By Tiffany Goodwein

Needle buyback program nixed by Vernon council

Sep 17, 2019 | 6:00 AM

Following city staff’s recommendation not to endorse a needle buyback program, Vernon city council followed suit and nixed the program in favor of other initiatives.

A needle buyback program was originally proposed by the Activate Safety Task Force in 2018, citing successes in Penticton and Kamloops, but staff later discovered both programs collapsed following their implementation.

“A year ago I would have jumped on this, but I think we’ve seen a lot of the things that we have put in place as a council that have made a huge difference in this community, and we don’t hear as much about the needles as we did last year. We were kind of caught off guard; that doesn’t mean that we don’t have a problem in this community but I don’t think the needle buyback program is the solution,” Coun. Dalvir Nahal stated.

City staff recommended a service level increase for next year’s budget for the Folks on Spokes Program, an on-call hotline that businesses call in order for someone to collect discarded sharps.

But the program, which has cost $11,245 to date, has come under scrutiny with some questioning if the program is doing enough to handle discarded needles.

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“I know it’s something, but what it is, is not adequate.,” Anderson said.

Coun. Nahal added that some businesses are not even aware of the Folks on Spokes Program and more needs to be done to get the message out.

“I do feel the Folks on Spokes program is not at its full potential because a lot of businesses don’t know about it. I don’t know if we can send out emails, or how we can better inform the community, because almost once a week we get complaints about it,” she said.

Possibly going mobile?

Coun. Kari Gares put forward a motion to ask staff to look into the possibility of a mobile needle exchange program which would add an extra layer of service towards cleaning up needles in the city.

“The benefit of a mobile needle exchange program is that it’s not isolated anymore. They aren’t isolated to specific hot spots; they can actually travel around the community which is something a lot of other service providers have been asking. They can also partner with other service providers and with IHA to not only provide needles and exchange those needles back, but also other services as well,” Gares said.

But Coun. Brian Quiring said that a needle exchange program should not solely be a city initiative, especially given the looming operation of the overdose prevention site.

“Is there not some kind of a synergy between what you are talking about and that facility?” Quiring said.

“I don’t think it’s a city thing, I think it’s an IHA thing,” he added.

Coun. Akbal Mund agreed with Quiring.

“By having a mobile unit, it is not going to solve needles ending up on the ground. I think it is totally a waste of money because as Brian also said, the OPS site is coming here and that’s going to have a place you can take your needles to,” said Mund.

Coun. Kelly Fehr noted that the Cammy Lafleur street outreach program already provides a mobile needle exchange service during their outreach hours – so the service is not a new one.

A report into the feasibility of a mobile needle exchange program will be brought back by city staff at a later council meeting.

by Tiffany Goodwein

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