NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM UP AND RUNNING

Crack Pipe Equipment Not Being Distributed So Far, But Condoms and
Syringes Available

For the last six months, a new, once-a-week needle exchange program
has quietly been establishing itself among the most marginalized
members of this community.

Gordon Cote, director of the NARSF program, which also operates a
street outreach strategy in Nanaimo and a second needle exchange
program in Duncan, confirmed the Port Alberni needle exchange has been
operational since the first week of April.

Two outreach workers work in the city on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 9
p.m. -- generally in the Uptown area -- where they make contact with
drug users, the homeless, and anyone else who requires outreach services.

It's a legal, free and totally confidential service funded by the
health authority and based on the principals of harm reduction.

Health officials are committed to this program in the interest of
preventing the spread of infection and disease among drug users and
the homeless, including blood-born illnesses like HIV, Hepatitis C and
B, and sexually transmitted diseases.

The outreach workers carry various supplies that are distributed at no
charge, including sterile syringes, water, alcohol swabs and condoms.
They also provide referrals and information to anyone seeking help for
a problem or addiction, and accept and dispose of used needles.

Mobility and discretion are key components of this program, Cote
explained, adding the workers carry a cell phone and will meet clients
at chosen locations.

He said the program is ramping up slowly, but obstacles include the
fact people who require this service are "cautious".

"That's why we stress it's confidential," Cote said. "We don't take
names."

The Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has contracted NARSF to
provide this service.

VIHA also announced in March a proposed plan for local distribution of
mouthpieces and push sticks for crack cocaine pipes, saying the
provincial initiative to roll out the distribution of these items to
crack cocaine users across Vancouver Island will soon be underway.

Thus far, these items have not been included in the NARSF
program.

VIHA officials say they must complete a full consultation process with
city council before they begin distribution of equipment for crack
users.

Statistics reveal nearly 70% of drug users smoke crack cocaine, a
practice that often results in the users sustaining burns. These burns
can become abscesses, which in turn can be vehicles for the spread of
communicable diseases when pipes are shared.

Port Alberni is currently in the grip of a tuberculosis outbreak -- 40
cases have been confirmed to date -- which health officials have
confirmed is linked to crack and cocaine users in the city.

These groups, health officials say, are at higher risk for contracting
the active disease if infected due to malnutrition, lung problems
associated with crack use (smoking), and being confined in small
spaces and sharing equipment with other crack users for long periods
of time.

TB is a contagious bacterial disease that can be deadly. VIHA's
medical health officers support the distribution of sterile
mouthpieces for crack pipes as a simple and inexpensive approach that
can help the spread of many communicable diseases.

The program also uses distribution sites as contact points where
street people can access health care and addiction treatment services
they otherwise may not ask for or receive.