FIXED NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROPOSAL DROPPED

Princess Street Off the Hook but VIHA Isn't Giving Up; Infection
Rates Have Declined Since the Old One Closed

A proposal for a permanent needle exchange on Princess Street near
downtown Victoria have been shelved, the Vancouver Island Health
Authority announced yesterday.

For now, instead of a fixed site for passing out clean needles to
drug addicts and users, public health officials will expand
distribution through existing services, like public-health or
mental-health units.

The final number and locations will be determined in coming weeks.
Consultations also will begin to see whether non-profit groups, even
pharmacies, may be willing to help.

The announcement came as good news for people on Princess Street, who
were alarmed at the notion of a needle exchange as a neighbour.

"They [addicts] have higher priorities -- and it's not leading the
good life," said Chris Cunningham, owner of Hiddendistance Kung Fu
Academy, 711B Princess St., where he offers lessons to children as
young as five.

Cunningham said he appreciates the need for offering clean needles.
But he would like to see more work done on what a needle exchange
would offer before one lands in any neighbourhood.

The search for a fixed site to offer clean needles to help prevent
the spread of infectious diseases like AIDS or hepatitis through the
sharing of needles has been ongoing since the May 2008 shutdown of
the previous operation on Cormorant Street.

The Cormorant Street site operated for six years. Neighbours there
were fed up with the filth, disturbances and hazards associated with
the operation, and finally forced its eviction.

Yesterday it was learned that since the Cormorant Street operation
shut down, VIHA has not seen any increase in diseases associated with
injection-drug use. Rates of infection for hepatitis C and AIDS have
actually declined slightly over the past five years.

But Dr. Richard Stanwick, VIHA's chief medical health officer, said
that is no reason to stop pursuing harm-reduction measures.

Stanwick said injection-drug users typically have a 20 per cent HIV
infection rate, which nobody should consider acceptable.

"In medicine, the status quo is never considered acceptable," he said.

Stanwick also said a fixed site has not been completely ruled out. It
may well happen as VIHA moves quickly with a review on how best to
offer harm-reduction programs.

In the meantime, the mobile needle exchanges delivered by vans on
regular routes will continue and will be augmented by a move to
expand the distribution of clean needles, he said.

Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas, a strong advocate of harm reduction
through distribution of clean needles, said he thinks VIHA made a
mistake by shutting down the needle-exchange advisory committee.

The committee was set up after an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to
replace the Cormorant Street facility with one on Pandora Avenue, and
had a broad range of community representation, including police,
neighbourhoods and the city.

Katrina Jensen, executive director of AIDS Vancouver Island, also
said the need for a fixed needle exchange remains crucial.

These services provide some people with the only health services they
can get, where they may get a shot at detox or help with
mental-health problems, she said.