NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS SAVE TAX DOLLARS

It would be unwise for the Saskatchewan Party government to blindly
set limits on the number of needles needle exchange programs can issue.

There is no disagreeing with the premise of the recent throne speech,
which stated the obvious fact that drug use is an immense social
challenge for many communities. But the logic behind limiting the
number of needles per visit given to IV drug users, as the throne
speech suggested, loses traction once a sober look at long-term impact
is made.

As published in Wednesday's Herald, Prince Albert-Carlton MLA Darryl
Hickie suggests a cap of 10 needles per client per visit, regardless
of the number of used needles a client may attempt to exchange.

Hickie is a former police officer, with experience dealing with drug
addictions and problems associated with addictions and drug use in
general.

Improperly discarded needles are a repeated concern in any needle
exchange debate. If needles were not left lying around in various
parts of this city, it's almost certain discussion over needle
exchange would not take place. Yet, it's worth arguing that the stigma
attached to needles is part of a vicious circle. Those who carry
needles are almost assuredly connected with the drug trade, and thus,
coloured with the taint of criminal activity. Addicts don't want to be
found possessing needles nor disposing of them in suitable drop boxes,
as doing so will immediately trigger suspicion. Would less stigma lead
to fewer problems? Probably. But adding more stigma to needle users is
a step in the wrong direction.

There is a prevailing thought that drug use is illegal, and therefore,
needle exchange programs only pander to illegal activity. Logically,
it does. But there's looking at the world from a logical
black-and-white view of law, and then there's looking at the world
from the point of view of what makes long-term financial sense.

Former Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham was an open supporter of
Insite, that city's legalized drug-injection facility. He realized
that if addicts are denied ready access to clean needles, we, the
taxpayer will bear the cost down the road when our health-care system
and our social services are backlogged treating HIV-positive or
hep-C-infected addicts, or the children of those addicts.

The cost of treating an HIV- or hep-C infected individual can mount to
hundreds of dollars per day. Now, consider that HIV infections in this
province - intimately linked to drug use - are increasing at a
staggering rate, with aboriginal peoples comprising a significant
majority of those cases.

One of the key tools to counter the spread of HIV and hepatitis C in
drug users are needle exchange programs. Such programs are shown in
countless studies to demonstrably reduce the incidence of addicts
contracting diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and thus save tax
dollars in the long run. The province's own study, we note, pegged the
cost of doing nothing at $4 million annually.

Clearly, the "war on drugs" philosophy won't do much to curb taxpayer
costs. We cannot continue repeating the same law-must-prevail actions
and expect a different outcome.

Needle exchange programs are an investment to reduce future
health-care burdens. It's the old "ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure" analogy.

If anything, we should be expanding needle exchange programs to combat
this province's growing HIV rates. Hopefully, someone in government
will realize the wisdom of that logic before it's too late.

Vern Faulkner is the Herald's managing editor.