THE NEEDLE, AND HOW TO EASE THE DAMAGE DONE

If we save one person from one illness picked up as a result of one -
or multiple - addictions, we will save money.

Why?

Because many people eventually stop using and they go on to live long
lives. If we can help some of them from hurting themselves beyond
repair, then - in addition to the saving of buckets of health care
money - we will also have done some good.

And so, for the purposes of keeping up, I dropped in on a vein care
workshop recently, sponsored by the Toronto Harm Reduction Coalition.

Attending were nurses, and others who work in the field of harm
reduction; two of the presenters were both users and
counsellors.

A fellow named Ray - ponytail, glasses, blue tee and jeans - was the
first to speak. He said, "I've been injecting on and off for 30 years."

I would not have guessed.

He said, "I always take care to use a new syringe." He explained that
he always uses two needles when he cooks; there is, after all, no lack
of needles in this town and, when it comes to reducing harm, clean is
good.

"I use alcohol swabs before I shoot. And I rotate my veins pretty
good. I don't have a lot of track marks."

Of his general health he said, "I work out and whatnot. I ride my bike
a lot. It keeps the blood flowing." Exercise is good for the veins?
"They tend not to hide so bad."

I would not have guessed.

A woman named Cyndi - tall, handsome, dressed in black - spoke next.
She has known Ray for a while, but not as well as she thought.

She said, "I'm interested - you don't shoot with the needle you cook
with?" Ray said, "It took me 25 years to learn."

You learn something new every day, if you keep your eyes and ears -
and your mind - open.

Cyndi has had a lifetime of experience, not all of it good. She said,
"I've had endocarditis, abscesses, collapsed veins; an abscess is an
inside-out boil.

"I've used longer than Ray, unfortunately. My main veins, I can't get
in. But I save a hospital vein; it's not collapsed."

A hospital vein.

She said, "I've only ever used my arms. I don't use my feet or legs. I
know someone who hit a nerve and now he has no feeling in his leg."

Why do Ray and Cyndi prefer needles? Cyndi said, "It's instant." It is
instant, and it comes with nuance. "I remember when I was a child, I
was lost at the Ex; when my mum picked me up, that's the feeling."

And in the room, at that moment, there were dozens of men and women,
each of them weighing what was lost and wondering what remains to be
found.

Ray and Cyndi noted that, if you use a needle more than once, the tip
will get bent and it might snag your vein on the way out.

They also talked about what happens when you inadvertently inject a
bit of cotton, which can happen when you draw your drug through a
filter into your needle. The best way to describe what happens is to
note that the whole room grimaced as one.

Ray said he has a friend who, if he misses a vein, moves the needle
around in his arm; more squirming in the room.

And then Cyndi demonstrated how she ties off, in order to expose a
vein. I can't tell you how, nor can I show you; it involves a kind of
dexterity I have not got.