MOBILE EXCHANGE DROPS VANS FROM LOCAL SERVICE

Circulating vans have been dropped from the mix of methods for
providing needle exchange services to Victoria's injection drug users.

The vans, driving a loop around Rock Bay, weren't reaching the people
in need, AIDS Vancouver Island executive director Katrina Jensen told
city councillors Thursday.

"The population served by the needle exchange is very diverse. We've
got a range of clients, not just the street-involved homeless people,
but people who hold down jobs and live in outlying communities," she
said.

Figures released last month showed the number of clean needles handed
out by AVI fell by more than 50 per cent, after the Cormorant Street
site closed its doors at the end of May amid much controversy. The
rate of exchange has improved, but Jensen said the circulating van was
"just not where our clients were at."

"The majority of clients are in the downtown area ... people with
addictions and mental health issues don't have the same capacity to
make appointments or find locations or remember if they walk a
kilometre that they might see a van come past," she said outside
council chambers.

The decision to not let the vans roam downtown was made in
consultation between AVI, the police and the Vancouver Island Health
Authority, with input from the city.

Many of the service's clients who had homes or jobs were unwilling to
use the vans because of the more public nature of accessing it, she
added.

For the time being, AVI's needle exchange is being run from a van
parked at the corner of Princess and Government streets and bicycles
that are free to travel downtown and along the Galloping Goose trail.

The bikes are proving successful so far, but Jensen fears that as wet,
cold weather rolls in, that will change.

Victoria police Insp. Jamie Pearce told council police have seen a
drop in public disorder since the Cormorant site closed.

The department supports the needle exchange, but would rather it have
at least two locations. Pearce also noted a shift in drug usage away
from injection cocaine to crack cocaine in pipes, adding the switch
seems driven by a drop in the supply of powdered cocaine.

While Jensen said the police department's support for multiple sites
is encouraging, there are still no options for a new fixed site
actively being considered.

University of Victoria researchers studying the effect of the fixed
site's closure found that clients are re-using their own needles.They
have not found a large increase in needle-sharing between IV drug users.

That limits transmission of such blood-borne infections as Hepatitis C
and HIV, but re-using needles comes with a high risk of bacterial
infections and abscesses, which result in costly trips to hospital
emergency rooms, Jensen said.

Needle numbers

. The number of needles being handed out by AVI has dropped
dramatically, according to figures released last month.

. Between January and April, AVI handed out an average of 34,900
needles a month. That dropped to 16,700 in June, but has since
recovered somewhat, reaching 27,000 in August.