MOBILE UNIT DRIVES TO DRUG ADDICTS

Former Drug User Dispenses New Needles, Gives Information And Offers Help To
Reduce Risks

North Thurston County - There is no "average" drug user.

That fact was obvious Tuesday as young girls with cute backpacks, middle-age
men with long hair and tattoos and women driving polished SUVs visited the
downtown Olympia parking lot where Pawnee Brown and his crew run a needle
exchange program for the Thurston County Public Health Department.

Brown, a part-time employee of the department, is a former intravenous drug
user whose passion is turning others away from the kind of life he used to live.

Using the health department's Healthmobile, Brown is able to do outreach and
HIV/AIDS education and testing while maintaining a needle exchange program
for IV drug users three days each week in Thurston County.

"I just gotta meet 'em where they're at and let 'em know what the risks of
using are," he said. "I start talking about the infections and abscesses
they can get or the common symptoms of AIDS. Once they start hearing what's
all involved, they're like, 'Whoa.' Then it comes down to asking, 'What are
we going to do to get you to reduce your risk?'"

Brown is an easygoing, street-wise, ponytailed guy described by needle
exchange program volunteers as "a big Teddy bear."

He started shooting drugs intravenously when he was 11 years old, he said.
He smoked pot and drank alcohol throughout his youth and used IV drugs for
25 years. He got clean when he was 37, and is now in his ninth straight year
of freedom from drug use.

He has done HIV prevention work with the Pierce County chapter of the
American Red Cross. While there, he developed a nationally recognized
HIV-prevention curriculum and taught HIV-prevention classes.

He recently completed two years of service with Americorps, where he earned
awards as an HIV/AIDS educator, and he has served on the Washington State
HIV Prevention Planning Committee.

Although Brown has lived in Thurston County for many years, he only recently
began working part time for the health department. He ran an underground
needle exchange program for years, reaching out to Thurston's IV drug users
illegally before the health department took over.

"A lot of this stuff is just relationship building, especially in the
injection drug user community," he said. "The first time they come down to
see us, it might be (to) dump two syringes and get two new syringes and get
outta here. Then after a month or two, they get to know you, and they're
coming in and sitting down and talking to you."

All of the volunteers who work with Brown are former IV drug users, which
makes visitors feel as though they fit in a little better, Brown said.

Gina Garcia helps out at the needle exchange sites, counseling and doing
outreach to the Hispanic community.

"There are a lot of segments of the population here that are under- served,"
she said. "I'm glad I have a chance to give something of worth to my community."

Volunteer Dave Rodriguez described what Tuesday had been like at the site.

"We've done some blood testing. We've given out quite a few needles. We've
given people condoms," he said. "And we counseled an individual who has HIV.
It's a real 'everything day,' but then, that's kind of typical."

The needle exchange is a one-for-one exchange program. Brown said he makes
the used needles worth something, so they won't be strewn around Thurston
County's streets and parks.

"I want them held accountable," he said. "I don't give them a new needle
unless they're turning in an old one."

In addition to new sterile syringes, the crew provides pure water,
antiseptic swabs, soap, condoms, clean cotton and shampoo for visitors.
Clean elastic ties and "cookers" - tiny pots for preparing IV drugs - are
also available.

"Bacterial infections can start anywhere," Brown said. "I don't want them
using, but I don't want them to get infected and lose an arm or die from a
dirty setup, either."

Brown has experienced his share of heartache, even after he stopped using
drugs. He was in a relationship with an HIV-positive woman who committed
suicide in 1995.

After that he began working with a gay man who was doing outreach to the IV
drug user population. Brown said his friend would often find his tires
slashed after doing outreach. Eventually the man died of AIDS, with Brown at
his side helping him let go.

"It's really sad stuff watching people pass on," Brown said. "If I can go
into the community and make a difference in even one person's life, then I'm
doing OK."

SIDEBAR:

Pawnee Brown and Thurston County Public Health Department volunteers
administer free, anonymous HIV/AIDS tests, hand out safer sex kits and run a
needle exchange program.

They staff the Health Department's Healthmobile from 3 to 7 p.m. Mondays in
the parking lot of South Sound Center in Lacey and from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays
and Thursdays in the parking lot at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Columbia
Street in downtown Olympia. For more information, call 360-786-5277 or
360-786-5581, Ext. 6966.