Victoria without needle exchange for 14 months

Victoria, the second largest city in B.C., has been without a fixed site needle exchange for 14 months.  That’s absolutely outrageous.

In a province where a judge ruled the inSite safer injection site was a fundamental legal right for injectors, somehow a needle exchange was allowed to close simply because “stupid” neighbours didn’t want it operating in their neighbourhood.

Victoria’s user group, SOLID, has been running a guerrilla exchange within the no-harm reduction zone where the fixed needle exchange used to be.  SOLID members patrol the streets with back packs providing clean syringes and doing clean up of the area for discarded used needles.

Finally it appears that Victoria may be getting a fixed needle exchange again:
Victoria News – Needle exchange location eyed

Another of those it’s about time situations.