CRACK PIPES ARE A QUEER ISSUE

Health-Based Approach Was Developed by Gays for HIV

Queer people get sidelined a lot -- and we've become accustomed to
that. But there is a pretty big difference between getting used to
something and putting up with it. What we've accomplished -- from the
original march on Parliament Hill in 1971 with the "We Demand"
document to the passage of same sex marriage in 2005 &mdash speaks
directly to that. We don't put up with the homophobic, false logic
that queers should suffer unfair treatment in the eyes of the law or
within our communities. So why would we put up with the same false
logic with services that affect us in our own community?

Ottawa's crack pipe program has been in operation since 2005 and has
continually been under fire from local politicians and the police
services -- and queer people have a stake in this. Our families still
throw us onto the street, we still suffer higher rates poverty in our
lives and we are still more likely to suffer hate-related violence.
And &mdash guess what -- we smoke crack, too. Some studies show that
queer youth are eight times more likely to use crack than
non-queer-identified youth, which means we have a burgeoning
demographic of queer adult crack users. That poses some pretty
dangerous problems for us when our politicians are constantly on the
edge of deciding to yank away a program that has proven results.

Scrapping a program that has been proven to improve our health --
like needle exchanges and the crack pipe program -- is literally
playing with people's lives.

Programs that reduce the harm involved with using drugs work. One
study found that the percentage of people in Ottawa sharing crack
pipes every time they used fell from 37 percent to 13 percent only a
year into the program.

There is "real evidence of behaviour change," according to Dr Lynne
Leonard's HIV Prevention Research Team at the University Of Ottawa.

One of the main risks involved in smoking crack involves sharing
pipes, which are often made out of items like aluminum cans. The cans
heat up quickly and tend to burn users' lips when smoking. Burned
lips means open sores which, in the end, means an increased chance of
transmitting both Hepatitis C and HIV.

Having a crack pipe program means that those of us who are offering
the service get to have conversations with the people picking up
items that allow them to inhale more safely.

In fact, according to the same University Of Ottawa study, there have
been about 4400 conversations between crack users and community workers.

That's pretty significant considering that historically, crack users
have been found to have unequal access to social services.

In the gay community, we have learned to become meaningful advocates
for ourselves.

You have to when you're considered to be illegal or when you're
infected with a virus that was initially classified as a "gay
disease." We have a great history of thinking outside the box, being
tolerant and mobilizing to demand what we deserve. We have a right to
health and we all deserve to be treated with respect.

What's criminal is denying someone's right to access a service that
has been proven to reduce harm and support a healthy life just
because that person uses drugs.

The police already get plenty of money for their role in fighting
drug addiction.

According to the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, 73 percent of the
funding for the illicit drug portion of Canada's drug strategy is
spent on enforcement measures. Everything else -- research devoted to
the use of drugs, treatment programs and initiatives that promote the
health of users themselves -- share a scant 26 percent of those
funds. A 2005 report by the Health Officers Council of British
Columbia demonstrates that two of the main barriers to implementing
health-focussed initiatives like Ottawa's crack pipe program, are the
tendency for protection services to guard their own bank accounts, as
well as lack of political will by governments to tackle controversial issues.

We know this program works, we know it improves the health of people
in our community and we know it costs the city very little money.

The queer community has a strong history of finding creative
solutions and making change through activism, and it is time for us
to come together again on this issue and continue our story of
demanding what we deserve.

Speak to City Council during the public session Feb 19 to 23 and sign
up for a five-minute minute time slot. Write letters to council and the media.

Join us in a rally.

For more information, and if you're interested in getting clean
works, come to the office at the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, 251 Bank
Street, Suite 700 or call 613-238-5014 .