Parksville’s plan to make the small seaside community safer by allowing only retractable single-use syringes to be distributed has been vetoed by B.C.’s Health Ministry, which considers the idea unworkable and expensive.
The issue is about how best to approach harm reduction in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis in the province.
“I’m not expecting them [the province] to back down, quite frankly,” Parksville Mayor Ed Mayne said Friday.
“But I want them to know not just me, but the citizens of Parksville really want this to happen.”
Council’s proposed bylaw would have permitted an authorized distributor to give out only single-use retractable needles, instead of standard syringes that do not retract.
The needles become blunt after use, making each a single-use device. A spring-loaded needle retracts into the barrel of the syringe after it has been completely depressed for an injection.
A key feature of the plan was to limit the number of needles given out at one time to a maximum of 10 unless some were being exchanged.
Council passed initial readings of the bylaw but was not allowed to enact it without permission from the province, which turned down the request.
Parksville — like other cities on Vancouver Island and elsewhere in the province — is grappling with how best to deal with increasing numbers of discarded syringes in the community.
In some cases up to 30 to 50 discarded needles will be found at one time, Mayne said. When that happens, a private firm specializing in dealing with hazardous materials is called in to clean up at the municipality’s expense.
Citizens started becoming especially concerned about discarded needles about two years ago, he said. “They find it very uncomfortable that they can’t go to the park without having to worry about their kids getting pricked by a needle.”
Stephen Brown, B.C.’s deputy minister of health, said in a Sept. 29 letter to Mayne that the proposed bylaw was not considered the most effective way to protect the health and safety of British Columbians.
The concern is that the proposal had the potential to restrict access to harm-reduction services, including sterile syringe distribution, Brown said.
Evidence gathered globally shows that many users find retractable needles unacceptable, he said. In that case, it would “reduce use by the population and adversely affect the uptake of the needle distribution program.”
Single-use syringes are also more expensive, he said, and limiting numbers of needles handed out at any one time could lead to people sharing or reusing syringes, putting them at a higher risk of pathogens such as hepatitis C or HIV.
Brown has asked staff to set up a meeting between Mayne and Island Health chief executive Kathy MacNeil.
Mayne says the proposal would not affect the province’s approach to harm reduction. “I’m not saying: ‘Don’t give them any more needles.’ ”
A decade ago, a survey found there were about 15 people without homes in the community of 13,500, but that number is growing, Mayne said.
A controversial supportive housing project was built by the province to house 45 people. A similar number have been housed in local motels, he said. And now he’s heard there are another 45 people without housing.
Housing isn’t enough, he said. Mentally ill individuals and those who are addicted need to be able to get into specialized residential care immediately.
Parksville recently amended its panhandling bylaw to include $50 fines for individuals on public property close to certain types of businesses. It is not a visible issue because individuals are mainly complying with the rules, Mayne said. No fines have been handed out.
