Pubdate: Fri, 01 Apr 2005
Source: Centretown News (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 Centretown News
Contact:  http://www.carleton.ca/ctown/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2112
Author: Galen Eagle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

FREE CRACK KITS HIT CITY STREETS TO CURB SPREAD OF DISEASE

Ottawa's Site needle exchange program will start distributing crack 
equipment to drug users next month in an attempt to curb skyrocketing rates 
of Hepatitis C among addicts.

Beginning April 1, crack smokers will be able to receive clean glass stems, 
mouthpieces, and safe inhalation information from various locations in 
Centretown.

Paul Lavigne, co-ordinator of the program, says the initiative focuses on 
education and encourages safer drug use.

"We're going to teach people how to use the products as opposed to the ones 
they are currently using, and we're going to educate people how to reduce 
their harm so they don't end up with burnt lips and open sores," he says.

Makeshift crack pipes made from materials such as aluminum cans, inhalers 
or copper tubing often cause burns and cuts to the lips. When users share 
such pipes, it leads to the spread of diseases like Hepatitis C and HIV.

A report released last year by Ottawa's chief medical officer of health 
stated 75 per cent of the city's injection drug users are infected with 
Hepatitis C -- a disease that can cause cancer, liver failure and death.

Lavigne says one of the goals is to attract users who would ordinarily have 
no contact with health services.

"The experiences from other cities tell us that we are most likely to see 
many new clients so we'll get in touch with a whole population that we 
don't know," says Lavigne. "We are usually, for many people, the first and 
only access point to the health care system. It becomes key that we reach 
people because the more people that are marginalized the more the diseases 
can transmit."

The City of Toronto has been distributing crack kits for ten years. Frank 
Coburn, a harm reduction outreach worker with Street Health in Toronto, 
says the program has virtually eliminated the use of unsafe crack pipes and 
has encouraged users to seek medical treatment.

"You hardly ever see any of the old pipes any longer -- everybody comes 
here and picks up new ones. We can't keep up," says Coburn. "People who 
come in to access crack pipes in this establishment also find time now to 
attend to other health needs that they have."

Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes is chair of the Health, Recreation and 
Social Services Committee that approved the program last fall. She says the 
service offers a cheap proactive means to reduce dependency on health services.

"I think it's really necessary. We have to try all methods of keeping our 
disease spreading down as much as we can and this is one way," she says. 
"It's a lot cheaper to give out these kits than it is to deal with 
full-blown Hepatitis C."

But critics argue programs that cater to drug users such as needle 
exchanges and Vancouver's safe injection site only encourage drug habits.

Holmes says such complaints are unfounded. "These are drug users out there 
now. They are becoming less and less healthy and costing us more and more 
money," says Holmes. "I don't think that giving clean equipment is the 
reason why people would or wouldn't use drugs."

Drug users can exchange used drug paraphernalia for clean equipment via the 
program's mobile van that operates throughout the city between 6 p.m. and 
midnight, seven days a week.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D