FREE-INJECTION HEROIN PROJECT PICKS UP SPEED

Organizers Say They've Had No Incidents. But Local Community
Organizations Disturbed They Weren't Consulted

After a slow start over the summer, a controversial project in which
heroin addicts are given free injections is gaining popularity.

"It's like back to school: back to detox," said Suzanne Brissette, a
doctor and a director of the project. "There are new patients coming
in every week."

Despite some initial public skepticism, the study is going very
smoothly, with no accidents, misbehaviour or complaints from the
community, Brissette said.

But directors of community organizations directly across from the
study's site - the former Jean d'Arc Hospital at the corner of St.
Urbain and Prince Arthur Sts. - say they are disappointed they
weren't consulted on the project before it went ahead.

"We need assurances," said Terrence Regan, director of the Milton
Park Recreational Association. "We have 500 kids passing through here
and no one (from the study) has come to talk to us."

The Montreal project is part of an $8.1-million study called the
North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI).

Regan said he was adamantly opposed to the injection centre at first.
The Dollard Cormier Centre, housed in the same building, already
attracts people with drug, alcohol or gambling addictions, he said.

Finding used needles and seeing people shooting up in broad daylight
is becoming more common in the area, he said.

"But I'm in favour of (the study)," he said. "It's important to try
to address the social problem instead of putting these people in jail."

Johanne Belisle, director of the Women's Centre of Montreal, said
she's concerned about the safety of her clientele, all of whom are
women and children.

"It's easy to say, 'Not in my back yard,' but at the same time, we
need to help those people," she said. "But I want to know more, to
see how it's functioning, because it's right in front of us."

Brissette said the project changed location three times, so
consulting everyone was impossible.

"I understand their frustration," she said, adding the study has been
so discreet, if people hadn't heard about it through the media, they
would not have even noticed it.

"They can ask us for any information they want."

So far, 10 hard-core users have been recruited and randomly divided
into two groups. Those in the first group inject pharmaceutical-grade
heroin up to three times a day in a clinic of the former hospital.
Those in the other group head for a pharmacy to take methadone orally
and report to the clinic once a month.

At the end of 15 months, they'll be weaned off and the idea is to see
which method is more successful.

Participants in similar studies in Switzerland, the Netherlands and
Germany asked to be weaned off treatment even earlier. The studies
resulted in a drop in drug use and crime, improved physical and
mental health, and better job prospects.

The NAOMI study is also being conducted in Vancouver. The project
hopes to attract a total of 470 people.

Toronto has pulled out of the study because of delays in getting it
running. As well, users there tend to inject morphine or prescription
drugs, said Martin Schechter, a study director based in Vancouver.

He said stringent admission criteria mean not every heroin addict is
accepted. So far, only 50 participants from Vancouver's gritty
Downtown Eastside have been recruited.

"We've had more than 600 calls from users," he said in a telephone
interview. "But by the time you get through the phone calls, the
numbers drop by three-quarters.

"It's really a gauntlet to make it through the criteria, but if all
those people had made it through, we'd be dead by now."