Vernon business operator finds bags full of needles sitting on front steps

Photo: Contributed

A Vernon businesswoman found two harm-reduction kits full of needles on her front steps last week.

Diana Delaney is frustrated and fed up.

The Vernon woman has operated a business at two different downtown locations over the years and she has had problems with discarded needles and related issues at both locations.

But after finding two bags full of needles and other materials that were provided to people experiencing substance abuse disorders by Interior Health, she had to speak out.

Upon arriving at work, Delaney found the two paper bags full of items sitting on the front steps of her business on 35th Street.

“Coming to my place of business and finding this is not acceptable,” she said in an email to all members of council including the mayor.

“How this can be OK to just hand out syringes and all the items needed to get high and send them on their merry way to shoot up all over town and leave their needles all over the place. I’m disgusted.

“I certainly hope the mayor and council can think of something better than this system, because this is not working for the citizens of Vernon trying to make a living, but having to be subjected to this on a daily basis.”

While she declined to say who responded, Delaney did say three members of council contacted her about the matter. Two said they would look into the problem, while the third said providing the harm-reduction packages were important. The distribution of clean needles reduces the transmission of disease in the community.

Delaney said she was told to contact city bylaw about the items and “eventually” someone from the Community Safety Office came by several hours after her initial call to collect the items.

“While all that was sitting on my front steps, a day care walked by. Twenty little kids walked by and there is a harm-reduction kit with needles sitting on there,” said Delaney, adding she did not touch the bag or its contents.

“It makes me very upset when I come to my office and I am greeted with needles sitting on my front step. I think it is brutal that we are handing out needles to anyone and they can just throw them down where ever they want.”
Delaney said she knows there are ways to safely discard needles, but questions how many people actually use those collection points.

The issues are ongoing for Delaney, who has had to ask people to move along after they had set up a "camp" on the back steps of her business.

And minutes before speaking to Castanet Tuesday, Delaney said a man was “crawling through a hand railing” towards her office for some reason.

When confronted, the man left the area.

Castanet has reached out to the city for comment on the situation.