox, as young families with
children co-exist alongside urban problems like prostitution and drug
usae and peddling.

However, the area's problems were highlighted following an incident
last week, when a little girl pricked herself with a discarded needle.

Seven-year-old Marie-Jane was walking to her bus stop on 79th Avenue
on March 27 when she found the syringe in some nearby bushes. "I was
really curious, I wanted to play doctor," Marie-Jane said. "I showed
it to all my friends but some of them said I shouldn't play with that.
But I stung myself two times with it, I didn't bleed."

According to the girl's mother, Diane Saint-Onge, the principal found
the syringe for her daughter and called her place of work immediately.
"From the way they were talking I thought she broke her leg or
something, I never expected this," she said, adding that she went
straight to Sacre-Coeur hospital with Marie-Jane. The little girl was
thoroughly tested for several diseases, including HIV, and was
administered a Hepatitis B retrovirus. She was also prescribed two
syrups to prevent an HIV infection, which cost St-Onge $350. Although
little Marie-Jane still has about six months worth of medical follow-
ups to go through, Saint-Onge and her partner Carl Boudrias believe
that the worst is over. "The Ste-Justine Hospital reassured us that in
10 years, they haven't seen a child develop a disease after stinging
themselves with a syringe," Saint-Onge said. The risk of disease from
an accidental pricking is indeed low as needles that have been lying
around are less likely to contain an active virus according to the
Public Health Department.

The last straw

This latest incident is the last straw for Saint-Onge and Boudrias,
who say they have called police several times in the past year to
report criminal activities in the neighbourhood. The family, who lives
on 80th Avenue, explained that they had to deal with their next-door
neighbour allowing drug users and prostitutes inside his apartment for
months. "Our only way to force him out was to use a non-payment of
rent clause, and even then we had to do it ourselves, without help
from the owner or the police," Boudrias explained. Boudrias inspected
the area around his home and found three used syringes, which he kept
in a box with the intention of showing police. "It's for incidents
like these that we call police; why don't they do anything?" he asked.
"That's why there are 12-15 homes for sale in the area; Chomedey is
heading for chaos." For those reasons, the family says it will leave
the area by July. "We want to bring our children up in an area where
we feel safe, where there is no crack dealing or prostitution going on
in our own backyards," Saint-Onge said.

Area is problematic: police

Police recognize that certain areas in Chomedey, such as 79th, 80th,
81st avenues and Jarry Street are quite problematic. Police
spokeswoman Nathalie Lorrain, who used to work at Poste de Quartier 3,
said police have raided many crack houses in the area in the past few
years. However, when one crack house closes, another one opens up.
"The problem we have in the area is a vicious circle of drugs and
prostitution, and since it is such a small group it becomes very
difficult for us to infiltrate it and close it down," Lorrain commented.

Lt. Gilbert Fortin of the PDQ 3 says that all police personnel in his
station are aware of the problems and regularly patrol the area. The
police will shortly launch a new aspect in their patrol targeting the
prostitutes' clientele, also known as 'johns' and PDQ 3 has an action
plan to counter the phenomenon of drugs and prostitution in an effort
to maintain the area as safe as possible for citizens, Lt. Fortin
said. "We will continue to counter the phenomenon in the area, but
people must understand that we can't completely eliminate
prostitution," he explained. "However, we continue to ask people to
get involved and report any activity they witness, but they also need
to understand that action cannot be taken the next day, there are
rules and procedures we need to follow."

Police recommend that people call 9-1- 1 immediately if needles are
found lying around. Police are properly equipped to pick up dirty
needles thanks to protective gear and special containers.