CITY'S USERS JUST SAY NO TO FREE DRUGS

Distrust, Delay Discourage Downtown Eastside Addicts

VANCOUVER - Addicts living on the Downtown Eastside say they're suspicious
of a new heroin treatment project that has opened in their neighbourhood --
even though participants in the 12-month study will get their heroin for free.

"This is not going to work," said Liane Gladue, speaking of the North
American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) project, which began handing
out free heroin to three study participants Monday -- the first of the 158
addicts study coordinators are hoping to attract.

Gladue, 39, is a morphine addict but also shoots heroin.

She said the study's strict screening process -- including signing a waiver
that would release her medical records to project coordinators -- is a red
flag to addicts who worry such a waiver would only serve to further
stigmatize them publicly.

"There's all sorts of s---t I don't want people to know about me," she said.

Others addicts said they want their HIV or AIDS-infection status kept
completely confidential, while divulging information on criminal records
- --another requirement of the program -- proved even more contentious.

"It's the whole Big Brother thing," said Gladue.

But, addicts say, the main flaw in the project is the three-to four-week
waiting time between signing up and beginning treatment.

"Down here, when people want help, they want help now," said Gladue.

Jim Boothroyd, NAOMI project spokesman, said while the program has its
critics -- from the study's location at the corner of Hastings and Abbott
to philosophical debates over the legal distribution of drugs -- complaints
from addicts are not something he's aware of.

"The word on the street has been very positive," Boothroyd said.

Recruitment began Feb. 10 and, from those who initially expressed interest
in participating, "a small number of people have been selected," said
Boothroyd. He expects the number of participants to grow over the next two
months.

Individual treatment will last 12 months, with the entire program running
two years.

Addict Roy Archie, 38, said he was intrigued by the aims of the program,
which is designed to test whether heroin-assisted therapy will benefit
addicts who have failed at other treatment programs.

"I'd like to see if I could really quit," Archie said, adding he's already
tried, unsuccessfully, to quit by using methadone, pills, prison, and even
leaving town.

"But it won't work if I have to wait three weeks," he said.

Jamie Baldwin, 29, agreed. He said treatment is only a priority when the
drugs -- or their lack -- have made him sick. When he's high, "it's all good."

Besides, he said, he doesn't trust the quality of any drug sanctioned by
the federal government.

"[The government] tried to grow weed ... and it was the nastiest weed I
ever smoked," he said.

According to information on the NAOMI project's website, heroin used in the
study is pharmaceutical-grade manufactured in Europe. It is purchased and
imported with permission of the federal government. The NAOMI study project
is funded by an $8.1-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research. In B.C. it is being overseen by researchers at the University of
British Columbia.

Participants Began Enrolling In February:

- - The North American Opiate Medication Initiative is a clinical trial that
will test whether heroin-assisted therapy benefits people suffering from
chronic heroin addiction who have not benefited from other treatments.

- - NAOMI aims to answer questions that could lead to improvements in the
health of people with chronic addictions and identify new ways of
reintegrating them into society. Researchers also hypothesize that heroin
maintenance therapy could also help to reduce the use of illegal drugs and
drug-related crime.

- - The trial began enrolling participants in February in Vancouver. Later on
this year, similar studies will begin in Montreal and Toronto.