Pubdate: Wed, 22 Oct 2014
Source: Whitecourt Star (CN AB)
Copyright: 2014 Osprey Media
Contact: http://www.whitecourtstar.com/letters
Website: http://www.whitecourtstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/718
Author: Adam Dietrich
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

FACTS, NOT FEAR MONGERING

Addiction is a terrible thing.

It impacts not only the person with the addiction but also their
family, friends and the community. An addiction takes a financial
toll, a spiritual toll, a moral toll and an emotional one.

That toll-taken leads to the biggest hurdle for addiction treatment
and recovery - the discussions about how to approach it are hindered
by moral, emotional, spiritual or financial objections.

This month Whitecourt jumped on board with a program created by HIV
West Yellowhead intended to curb the spread of Hepatitis C, HIV and
other blood-borne illnesses amongst those using needles to take drugs.
It proposes to do this by providing free access to clean needles and
supplies through a pharmacy.

The literature in favour of this type of harm reduction takes a
clinical approach, using highly detached language.

In the language of harm reduction, this program will reduce harm for
those who use injection drugs by providing them with access to the
means to exercise their addiction utilizing clean supplies, which will
limit their likelihood of contracting a blood-borne illness.

Those on the other side of the fence utilize emotional language and
arguments centred around law and order, as opposed to community health.

In that language, this is a program that will give drug addicts free
access to the needles and supplies, paid for by taxpayers, so they can
keep taking illegal street-drugs.

Sigh.

At the heart of this - there is an individual - a person, with a
history and a family - with potential.

The reality is Whitecourt should be proud of itself for being one of
the first communities in Alberta to have pharmaceutical access to
safer injection supplies for free but it is understandable that there
has been some resistance to the idea.

That resistance is a little ironic though and maybe, just a little
misguided.

For example, if you're opposed to providing safer injection kits
through pharmacies and a government financed access program - are you
also against clinics providing free access to smoking-cessation
materials, like nicotine patches or gum?

No one would deny that that cigarettes cause a plethora of largely
preventable diseases. Smoking will not guarantee that you develop lung
cancer, however, not smoking will not guarantee that you never develop
lung cancer either. A lifetime of smoking will dramatically increase
your chances of developing lung cancer though.

Because cigarettes are legal and because treatment for lung cancer
takes a huge known financial toll on our publicly funded hospitals,
Canada continues to legislate some of the most aggressive tobacco
harm-reduction measures in the world in the world.

Someone who uses injection drugs is not guaranteed to contract a
blood-borne illness like HIV. Likewise, someone who never uses
injection drugs is not guaranteed to never catch a blood-borne illness
like HIV. However, someone who uses injection drugs, especially if
they reuse or share needles will be more likely to contract a
blood-borne illness like HIV.

Just like lung cancer, these illnesses take a very real toll on those
who have contracted them and they weigh on our healthcare system
financially. Unlike lung cancer, those illnesses can be spread to
other people, if not properly managed.

All of that has the potential to negatively impact the greater
Whitecourt community.

If quitting an addiction was as simple as counting to three, then
there wouldn't be Alcoholics Anonymous, there wouldn't be smoking
cessation support programs - people would just stop.

When it comes to an addiction to a controlled substance though,
suddenly the tone changes and support for harm reduction programs diminishes.

This is why the discussions about how best to manage the health issues
related to addictions to controlled substance hits a roadblock. The
idea of providing free access to clean supplies seems like a tacit or
even open-endorsement of drug-use.

It isn't.

It's an acknowledgement that addiction to drugs has ramifications for
public health and that public health is a priority.

Whitecourt will tangibly benefit from this program.

Consider this - the kits that are being distributed include a sharps
disposal container, which will allow for needles to be safely disposed
of. Immediately the likelihood of a child finding a used needle in a
playground is reduced. The program also encourages users to return the
kits to the pharmacy. With nothing to lose by bringing them back,
research has shown that a lot of the kits come back, further reducing
the number of used needles left in the community. Finally, by
distributing the kits through a pharmacy it requires a person to come
in and speak to a pharmacist on a regular basis.

In Whitecourt, Life Med Pharmacy has agreed to distribute the kits.
That pharmacy is in the same building as a clinic. Having an excuse
for someone who is injecting street drugs to interact with the
healthcare system, in any capacity, on a regular basis, is a good
thing for everyone.

There is no silver-bullet solution to curing an addiction.

However, if we're willing to have a rational, fact-based discussion
about community health, reducing harm and encouraging treatment, then
the program that HIV West Yellowhead has designed and begun
implementing, is a completely logical first step.

It's not a poor reflection on the town or community to acknowledge the
need for a harm reduction program in Whitecourt - it's a reality in
every Canadian community to a varying degree.

Instead Whitecourt should be proud of the fact that it is one of the
first rural communities in Alberta to be taking this step. We should
be proud that Whitecourt is one of the communities setting an example
that others will follow.  
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MAP posted-by: Richard