GETTING THE POINT

Tightening up the rules for the people who use Ottawa's
needle-exchange program might result in less dangerous trash in some
parks and streets. It might also increase needle-sharing and other
dangerous behaviours that spread disease.

Without knowing what the likely consequences are for the whole city,
it's irresponsible for partners in the program to start setting their
own rules.

That's what Shepherds of Good Hope is doing. It finds most of the
clean needles it gives out never come back. So it will start
demanding that clients bring in their old needles before getting new
ones. It's an understandable shift, but one that doesn't take into
account the city-wide situation.

Dr. David Salisbury, Ottawa's medical officer of health, understands
the agency's desire to do what it believes works for its
neighbourhood. But he says a one-for-one exchange is not a solution
to Ottawa's drug problem or its dirty-needle problem.

His numbers show the city recovers 110 to 150 per cent of the needles
it gives out. About three-quarters of those needles are returned to
where they were issued. Disposal boxes, pharmacies and the city's
Needle Hunters program bring in the rest. If we want to get rid of
the discarded needles on the streets, he says, we should be putting
more money into that inexpensive and efficient clean-up program. He's right.

An addict who can't get a clean needle isn't likely to abstain; he or
she will get a needle, dirty or clean, legitimately or
illegitimately. A one-for-one exchange policy could cause more
problems than it solves.