ADDICTS TO GET FREE CRACK PIPES IN CITY TRIAL

Victoria councillors have agreed to allow the Vancouver Island Health
Authority to oversee distribution of free crack-pipe kits in the city
- -- but only on a temporary basis.

Mayor Dean Fortin said the pilot program would have to include an
assessment of community support for the program. "We'll send the
letter [to VIHA] recognizing that harm reduction is important and that
if it's part of their current harm-reduction efforts [that] they start
to hand out mouthpieces and sticks, they can integrate that in now."

Earlier this week, VIHA medical health officer Dr. Murray Fyfe asked
councillors to support distribution of the crack kits.

The kits would include a mouthpiece for crack pipes and a push stick
- -- similar to a chopstick -- used to recover hardened crack from the
pipe after it has been smoked.

It's common for people who smoke crack cocaine to have sores, cuts and
burns on their lips. Crack pipes are often fashioned from cans or
glass tubes with sharp edges and shared among users. 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.

"The whole concept of harm reduction is not to promote the use of
drugs but is to recognize that people are going to continue to use,"
said Fyfe. "We want to make them as safe as possible."

Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said she's surprised VIHA hasn't "done
this already," adding she supports harm-reduction initiatives.

Coun. John Luton said he'd like to see the health authority get on
with finding a fixed location for a needle exchange in the city, which
has been without such a site for more than a year. The Cormorant
Street exchange closed down amid a litany of concerns from neighbours.

Fyfe asked council to reaffirm its commitment to harm-reduction
policies by supporting initiatives such as the fixed-location needle
exchange, needle collection and mobile needle-exchange efforts.

Councillors referred that request to its community development
committee for consideration.

Only Coun. Geoff Young expressed concerns. "The far view of our
citizens is that the city is going downhill fast and a lot of that
downhill journey is because of the prevalence of drug users in the
downtown," Young said earlier this week.

He said a needle exchange could be creating a place where potential
drug users know they can find a dealer.