Pubdate: Thu, 14 Dec 2000
Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON)
Copyright: The Hamilton Spectator 2000
Contact:  http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/
Author: Carmela Fragomeni

$40,000 PROGRAM SET UP FOR SIX ADDICTS

Halton is spending $40,000 on a needle exchange program for about six
addicts. According to documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI)
legislation, four injection drug users, from Burlington or Oakville or both,
used Peel's exchange program because Halton didn't have one.

The documents show Hamilton AIDS Network gets calls from people in Halton
seeking a needle exchange. But Hamilton officials know of only two Halton
residents who have made use of their program since 1992. In 1999, Hamilton
had 745 needle exchanges in a program that costs $50,000 a year. The AIDS
network doesn't record how many individuals use the exchange.

Back in Halton, the public school board has found only four discarded
needles on its property in the past 10 years. The Catholic board doesn't
keep figures.

About 12 discarded needles a year are found in Coronation Park in Oakville.
In Milton, only one was found on a main street a few years ago; none have
been found in Halton Hills. Statistics on Burlington were not available.

The purpose of a needle exchange program is mainly to prevent the spread of
HIV and AIDS. Used needles are exchanged for free new ones.

This past summer, Halton health staff convinced regional council a needle
exchange program is needed in Halton, and council approved $40,000 for a
one-year pilot project that was to start this fall.

No hard numbers are available on just how many would benefit from a needle
exchange in the region.  But a number of reports on studies and anecdotal
evidence support the idea.

Exclusive

There is reference to the outreach worker in Peel, for example, reporting
that 40 per cent of her weekly clients live in Halton. Yet, that 40 per cent
translates to only four people.

Kate Bannon, a Halton health department manager says 690 people could end up
using Halton's needle exchange. But other figures in the FOI documents make
this seem high.

The documents show that last year, Halton police made three arrests for
heroin possession. There were none in 1998. They arrested 18 people for
cocaine possession and 24 for other drugs, including speed. But cannabis, or
marijuana, accounted for most of the drug charges, at 720.

In 1996, there were 10 deaths from heroin overdoses in Halton. But the last
arrest for heroin trafficking was in 1997, and it was the only such arrest
that year.

The documents also show Halton police don't find heroin a widespread problem
here. A document from the police's drug and morality unit to health staff
states "Heroin users in this area are not street junkies and will almost
always use the drug in a residence where they remain during the high, so
arrest and detection is highly unlikely."

So, will users really go out and hit the streets or travel to Halton to
exchange their needles. The exchange program will run out of the region's
birth control and sexually transmitted disease clinics throughout Halton.

Public health nurse Jean Clipsham says the answer is complicated because
injection drug use is such a hidden thing.

Bannon, her supervisor, says the region needs a year of running the exchange
to find out.

It means Halton taxpayers are footing the bill for the needle exchange based
on a gut feeling from staff.

But Bannon defends the program. She says the best time to start a needle
exchange program is when injection drug usage is low as it appears to be
from these documents.

The apparent low need for the program is giving Milton Councillor Rick
Malboeuf reason to pause. He was already uneasy about it back in July.

The exchange was to be up and running by now, but hasn't started because an
outreach worker still has to be hired.

Drug users would exchange needles at the region's four sexual clinics under
the program, and might be able to call a cell phone number to set up a
meeting place for an exchange. Consideration is also being given to have the
worker attend area nightclubs for an exchange.

Malboeuf said he found the low numbers of people seeking a needle exchange
"shocking."

"It seems the money can be better put to use somewhere else."

He'll be seeking more information from staff at the next health and social
services committee in January.  "If the program hasn't begun, maybe we can
put a hold on it."

Clipsham agrees Halton adult drug users can perhaps afford to buy their own
needles. But she says young people might not, nor would they be able to
purchase them easily.

Clipsham said "If we can prevent one case of HIV (in Halton), then the
needle exchange program has more than paid for itself."

There's also the human cost. "Is a human life more valuable than $40,000?"

Bannon said, "We're talking well over $100,000 in health care costs to care
for someone with AIDS ...  the drug cocktail costs alone are $1,200 a
month."

Burlington Councillor Jack Dennison, who also hesitated about supporting the
program back in July, said yesterday "I would love to go back to staff and
ask them to respond. I wasn't happy, but I was convinced (by staff) it was
going to save us so much more money in health care costs."

There are about 200 people in Halton with AIDS or HIV, according to Bannon.
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