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Buckets full of needles collected from train tracks in Melbourne have highlighted a troubling problem that leaves families with no choice but to find alternative areas to raise their children.
On Wednesday, Metro Trains Melbourne staff collected a huge amount of syringes from the York Street tracks in the Richmond suburb.
Jonathan Lowe photographed the significant discovery, which he said was a clear representation of just how serious the drug problem in the area had become since a safe injection room opened nearby in June 2018.
The facility, Lowe said, had created more problems than it solved and was contributing to the fear experienced by a family community that now felt dangerous when it left home.
“There are so many people injecting themselves on the streets in our area, that’s why I took the picture, just as proof of all the needles going around,” he told Yahoo News Australia.
“People don’t always use the safe room for injections, and they only attract people from all over Melbourne and the city area.”
The train tracks on York Street are just a popular needle dump, with the former popular Victoria Street restaurant area also falling victim to the rise in drug culture.
“Victoria Street has great Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean restaurants – they called it Little Saigon. Now they call it the dead zone, ”said Mr. Lowe, a member of the Resident Action Committee who is fighting to move the injection room.
“This is because the only people walking that path now are drug addicts and merchants. It is not just a beautiful area. Families do not go there and for this reason the restaurants have to close their shops. “
Richmond families living in fear or relocating
Richmond’s mom Charlotte told Yahoo News this week that her young son regularly finds people injecting themselves outside the family home. She shared photos of a passed out man and video of drug addicts confronting her near their home.
Mr. Lowe said his and other families in the area faced a future of living in fear for their lives and that of their children, or moving away from the area entirely.
“The safety of our family is very compromised. We are thinking of moving. I have a child of seven and one of three: it is a parent’s obligation to raise their children in a safe environment to protect their health. You can’t do it here, “he said.
“We will definitely move and we know many other families who have already moved or will move. People in public housing can’t move because that’s the only place they have. “
The injection room – the only one in town – also shares a border with Richmond West Primary School, which Mr. Lowe said was problematic in itself.
“Safe injection rooms should not be located in family-friendly areas or near a school. The area it is in has four times more children than the surrounding areas, “he said.
A second injection room planned for Melbourne City
Mr. Lowe proposed moving the room to an industrial area away from children and families, or somewhere near a medical district.
“We take care of the health and safety of addicts and we want them to rehabilitate and become better members of society, so we don’t necessarily want the room to close,” he said.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews has accepted every recommendation made by an independent review committee, which has been investigating the ongoing injection room trial in North Richmond since mid-2018.
Recommendations include extending the trial in North Richmond for another three years and creating a second safe injection room in the city of Melbourne.
The Department of Health and Human Services said its favorite spot for the new center is the Central Melbourne cohealth community health organization on Victoria Street, a short walk from the city’s Queen Victoria Market.
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