CITY COUNCIL SUPPORTS CRACK KIT DISTRIBUTION

AIDS Vancouver Island hopes to distribute safe crack cocaine kits in
the Comox Valley, and Courtenay council has thrown its support behind the idea.

Councillors unanimously voted to write to the Vancouver Island Health
Authority (VIHA) supporting the expansion of AIDS Vancouver Island
(AVI)'s harm reduction program to include the distribution of safer
crack pipe kits Monday following a presentation about the initiative.

AVI has been offering harm reduction services in Courtenay for nine years.

"That program is mandated and funded through VIHA, and the goal is to
prevent the spread of blood-borne pathogen diseases such as Hepatitis
C and HIV," said counsellor advocate Sarah Sullivan.

Harm reduction is about a pragmatic response that keeps people safe
and minimizes death, disease and injury associated with high-risk
behaviour, explained Dr. Charmaine Enns, VIHA medical health officer.

"The research shows, and there's lots of it now, that harm reduction
activities do not encourage substance use," she said.

Crack use causes injuries to the mucous membranes, lips and inside of
the mouth, and those cuts, blisters and wounds increase the
transmission of blood-borne infections, explained Enns.

"We do know we have higher rates of communicable diseases in our
marginal populations, and they also share equipment if they can't get
safe equipment," she said. "We do know harm reduction by supplying
the safe, cheap mouthpieces and pushsticks will reduce the likelihood
of shared communicable diseases."

Supplying safe crack pipe kits also gives health care workers an
opportunity to engage people, explained Enns.

"It creates that link of people to the health care system, which that
person wouldn't otherwise access," she said. "This is about real
people with real issues in their life and increasing the opportunity
to help as much as we can where they're at when they're ready for it."

Many people may remain addicted, but many also move out of addiction
and using, noted Heidi Exner, the manager of health promotion and
community development with AVI in Victoria.

"The only hope is to offer something in the interim that meets them
where they're at and connects them to services that will help them
move through it," she said.

Crack cocaine use is "very prevalent" in the Valley but also quite
hidden, according to Sullivan.

Mayor Greg Phelps had been skeptical of the harm reduction program
but is now onside after reading studies from Vancouver and Victoria
about the costs of not dealing with harm reduction.

Crack use is a significant issue in the community and affects not
only the drug users, but also their friends and family, noted Coun.
Ronna-Rae Leonard.

"We're not supporting the illegal drug use; we're supporting their
health," she said.

While Coun. Larry Jangula didn't have any problem with giving the
crack pipe pieces to people, he felt it was "a Band-Aid on a severed arm."

"What I'd really like to see done more is to lobby the federal and
provincial governments to put money into treatment," he said.