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Over the past six days, a Kelowna man has found drug sites with an estimated 7,000 needles left in public spaces and reported them to Bylaw Enforcement.
Adam Hamilton, himself a former drug user, has dedicated much of his summers for the last nine years to finding areas in Kelowna trashed with thousands of needles and getting them cleaned up.
Hamilton said for years he was a junkie. He lived in fields or wherever he found to crash, but said he was responsible about it.
"I never left a mess and the whole time I was out there I cleaned up other people's messes. So I've become quite a biohazard expert actually,” he explained.
Over a decade later, he’s leading the charge against homeless camps in the city scattered with used needles.
"I feel like the only one fighting this war and I need help,” he said.
Last week, Hamilton was driving home from work he passed three homeless people set up beside a playground in Sutherland Bay Park. He called bylaw officers and soon the group moved to a field behind Sun Ripe on Wettle Avenue.
In just six days, Hamilton said he has found three serious needle dumps.
The first, found across from Bankhead Elementary, had about 2,500 needles, according to the fire department.
“The fields where I used to play as a kid, they're totally unsafe now,” said Hamilton. “I'm sick of it. I will tolerate most things in society, and I think a lot of people are the same, but when it comes to dangerous and careless drug use, that's where my compassion stops."
For the most part, Hamilton said law enforcement has been very cooperative, but when it's on private property they can't do anything.
Sadly, this is not a new thing.
Last year, on the railway tracks between Richter Street and Gordon Drive, there was a homeless camp set up with thousands of needles, human feces, stolen bikes, tarps behind the post office, according to Hamilton.
Because it was on CN property, bylaw said it couldn’t do much.
"(It took) five weeks to get that cleaned up. I called and I called,” Hamilton said.
When it could finally be taken care of, they had to call in an out of town biohazard specialist.
This week, Hamilton and his friend Jill Bohac turned to social media to address the problem.
With people walking their dogs and letting their kids play in open fields in the city, they said they wanted to warn people about what’s going on.
“We found toys and dog treats mixed in all the used needles,” wrote Bohac. “I am so angry.
“Disrespect like this I've never seen from the homeless or people who camp out.”
With their posts, they’ve had plenty of positive feedback on Facebook.
“That's horrible considering there's summer camp going on at Bankhead, too,” wrote one commenter.
“Sounds like Kelowna needs a safe injection site,” wrote another. “As messed up as that sounds, this would help solve the problem a little and keep the community safe more than having users use on the streets.”
Hamilton also said he put a challenge out to the mayor on Twitter to bike around the North End and investigate the so-called junkie "hot spots" for himself.
“It's like a portion of East Van has come and set up in Kelowna,” he said. "This has got to stop. Period.
“If I had children I would’ve moved out of this city a long time ago.”
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