Pubdate: Fri, 07 Mar 2003
Source: Victoria News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Victoria News
Contact:  http://www.vicnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267
Author: Don Descoteau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

GAINING PERSPECTIVE ON THE DRUG CULTURE

There is no simple answer to dealing with the challenges faced by addicted 
intravenous drug users in downtown Victoria.

What is clear, however, is that Greater Victoria residents want to help 
find solutions to the growing problems in the Capital Region's downtown core.

That much has been evident from the number and varied frames of reference 
of the people attending film-maker Nettie Wild's documentary about drug use 
on Vancouver's Downtown East Side, Fix: The Story of an Addicted City, and 
the discussion forums immediately following the film over the past week at 
Victoria's Odeon Theatre.

The questions have frequently been straight and to the point.

"How does the needle exchange work", asks one audience member, on a night 
when employees of the AIDS Vancouver Island-sponsored facility were on hand.

"It used to be zero for four, meaning you can come in with nothing and get 
four rigs," says worker Jess Thornbury. "Now it's one for one or nothing 
for one."

Her next line paints a grim picture of what life can be like for a junkie.

She says people can also do exchanges with needles they find on the street.

On the screen, people have witnessed such graphic scenes as a young woman 
lying on top of a cardboard box in a back alley while a friend tries for 
what seems like forever to find a usable vein in her neck to inject heroin.

Looking around, it's hard to tell who in the audience might be a user. 
Current or former users often say that looks can be deceiving -- you might 
never know that a co-worker or someone who serves you at the bank or the 
grocery store has an addiction problem.

The mix on hand for the screenings has ranged from spiky-haired youth to 
button-down middle aged people and many in between. Relatively few people 
left the theatre immediately following the film.

Most of the guest speakers admitted the situation in Vancouver is far worse 
than Victoria, if only based on the volume of addicts.

Outreach worker Kim Toombs from AIDS Vancouver Island's needle exchange 
gave some insight into the scope of Victoria's problem when she estimated 
that the service accepts 40 new clients a month and now lists between 500 
and 600 active clients.

"One thing I've noticed is that there are a lot more young people and 
they're getting younger," she said.

Thornbury, herself a recovering addict, said that about 60,000 needles are 
given out per month in Victoria.

Dr. Perry Kendall, the province's chief medical health officer, confirmed 
that Greater Victoria's rates of HIV/AIDS (25-30 per cent) and hepatitis C 
(85-90 per cent) among IV drug users parallel the rates of Vancouver.

Toombs said studies she has read state that IV drug users contract Hep C or 
HIV between three and six months after they start using. "Hep C is going to 
be the killer, man," said Dean Wilson, the central heroin-addicted figure 
in the film and a vocal advocate for VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug 
Users).

He noted that people who contract hepatitis tend to live longer than those 
with AIDS. Noting that between 40,000 and 50,000 people in B.C. have Hep C 
- -- far more than the 8,000 or so who have AIDS -- he foresees health care 
costs skyrocketing in the next 10-20 years.

A large crowd Tuesday peppered Wilson and Kendall with questions, many 
related to the B.C. government's welfare cuts and how they might affect 
hard-core IV drug users.

Kendall, despite his position, seemed very at ease with the discussions. He 
ventured that there is "a good chance we can get addictions recognized as a 
disability" and have the accompanying benefits available while an 
individual is pursuing treatment. Which brings the discussion to the topic 
of safe injection sites, the end goal of the people in the movie.

Wilson admitted that the sites can't in and of themselves cure people from 
their addictions.

"It's all about building relationships," he said, noting that many things 
contribute to an addicted person's situation, such as housing, poverty and 
personal background.

"What it does is it gets them through the door and it gets us talking to 
health professionals to help them with where they have to go next," he said.

Housing and poverty are issues for many addicted people, noted Wilson. He 
said figures from detox services show that 30 per cent of people come out 
of the 30-day program and go back to living on the street while another 30 
per cent go back to unsafe housing.

Another issue that arose was junkies' access to appropriate health care. 
Wilson said an estimated 80 per cent of hard-core drug users, for various 
reasons, never access the system the way most people do.

Kendall agreed that having all health care professionals -- physicians, 
mental health workers and counsellors, for example -- on the same page is 
crucial if any system for cleaning up the problems is going to work.

He stopped short of saying more money is needed to solve the problem. "I 
think we've got to get the treatment system working better with what we 
have before we start throwing money at the problem."

Victoria Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe has seen the movie several times and 
has attended more than half a dozen forums. She said it is crucial that she 
gain a clear understanding of the picture before she makes any decisions on 
where she stands on the issues.

"It's helping, because like Nettie, I had very little knowledge before of 
the drug culture," she said. "I feel it can only benefit me and the 
community if I'm more informed, especially if I get different perspectives."

Thornton-Joe also recognizes that there are at least two sides to this 
issue. "I understand the business concerns but I also see the social 
concerns as well and I think the film gives that perspective," she said.

"I think before you can make decisions and make changes, you have to be 
aware of what you're dealing with."

Thornton-Joe admits that the film, while graphic in its portrayal of active 
drug users, is actually somewhat tamer than what she and fellow Victoria 
councillors Dean Fortin and Chris Coleman saw during a tour of the Downtown 
East Side this year.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager