Pubdate: Fri, 07 Nov 2003
Source: High Point Enterprise (NC)
Copyright: 2003 High Point (N.C.) Enterprise
Contact:  http://www.hpe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/576
Author: Lance Benzel
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

EX-ADDICT DRAWS FROM EXPERIENCE

Edith Springer launched her career as a drug counselor after earning a 
graduate degree from New York University in 1982. But her education began 
with an addiction of her own - a heroin habit that robbed her of her 20s 
and eventually cost her eight months in prison.

Springer, 57, said she would use her experience with addiction as the basis 
for her keynote address at the second annual Harm Reduction Conference, 
which opened Thursday at the Radisson Hotel in downtown High Point.

The free conference, which continues at 8 a.m. today, is focused on 
targeting ways to reduce HIV contraction among addicts and others who 
practice dangerous behavior such as unprotected sex.

More than 250 health professionals signed up to attend, but the public is 
also welcome, said Thelma Wright of the Wright Focus Group, one of the 
groups hosting the event.

Continuing education credits were being offered to participating social 
workers and drug treatment counselors through a program arranged by Emory 
University, said John Blevins, the manager of health programs at the 
Atlanta-based university.

For Springer the event is just the latest stop in a 20-year battle that has 
brought her to health forums and street corners across the country. She 
said her address, "Harm Reduction 101," covers the basics of a drug 
treatment approach that was not available when she fought addiction, from 
1962 to 1972.

Under harm reduction, intravenous drug users are encouraged to use clean 
needles and avoid sharing needles with other users. Prostitutes, meanwhile, 
are warned to use condoms regularly.

The philosophy of the approach is simple - "If somebody can't stop 
something that's harmful or risky, (then) reduce the harms any way you can" 
- - but Springer insists that doesn't make it any less effective.

"It would be great if people can stop using drugs and stop prostituting, 
but we don't know how to do that," Springer said.

So, rather than adopt an aggressive attitude to cure drug users of their 
addictions, Springer and her colleagues instead try to keep them safe as 
they struggle to kick their habit, either with help from social workers or 
from their own sources.

Springer said the approach has been working for years in her native New 
York City, where she has brought the fight against disease to the front 
lines - the flop houses, alleys and streets - for more than a decade.

The drug counselors affiliated with her group, The Harm Reduction Training 
Institute, approach addicts on their own terms, Springer said.

"Instead of saying, 'Stop using drugs,' we start saying, 'How's the dope?'"

The idea is not to encourage drug use, but rather to foster a relationship 
that allows users to talk about their needs without fear of reproach or 
incrimination - a distinct departure, Springer said, from the "very harsh, 
even sadistic" means she encountered in the 1960s.

But Springer advocates more than just talking to addicts; she also helps 
coordinate a needle exchange program in New York that in 2002 distributed 
15,000 needles while collecting and disposing of trade-ins.

The needle exchange, Springer said, is not only consistent with the message 
of harm reduction; it's the best possible means of stemming the spread of HIV.

As in several other states, New York law prohibits possession of drug 
paraphernalia, but certain groups are exempt from the law, Springer said.

Springer said she knows firsthand how difficult it can be to fight drug 
addiction.

Her experience as a user bottomed out with an eight-month stint in an 
Arizona penitentiary for marijuana possession. She turned to the drug after 
weaning herself from heroin and then methadone, a synthetic drug often used 
to treat heroin addiction.

But having watched numerous users turn their lives around - herself 
included - she said she also knows what a profound difference harm 
reduction treatment can make.

"We're reclaiming lives," Springer said.

It is a message familiar to Wright, whose local harm reduction efforts also 
involve a needle-exchange program that circulated about 10,000 needles in 
the Piedmont Triad last year. The program, which operates at several 
locations, serves about 50 or so regular users in addition to countless others.

North Carolina law likewise prohibits paraphernalia possession, and groups 
that participate in exchange programs are ineligible for federal funds. But 
Wright said the health benefits outweigh any drawbacks, including legal 
penalties.

The exchange programs could also save the government countless sums from 
providing continued medical care for drug users who contracted HIV, Wright 
said.

"When you think about the costs of a clean, sterile syringe and compare 
that to the costs of long term healthcare, it's just ridiculous," she said.

Wright said she hoped as many people as possible would attend the harm 
reduction conference, which she said also represents groups that do not 
favor needle exchange programs.

Fellow sponsors include the Nia Community Action Center, Triad Health 
Project, Emory School of Medicine and the Guilford County AIDS Partnership.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom