VIHA ATTEMPTS TO START UP CITY CRACK-PIPE KIT PROGRAM

Request Shot Down By Council Because They're Not Yet Ready

The Vancouver Island Health Authority gained permission to distribute
crack-pipe kits in Victoria last week, but a request for a similar
program in Nanaimo was shot down because city staff and politicians
are not ready to move ahead with that particular harm-reduction method.

VIHA's medical health officer, Dr. Lorna Medd asked members of the
city's Safer Nanaimo Working Group to discuss a crack-pipe
distribution program in recent weeks, but those members quickly said
that council is not prepared to discuss such an initiative just yet.

Several factors will continue to delay the contentious program.

Councillors do not want health care workers driving around in
neighbourhoods handing out the kits, which is what the health
authority did in 2007, without consulting the public or the city.

Ensuing backlash has hardened the city's stance against a mobile unit.
Nearly all councillors want to weigh the costs and benefits of
crack-pipe kit distribution before moving ahead and they insist on
finding the right site where addicts can pick up the supplies.

Harris House has been named as a possible site, if such a program was
to start again in Nanaimo, but thorough consultation with neighbouring
businesses and residents would be required before any decision is made.

"While most of us are uncomfortable with the concept, if it's done
under some type of control, I would look at it," said Nanaimo Mayor
John Ruttan. "I'm somewhat reticent to endorse the program
wholeheartedly, but I am open to discussions."

Though council has several new members after last year's election, all
remember the hoopla several years ago when VIHA handed out crack-pipe
kits without consulting the city. As the city's safer working group
continues its talks with the health authority, most of the politicians
sound reluctant about any similar program.

Victoria councillors approved a pilot program and insisted health
officials assess community support as they progress. In Nanaimo, even
the more left-of-centre politicians recognize the widespread criticism
of harm-reduction policies.

Coun. Fred Pattje supports the program, "even if it saves just one
life."

"Handing out paraphernalia in order to assist people who are addicted
to crack is not seen as a worthwhile thing, but you know, all those
diseases that can be prevented: HIV, hepatitis C, and if we can
eliminate that or mitigate that, then I'm willing to accept the
not-so-pretty part of the program."

The kits include a rubber mouthpiece, a filter, a glass tube and
wooden push stick, according to Medd, who is a member of the city's
safer working group and regularly talks with social planner John Horn
about VIHA's harm reduction policies.

Crack smokers routinely get sores, cuts and burns on their lips from
makeshift pipes made from cans or glass tubes. Sharing such equipment
increases the spread of infections such as HIV and hepatitis C. Clean
pipes reduce the spread of disease and increases access to addiction
services, ultimately reducing the cost to the public health care
system, Medd explained.

A chronic hepatitis C patient can cost tax payers $100,000 in a
lifetime or $10,000 for an average, milder case. HIV infections can
cost the system $195,000 in a lifetime, she explained. Though the
numbers vary, either way, the cost is high.

"For me the evidence hasn't changed," she said. "This is something
VIHA wants to do. There's good scientific evidence that distributing
crack kits reduces disease among crack users."