CITY 'ABETTING' DRUG USERS, CULLEN FEARS

Committee OKs Request By Needle Exchange Program To Dispense Drug Paraphernalia

Ottawa's needle exchange program is now distributing crack pipes,
tourniquets and other drug paraphernalia to drug users, a city council
committee learned yesterday.

The expansion of the program was approved with little debate by the health
and social services committee.

The committee received and approved a report yesterday from Dr. Robert
Cushman, the city's chief medical officer of health, which argued that the
expanded drug paraphernalia program would help decrease the rampant spread
of HIV and hepatitis C in the city's drug-using community.

According to Dr. Cushman's report, 75 per cent of Ottawa's injection drug
users are infected with hepatitis C, which is a leading cause of cancer,
liver cirrhosis and premature death.

Twenty-one per cent of injection drug users in the Ottawa area are infected
with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The report said that the lifetime cost of treating an HIV patient is
between $150,000 and $500,000 -- considerably more than the $2,500 it will
cost the city to distribute the drug paraphernalia.

Among the items being distributed as of September, according to the report are:

- - Crack pipes: "Research findings demonstrated that crack smokers are at
increased risk for blood-borne infections and sexually transmitted
diseases. Sharing of contaminated equipment increases risk of
transmission," Dr. Cushman's report said.

- - Tourniquets: "Blood residue left on tourniquets may lead to cross
contamination and transmission of pathogens," said the report.

- - Aluminum caps: Used to heat drugs to a high temperature to mix substances
into an injectable solution. They are "known to be a reservoir for viruses."

The city offers a needle exchange program at the Health Sexuality Centre at
179 Clarence St.

As well, a van travels to various locations in the city from 6 p.m. to
midnight, seven days a week. Outreach workers also visit drop-in centres
and walk around the Byward Market area.

But the lack of a debate on the issue has raised the alarm for at least one
member of the committee.

"I feel uneasy about this," said Councillor Alex Cullen.

"I wanted the health implications of this explained to me. The optics of
this are problematic, because it looks like we're abetting illegal drug use."

Mr. Cullen said he missed his opportunity to bring up his concerns about
the program at yesterday's meeting because he had temporarily stepped out
of the committee meeting room when the item was passed without any form of
debate.

Even Mayor Bob Chiarelli was kept in the dark about the controversial
changes to the exchange program.

When approached for comment on the issue last night, a spokeswoman for
mayor Bob Chiarelli said he would not answer questions about the issue
until he has been briefed on the subject.

Since the initiative requires no new funding to the budget of the city's
"Site harm reduction program" and falls within the authority of the health
and social services committee, the item will not be debated at city
council. The city's community and protective services now have the
authority to run the program.

The program has been handing out syringes to injection drug users since
1991. According to information distributed to the committee, the new
products have been on the program's roster since last month.

Mr. Cullen said that part of the funding for the program will come from
Ontario's ministry of health, "so obviously we have their concurrence."

The report said that the city has the authority to pursue this program
under the province's Health Protection and Promotion Act, and that the
city's legal services have been "extensively involved In the review of harm
reduction products provided throughout the Site program."