Mayor Brian Bowman will be spoke via video-link with the Parliamentary Committee on Health about the meth crisis in Winnipeg Tuesday morning, and an important aspect of the discussion wasn’t fully discussed between the Mayor and Members of Parliament: the collateral affects – beyond crime – of meth use on the general public and property owners.

The issue of discarded needles flooding our neighbourhoods was first raised by this podcast Meth-Ematics of WRHA Free Needle Program Under the Microscope

During his investigation into discarded needle practices and policies of the WRHA and its failing free needle exchange program, Marty Gold was made aware of meth problems relating to Manitoba Housing complexes. In the course of corresponding with Manitoba Housing about used needle pick-up procedures, they clued him into a surprising fact:

“For assistance with collecting needles on City property, you can contact 311. For assistance with needles on private property, you can contact Street Connections at 204-981-0742. ”

In this podcast Marty asks the key question no one else has:

Why does 311 keep this a secret? Their script doesn’t tell the people of Winnipeg that a Provincially funded agency is available to take on the retched, dangerous task. Let alone offer any useful civic help or advice on handling potentially contageous used needles.

If you have found used needles on your own property or in public places in 2018, let Marty know so it can be added to his ongoing research project — email martygoldlive@gmail.com