CRACK KITS HANDED OUT

A support group for drug users has distributed hundreds of free crack
pipes in an initiative they say will help slow the spread of disease
among drug users.

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users handed out 500 crack kits on
Friday and organizers plan to hand out hundreds more in the coming
days, network president Rob Morgan said yesterday.

"In the same way as handing out

needles, these kits advance harm reduction and prevent the spread of
HIV and hepatitis C," said Morgan, a self-described crack cocaine addict.

Each kit contains a glass pipe, mouth pieces, condoms, alcohol swaps,
matches, and smoking instructions.

The Rock Users Group -- a branch of VANDU -- spearheaded the project
and has been lobbying for a crack smoking room to be included in the
city's safe-injection site, the first in North America.

There is no legal provision to allow safe-inhalation sites, according
to the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which runs the
safe-injection site.

RUG has asked the authority to provide funding for the crack kits, but
the authority maintains that more research is needed to determine
whether there are potential benefits before it would support such an
initiative.

"It's not something you just suddenly do in that we would have to
consider this and there might be other options there," said health
authority spokesman Peter Roaf.