GIVE OUT FREE CRACK PIPES, SAYS VICTORIA COUNCILLOR

Controversial Idea: Kits Intended To Reduce Spread Of Hepatitis C

A Victoria councillor is pushing for the distribution of free crack
pipes in the city.

Philippe Lucas is telling fellow councillors that crack pipe kits are
meant to reduce the spread of hepatitis C, a condition with which
he's afflicted. "I hate the idea of anyone at all having to deal with
the hep C that I've dealt with when the spread is entirely
preventable in terms of drug use."

Councillors will debate Lucas's suggestion next month.

Lucas contracted hepatitis C through tainted blood he received during
a medical procedure in Ontario in 1982.

It's common for people who smoke crack cocaine to have sores, cuts
and burns on their lips. Crack pipes are often makeshift -- fashioned
from cans or glass tubes with sharp edges -- and shared among users.
That means there's potential for infections such as HIV and hepatitis
C to be shared as well, transmitted from blood on pipes through open
cuts and sores.

Advocates of crack-pipe distribution argue the risk of the disease
spreading can be minimized if pipes aren't shared.

If Victoria council supports the distribution, the Vancouver Island
Health Authority will provide funding for the kits, said VIHA
spokeswoman Suzanne Germain.

But on Thursday, Victoria councillors rejected a request by AIDS
Vancouver Island for funding for a similar distribution scheme.
Councillors approved only $4,500 of a $10,000 grant request from AIDS
Vancouver Island for a program in which volunteers collect used
syringes. The balance of the grant would have been used for
crack-pipe distribution. City staff said the program lacked broad
support, citing advice from Victoria police that the number of pipes
on the street appears to be meeting demand.

Coun. Chris Coleman said he'd support the idea of free crack pipes as
long as it was part of an overall four-pillar strategy of prevention,
treatment, enforcement and harm reduction. "But I always get a little
concerned when we take one part of a harm-reduction strategy and not
the others."

Two years ago, a health-authority worker distributed crack pipe kits
- -- including a pipe, mouthpiece, push stick and draw screens -- in
Nanaimo, but stopped after complaints from that city's mayor. At the
time, VIHA chief executive officer Howard Waldner said the authority
could have done a better job of communicating the project's goals.

Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins has suggested her municipality to
look for ways to restrict the sale of glass tubes, steel wool by the
chunk and baking soda, all items used in the smoking of crack.

Police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton said police would prefer more
emphasis on education and treatment. "But we understand that it's
more of a health discussion."

Lucas doesn't buy the argument that distributing needles or pipe kits
encourages drug abuse. "People don't decide to take up injection-drug
use because suddenly there's a needle any more than people decide to
take up smoking cigarettes because there's an ashtray on the table."