UNITED STATES - The following is an incident witnessed and reported by Regina Policastro, Editor of Mission Hill News, a (Boston, Massachusetts) neighbourhood publication. November 11, 1994.

"Recently the city of Boston, aided and abetted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, enacted a law which would permit the distribution of clean hypodermic needles and syringes in residential communities.

On a warm sunny day this past spring, as my 5 year old daughter and I "woke up the garden," we witnessed a drug overdose in a vacant city owned lot next to ours. The Boston police and an ambulance were called and both responded quickly. The addict, a young female, was revived enough to refuse further medical attention. She was well within her right to refuse hospitalization although she was clearly sick and unable to walk. Within 10 minutes she'd made her way 500 feet or so until she was right in front of our front gate. She vomited again, then in full view of my child and me, lowered her undergarments, squatted and defecated. We were verbally assaulted for staring - then we watched helplessly as she propositioned a DPW (department of public works) worker, cataloguing the things she could do for $10.00.

"Welcome to the neighborhood".....