Pubdate: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 Canoe Limited Partnership Contact: http://www.ottawasun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329 Author: Kenneth Jackson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) THE LIFE OF AN ADDICT The Sun Follows a Needle From the City's Exchange Program to the Arm of an Addict This syringe's life begins at a downtown needle exchange program. It's picked up by a female addict. She's already got her crack cocaine and, along with a few other addicts, leaves with the needle. They take it to a city parking garage. They huddle together around the needle. A few keep a look out for the cops. They call this "keep six." The crack is cooked with city-issued materials. The needle sucks in the drug. It pricks the arm of one. Then the foot of another. The needle is used by three addicts, including her. The others smoke theirs in pipes. It's all over in about 10 minutes and the needle is left on the ground. Tossed Away Its fate is shared by thousands of needles each year. They're tossed next to churches, playgrounds, day cares, sidewalks and, of all places, the roof of the city-run needle exchange at 179 Clarence, also known as the Site. It's the way of life for addicts, particularly Angie, a 21-year-old addict who's been injecting crack and cocaine since she was barely a teenager. She has hepatitis C, thinks she has AIDS and told the Sun she's two months pregnant. She'll use a needle to get high about six times a day. It's the same routine over and over. Only the location and people change. She also uses crack pipes. When she was about eight years old, she says, her older brother forced her to "do things to him." He made her touch him, fellate him and this continued until she was 10 years old. Around that time, her parents divorced. Angie was swept into a life of drugs and sex. She wasn't even a teenager. Her life would lead to the needle. The city began handing out clean syringes in 1991 when Ottawa Public Health implemented the needle exchange program. The provincially mandated initiative is aimed at reaching out to addicts who are at risk for, or infected with, HIV and hepatitis C. The needle exchange gives addicts sterile needles in the hope of getting dirty ones back in return. According to the city's website, however, "no client will be refused sterile needles on the basis that they do not have any used needles to exchange." The program has come under fire by several city councillors who have demanded a review. "I am sick of hearing from constituents that discarded needles are littered across the city," Orleans Coun. Bob Monette recently told the Sun. Councillors want a detailed report to help the city increase the effectiveness of the harm-reduction program. Their ultimate goal is a one-for-one exchange. That's only happening at the Shepherds of Good Hope. Dr. David Salisbury, the city's medical officer of health, says one-for-one will increase the spread of HIV. Nonetheless, the councillors expect the report by July. Meanwhile, addicts like Angie keep using and leaving needles behind. "It's a never-ending f---ing drug," she says. "The high only lasts about a minute. Most times I get impatient and just borrow someone's needle." She stays up for about four days straight, then sleeps for a day. Repeat, rinse and dry. She pays for crack by panhandling and selling her body. "I do it all night long," she says of prostituting for a hit that lasts 60 seconds. That's all she asks for. "I don't have a price. I just want to get high." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake