A meeting between Island Health Service providers to discuss how to make public areas safe in the wake of 3 incidents where innocent people were jabbed by discarded hypodermic needles has wrapped up.
Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Richard Stanwick says VicPd and representatives of the city of Victoria also took part. Stanwick says there were a few ideas that came out of it:
" We did hear that there are opportunities to perhaps improve what we're doing, starting from having a single point of access for the public to contact should they see a needle that they want taken care of in downtown Victoria "
Another possible solution is to provide addicts with suitable disposal containers:
"Such as giving the needles out with a sharps container so that if anybody finds something on the street it won't be an uncapped needle, but perhaps a container containing sharps which, again, would pose very little risk to the public."
Dr. Stanwick says staff will continue to emphasize the importance of proper disposal for users.
He says there was also discussion about 2 possibilities: There could be someone out there who may be intent on mischief, and perhaps mentally ill, who needs to be identified and sent for help; or there could be someone trying to intentionally discredit harm reduction efforts and overdose prevention sites.