MOUNTIE CRACKS BACK

RCMP Brass Speaks Out Against Free Drug Pipes

A high-ranking drug cop says handing out crack pipes to addicts could
lure more people into using cocaine.

Touted by advocates as a way to curb the spread of diseases such as
AIDS and hepatitis C, the distribution program will actually make it
easier for people to smoke crack, the cop said.

"I just don't think it's helping," said RCMP Chief Supt. Derek Ogden,
director general for drugs and organized crime. "If you're just
experimenting with cocaine and people are handing out crack pipes at
will, really I think it sends the wrong message, and could actually
encourage the rate of crack cocaine use in the community."

Ogden is adding his voice to the hotly debated issue of whether
communities such as Ottawa should have a program which provides clean
pipes and other drug paraphernalia to users.

In recent months, health officials and city leaders have not been able
to reach an agreement on the issue. Some have said the program saves
lives; others have said the $8,000 spent every year on the program is
a waste of taxpayer dollars.

"It's a highly successful program and scientifically based," Dr. David
Salisbury, the city's chief medical officer of health is on record as
saying. "It prevents the transmission of very harmful and very
dangerous infectious diseases."

Both former police chief Vince Bevan and Mayor Larry O'Brien have
spoken out against the program, suggesting it promotes illegal drug
use while doing nothing to provide help to addicts.

"Giving out loot bags of crack pipe packages to facilitate the use of
a tool that can lead people to this lifestyle is not appropriate,"
O'Brien has said. "It's foolishness."

Advocates say distributing clean glass pipes, tiny screens and
mouthpieces help halt the transmission of disease.

"The reality is, people are injecting drugs whether you, I or the next
guy like it or not," said Jack McCarthy, director of the Somerset West
Community Health Centre in Ottawa. "If they're going to continue a
pattern of use of drugs, then do it in a way that you're going to
minimize the spread of infection to themselves and to others. To me
it's common sense."

Ogden doesn't agree and said he's concerned about the flood of dirty
pipes and drug needles being found along city streets and in parks.

"We can see that there's just more and more and more crack pipes are
out there," he said. "They continue to share the crack pipes. We know
it's always going to be that way."