UNWANTED IMPORTS

A local expert says people are bringing their injection drug habits
back with them from Alberta and other parts of Canada, and the
problem is especially serious in rural Newfoundland.

An unreleased federal report obtained by The Independent says the
increase in the number of people in the province infected with
hepatitis B and C -- which can be transmitted through shared needles
- -- is partly attributable to the problem.

Tree Walsh, a harm reduction co-ordinator with the AIDS Committee of
Newfoundland and Labrador, says the realities of small town
Newfoundland can increase the danger of infection for injection drug
users. She says people often have a naive perception of outport
Newfoundland, and most communities are not aware injection drug use
is an issue for them -- but it is.

"It's a lovely little community. You'd never think anybody would
stick a needle in their arm out there," Walsh tells The Independent.

The federal report, Environmental Scan of Injection Drug Use, Related
Infectious Diseases, was written by San Patten in March 2006. Patten
says Newfoundland and Labrador is directly affected by the increase
in drug use in northern Alberta.

"For sure we know that in Fort McMurray -- and this affects
Newfoundland directly because of the number of people working there
from Newfoundland -- along with the high levels of income there is
higher drug use," Patten says.

"It is just a factor of men being put into these work camps for 10
days at a time, and there is simply nothing better to do with their
time and their money, and they've got money burning up in their wallets."

Walsh says drug habits don't only come from Fort McMurray.

"It could be Vancouver, it could be Toronto, or they come to St.
John's and learn about it here, or Corner Brook," she says.

"The injection drug-use population is very transient. Some people
acquired the knowledge and practice on the mainland and then came
home. So then it is in the community -- the practice is in the community."

Patten says oil companies in northern Alberta have been cracking down
on marijuana and alcohol abuse in the camps, using urine and blood
tests to screen workers. These drugs stay in a person's system for up
to a week, she says, whereas drugs like cocaine or crack, which can
be injected, are much more quickly metabolized -- or not tested for.

"It almost forces the guys to choose a drug that is not going to show
up on the tests."

Patten's report says that contributes to a serous public health issue
in the province. It says numbers of hepatitis B cases have fallen in
all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, where the numbers of
new infections rose to 25 in 2004 from two to four per year in
2000-2003, while new hepatitis C cases also increased to 78 in 2004,
a 45 per cent increase from 2000.

Walsh says the rise is directly attributable to injection drug use.
The report states a third of new Hepatitis C cases list injection
drug as a risk factor.

Part of the concept of harm reduction, says Walsh, is to provide
injection drug users with clean needles to protect them from diseases
that can be contracted from sharing needles or using shared injection
equipment.

Walsh says the stigma of injection drug use stops people in small
towns from accessing the clean needles that could save them from
infection. St. John's has the only needle exchange in the province.

Walsh says the policies of some pharmacies prevent people from
getting clean needles.

"In this province you don't need a prescription to buy needles,
although some pharmacies -- for whatever reasons -- have decided if
you have a 'legitimate' need for needles you can get a note from your
doctor," she says. "There's no needle with no note, which I think is
unconscionable because it is a public health matter."

The situation is grim for people without access to clean needles.

"They keep using the same needles over and over again causing all
kinds of harm to themselves. They share them, which puts them at risk
for HIV and Hep C," says Walsh.

When asked if the injection drug problem in the province is under
control, she is succinct.

"No. Absolutely not."