2023-08-24 06:29:38
Equipped with long tweezers and a collection box, Chris Grinham collects up to 30 syringes every day, around the De La Salle Housing Cooperative.
In Ottawa, people like him are called syringe hunters
. Last year, 2.5 million used needles were found in Ottawa.
It’s getting worse and harder every year in our area
says the resident.
« We are in Ottawa, it is the national capital. It shouldn’t be like that in this town. »
In addition to drug use, there is also prostitution behind his home and numerous thefts. We have many children in this coop
he adds.
Every morning, in a daycare center in Lower Town, an educator combs the yard in search of syringes. A child once got stung here and had to be treated with HIV preventive medication.
Garbage and urine odor stink around the building. Another educator inspects the exterior and finds pieces of a crack pipe in front of us.
everyday there is something
deplores Tea Markovic, who comes to take her child to daycare. Things we don’t want our children to see.
She says she regularly sees bloodstains on the way to daycare or overdose procedures. A day, a man intentionally hit his head on a pole until he passed out
. Another time, it was a woman who went “completely naked”.
« Just yesterday, a street down, a man was using a hunting knife, regarding 8 inches, to scratch the skin of his feet. »
Another neighborhood daycare has just announced that it will be closing at the end of the month and moving elsewhere.
Tea Markovic would like her child to continue to attend her “wonderful daycare”, close to her home, but with more security around.
« What breaks my heart is seeing the police driving and no one stopping. Seeing them doing nothing is disappointing. »
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#Canadas #capital #overrun #drugs
