A marathon Victoria council meeting is expected tonight as supporters of harm-reduction services for illicit drug users plan to press their case for more services.
Some 70 people are hoping to address councillors on initiatives such as establishment of both a fixed needle exchange and a supervised injection site.
At five minutes allowed per speaker, that means the presentations could run about six hours.
"We're hoping as many people as possible show up [...] to remind city council that they had made some priorities and one of them was harm reduction and we want them to follow through," said Kim Toombs, a spokeswoman for Harm Reduction Victoria.
"It's important to hear these voices," said Mayor Dean Fortin, who noted the Vancouver Island Health Authority would be responsible for establishing fixed needle-exchange sites. Fortin said council would like to see three well-funded, small fixed sites.
"This council has made harm reduction a priority. We recognize it has to be done in partnership with all the other players out there."
Despite a decade's worth of reports calling for such facilities, Victoria has gone backward with the closure of the Cormorant Street needle exchange in May 2008, said Toombs.
In March 2009, councillors identified harm reduction as one of the city's top seven priorities.
Harm Reduction Victoria wants the city to provide a central property for a "harm-reduction resource centre," which would include supervised consumption services, needle exchange and counselling.
"One of the barriers in the discussion around finding a location for a needle exchange has been finding a landlord that is supportive," Toombs said. "So that is certainly one thing that the city could do is be a supportive landlord."
The group notes that in 2007, the Mayor's Task Force on breaking the cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness identified a need for small, properly staffed supervised consumption sites to reduce the spread of disease and provide a stable point of contact for referrals.
Such sites would also take people shooting up drugs off the streets, they say.
Harm Reduction Victoria also wants an end to the police and VIHA-sanctioned "no-go zone" that restricts distribution of needles and other harm-reduction supplies between Blanshard, Chambers, Balmoral and Yates streets.
The zone became off-limits as a result of a code of conduct developed in 2008 by a group called the Needle Exchange Advisory Committee. The code says needles should not be handed out near schools, daycare centres or open businesses.
But Toombs said the zone cuts off needed access, especially within a two-block radius around St. Andrews School, where people access other services. "That's where people are setting up their places to sleep at night. This is where their community meets."
Coun. Philippe Lucas said he's "never heard a good reason" for the no-go zone.
"We need to make safe supplies available wherever the drug-using community is and that's certainly -- because of Our Place being our primary front-line [street] organization --that's certainly where harm-reduction supplies absolutely should be available."
The fixed needle exchange on Cormorant Street operated for six years before it was evicted. Neighbours had long complained about disturbances and hazards associated with its operation.
Since its closure, mobile needle exchanges have operated out of vans on regular routes.
