'Just a safer place to go would be better'

Chris is walking down Dundas Street with a large duffel bag. Every article of clothing he owns is inside.

He's wearing a white denim shirt, unbuttoned, and cut-off shorts.

He doesn't want his last name used because he's been injecting drugs for the last yearand a half, but he's excited about the prospect about a supervised injection site in London.

And the main reason isn't his own safety it's the safety of others.

"It would be a good idea because there would be less [needles]on the ground where kids can get at them. I'll even pick up somebody else's and dispose of it, that way it's safe for kids and people in general and animals," Chris said.

• IN DEPTH: What you need to know about London's bid for supervised injection sites

"Pick up your things, put them in the bins provided for you. You get everything else for free, the least you can do is a little bit of work."

It would also be nice to have a place to go where there's no judgement, Chris said.

Also downtown, Earl, who also doesn't want his last name used, said he injects opiates and that he'd use a supervised injection site

"I'm pretty safe with what I do and how I use, but a safer place to go would be better," Earl said.

He has many friends with endocarditis, a heart condition associated with using dirty needles.

• Londoners to weigh in on supervised injection sites
• London hands out 2.5M needles to addicts every year

Endocarditis is one of the four diseases, along with HIV, Hepatitis C, and infection Group A strep, that prompted health officials to declare a public health emergency last June. Rates in London of those illnesses are much higher than the provincial average.

London gives out 2.5 million needles a year to injection drug users, a number second only to Vancouver.

The mayor, police chief, health unit and people who work with drug users have said they want London to have supervised injection services.

A survey of injection drug users last year found 86 per cent said they'd use such services.

Londoners will get a chance to weigh in on the issue of the sites, and where they might go, this fall.