06/26/2026
A&W parking lot on Kenmount Road.
We’re looking for solutions. And I’m not hearing any. Overdoses are up by 90 percent and HIV transmission is up by 160 percent. There’s a program in place where up to 100 needles can go out and not have to be returned. I keep hearing empathy for the addicts which is deserved, but nothing about the children who stick themselves with these discarded things and whose childhoods are being taken away; the communities that no longer have access to safe green spaces and parks. Why has this been put into the hands of the private sector and not the public? People can’t even walk their pets anymore. I keep hearing statistics on the low chances of children getting HIV or hepatitis from pricking themselves, but none about the possible injury they will sustain in the first place. What kind of parent takes their kids to a needle filled park with the idea that ‘sure if they stab themselves the risk of overdose and disease is low’? As if it’s ok to have their child drive a bloody needle into their little body. Why can’t there be a normal ‘exchange’ program?
