DRUG MEASURES MERIT SUPPORT

Vancouver's Insite, Toronto's Safer Crack Use Kits Success Stories

Whether drug addiction is a criminal or health issue would seem to be
a fairly polarizing question. But in Vancouver there has been a
surprising amount of agreement among governments, community
activists, police and business groups, thanks to the Downtown
Eastside's safe injection site for drug (especially heroin) users, Insite.

Yesterday at the intersection of Yonge and Bloor, local activists and
delegates from the International AIDS Conference staged a brief
demonstration by blocking traffic to raise awareness of Insite, which
is threatened with closure next month after a three-year trial period
unless Health Canada extends its exemption from drug-use laws.

The facility's success is undeniable. It offers a clean,
health-focused location for addicts to inject safely and get
information about addiction treatment services.

With the availability of clean needles and medical staff on-site,
Downtown Eastside rates of blood-borne infections such as HIV and
hepatitis C have reportedly been reduced, and there are fewer
instances of people shooting up in public -- a plus for nearby
Chinatown businesses that originally opposed Insite.

Add to that a record of zero deaths despite 453 overdoses at the
facility between its September, 2003, opening and March, 2006, and
it's easy to see why Insite has the support of Vancouver Mayor Sam
Sullivan, the B.C. government and former mayors Phillip Owen and
Larry Campbell.

"My staff has been working on the front line with the VCHA [Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority] to ensure that both enforcement and health
related goals are addressed in this project," Vancouver Police Chief
Jamie Graham wrote in a letter to Health Canada supporting Insite.

Vancouver's Insite experience has also provided an example for
Toronto. While heroin use is not as big a problem as crack cocaine
addiction, the principles of harm reduction are the same. In
Vancouver, they call the plan for fighting drug addiction the
"four-pillar" strategy, with harm reduction, treatment, enforcement
and prevention playing equal roles in the battle.

City Hall adopted its Toronto Drug Strategy in December, 2005, with
harm reduction strategies that include a needle exchange and the
distribution of safer crack use kits.

Crack cocaine use is risky: the rock form of the drug can be injected
after being diluted with lemon juice or vinegar, which carries the
usual problems of needle-sharing and overdoses, but is commonly
smoked, which provides an intense and immediate high.

Because the majority of crack users live in poverty or on the
streets, there are many risk factors associated with the addiction.
The spread of HIV is one, since some smokers engage in unprotected
sex in exchange for money or drugs or risky sexual behaviours with
unfamiliar partners. The use of makeshift smoking pipes and the
sharing of pipes can also spread HIV and hepatitis C because burns
and sores on the mouth can allow for the exchange of blood.

The safer crack use kits distributed by Toronto Public Health's
needle exchange program include clean glass stems, mouthpieces and
metal screens, as well as information on how to prevent the spread of
diseases. They also give outreach workers the opportunity to make
contact with some of Toronto's most isolated people, building trust
and connecting them with support services in the community.

With Vancouver's Insite and Toronto's safer crack use kits showing
the benefits of harm reduction, Canada can continue to be a world
leader in reducing the ills of drug addiction. This, however, will
require a show of support from all segments of society to win the
Health Canada exemption from Ottawa.

The Conservative party's tendency to view drug addicts as criminals
instead of treating the problem as a community-wide health issue
means Health Minister Tony Clement and Prime Minister Stephen Harper
may need some persuading.