(Victoria, BC, Coast Salish Territories)
A grassroots organization advocating for the rights and health of poor, homeless, and marginalized people has established a “guerrilla” clean needle exchange for intravenous drug users, at the corner of Vancouver and Pandora.

The action, organized by Harm Reduction Victoria, draws attention to the lack of a permanent fixed needle exchange site in Victoria. The Vancouver Island Health Authority has a mandate to provide harm reduction services, and operates a mobile needle exchange program with AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI), Victoria AIDS Resource & Community Service Society (VARCS), the Society of Living Injection Drug Users (SOLID), and Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society (PEERS). Health workers with that program, however, are prohibited from entering a two block area (surrounding Our Place) with their service, where a large number of Victoria’s injection drug users congregate.
(view a PDF of Needle Exchange data for the past year)

The BC Ministry of Health defines harm reduction as “a pragmatic response that focuses on keeping people safe and minimizing death, disease and injury associated with higher risk behavior, while recognizing that the behavior may continue despite the risks.” (Harm Reduction: A British Columbia Community Guide, 2005). This has prompted the creation of clean needle exchanges to prevent the further spread of communicable diseases among intravenous drug users in Victoria, and throughout BC.

While Vancouver has several harm reduction facilities including a supervised injection site, and multiple needle exchanges, here in Victoria there hasn’t been a fixed needle exchange site since the facility on Cormorant St. reached the end of it’s lease agreement in May 2008.

Both the service providers and lobby groups agree that having a permanent needle exchange is an internationally recognized strategy for reducing the spread of disease among high risk drug users. Up until May of 2008, Victoria had a fixed site needle exchange for over 20 years. For the past year this service has been unavailable, increasing the likely spread of Hep C and HIV and putting the entire community at risk.

The biggest obstacle, it seems, is that of finding an appropriate location for the facility. The St. John’s Ambulance building, located next to Our Place, was originally purchased by VIHA to provide comprehensive street level health care. Needle exchange was to be one of those services, but neighbours of the facility, including the Victoria Conservatory of Music and St. Andrew’s Elementary School stood in opposition to the idea, citing the proximity of young children as the key reason.

In response to the closing of the Cormorant St. needle exchange, VIHA convened The Victoria Needle Exchange Advisory Committee, established from representatives of the City of Victoria, the Police, VIHA, downtown businesses, neighbourhood groups, inner city churches, schools, and needle exchange service providers.

“Over the past year we’ve been working diligently with our service partners to find a fixed site for needle exchange services – and our search continues for a location or locations that meet the needs of clients and that is also acceptable to the broader community,” said VIHA’s Allison Cutler, Executive Director for Population and Community Health.

Harm Reduction Victoria members insist that community consultation must not be a barrier to the provision of essential public health services. “The existence of the ‘no-go zone’, the lack of supervised consumption services and the closure of the needle exchange represent unfair and discriminatory treatment on the part of VIHA”, said HRV spokesperson Kim Toombs. “We’ve waited over one year now, and we will pursue each and every possible means to make sure that drug users have access to essential health services.”

When asked about the guerrilla needle exchange, VicPD media liaison officer Grant Hamilton was critical of HRV and their decision to operate a needle exchange within the “no-go zone”. The VPD acknowledged, however, that a permanent fixed needle exchange site would be the best strategy to reduce harm.

Harm Reduction Victoria continues to offer needle exchange service on an ongoing basis in the ‘no-go zone’; Wednesday and Sunday evenings from 7 –11pm. They also co-ordinate morning clean-up “rig digs” to recover discarded needles left in the area.

Map showing location of Guerrilla Needle Exchange

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Related Websites

Harm Reduction Victoria

Vancouver Island Health Authority

AIDS Vancouver Island

Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society (PEERS).

Canadian Harm Reduction Network

Harm Reduction: A British Columbia Community Guide (PDF)

Harm Reduction Fact Sheet (Vancouver)

Publications on Harm Reduction

Preventing Harm From Substance Use: Harm Reduction (VIHA)