MAYOR PUSHES SAFE-SMOKING SITE FOR CRACK-COKE ADDICTS IN VANCOUVER

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell said yesterday he wants a safe-smoking site
for crack cocaine addicts up and running "as soon as possible."

"It makes perfect sense," he said, adding that European cities already have
similar programs.

He noted that all the necessary equipment, including fans, are already
installed at the safe-injection site on Hastings Street.

But Clay Adams, spokesman for the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said
getting a safe-smoking site approved by the federal Health Ministry won't
be easy.

"One of the problems with the safe inhalation room right now is we're not
100-per-cent sure that everybody's on board with the concept," he said.

To be approved, he said, the project would have to have medical benefits
for its users.

"It's not to provide a safe haven for somebody to smoke crack cocaine," he
said.

"It would be to provide an environment where they've got safe pipes, safe
mouthpieces, those kind of things."

Adams said the project would have to be monitored like the safe-injection
site "to see if it has a positive impact on any sort of disease transmission."

A support group for crack cocaine users announced last month it wanted the
government to establish a safe-inhalation site, saying it would make the
streets safer and stop the transmission of diseases such as HIV and
hepatitis through mouthpieces.

Adams said an evaluation of the safe-injection site's first year of
operation will be released tomorrow.

"So far, indications are that it's actually doing very well," he said.

About 600 people use the site daily and up to four referrals a day are made
for services such as detox and methadone treatment.

"Early indications we have from the evaluators are that the site is saving
lives, is making an impact, and that's why we went into this in the first
place," he said.