HARM-REDUCTION REPORT CRITICAL OF MAYOR

'Political Interference' Hurts Drug Users Who Need Service, Authors Say

Mayor Larry O'Brien's political interference in Ottawa's Safer Crack
Use Initiative damaged relations between the police service and the
public health unit, says a report from the Canadian AIDS Society and
the Canadian Harm Reduction Network.

The two organizations yesterday launched the jointly authored report
based on a study of harm-reduction programs for drug users in nine
medium-sized cities across Canada, including Ottawa. Harm-reduction
services include distribution of clean needles and other drug-using
equipment, provision of condoms, counselling and other forms of
treatment and education to reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

"As a result of the mayor's political interference, relations between
the police service and public health have broken down and staff
morale has been undermined," the report reads. "However, those who
lost the most are the people who smoke crack and who need the service."

In his election campaign, Mr. O'Brien promised to cancel the Safer
Crack Use Initiative and the needle distribution program in Ottawa.

The Safer Crack Use Initiative, run by the city's public health unit,
provides safe crack use kits, which include materials and education
for people using crack cocaine to prevent the transmission of
infectious diseases, particularly Hepatitis-C and HIV.

Last summer Mr. O'Brien led council in a vote to cancel the program,
despite the objections of the public health unit.

He also suggested the needle distribution program be turned into a
true needle exchange, with a clean needle given out only if a used
one was brought back, in order to reduce the number of discarded
needles found in parks and alleys.

Funding from the AIDS bureau of the provincial Health Ministry has
allowed the safe crack use program to continue at the Somerset West
Community Health Centre.

The controversies surrounding the city's harm reduction programs
soured the relationship between the mayor and the former chief
medical officer of health, Dr. David Salisbury, who quit the Ottawa
post in April.

Last week, though, Mr. O'Brien appeared to be mending the
relationship with the public health unit by meeting with acting Chief
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Isra Levy to discuss the city's needle
distribution programs.

On Thursday, Dr. Levy tabled a report with recommendations for
changes to the needle distribution program, and convinced Mr. O'Brien
a one-for-one needle exchange would not work and could, in fact,
cause infection rates to increase.

Dr. Levy's report also recommends: hiring a student public-health
inspector in the summer and full-time public-health trainee in the
fall to be responsible for needle pick-up; setting up a hotline to
report found needles; adding new Vanier routes to the standard
needle-patrol program; and making available more needle-drop boxes.

Dr. Levy's report is to be discussed at a community services
committee meeting tomorrow and at city council later in the month.

The report by the Canadian AIDS Society and the Canadian Harm
Reduction Network, entitled Learning From Each Other, studied Oasis,
a program of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre, Ottawa Public
Health's Safer Crack Use Initiative and the Methadone Maintenance
Treatment program.

"Stigma and discrimination are incredible barriers that must be
eradicated to make health care accessible to all Canadians,"
co-author Lynne Belle-Isle said.

The report is available in its entirety online at two sites:
www.cdnaids.ca/learning_from_each_other and
www.canadianharmreduction.com/project