DRUG USE ON THE STREET IS CHANGING, VIHA SAYS

Study Prompts Call For Free Distribution Of Clean Equipment

Crack cocaine has replaced marijuana and alcohol
as the top non-injectable drug of choice for the
city's intravenous drug users, a report suggests.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and Vancouver
Island Health Authority released findings from
the Victoria 2009 I-Track surveillance program of
intravenous drug users last month.

The follow-up to 2003 and 2005 reports shows a
substantial shift in drug use in Greater Victoria
=AD one that illustrates how users are opting to
smoke crack instead of inject powdered cocaine.

The findings indicate that while the need for
clean needles still exists, the heightened use of
crack pipes shows that mouth pieces and other
hygienic paraphernalia are crucial to help reduce
the risk of communicable diseases such as
hepatitis C, said Dr. Murray Fyfe, a VIHA medical health officer.

People have these fears that if you're providing
things for crackheads, you're giving big illicit
drug kits out but, in fact, these are just common
supplies that you can find in a hardware store or
in a corner store,=94 Fyfe said.

Those people shouldn't really be concerned about
this. It's just a way of keeping (drug users) safe.=94

Since 2005, intravenous drug users are also less
likely to be stably housed and subsequently more prone to disorder.

One of the things of interest from this study is
where people are injecting,=94 Fyfe said.

We hear a lot about the Pandora Street corridor,
but if you look in the map included in the
report, there are people injecting all around the
Greater Victoria area and Vancouver Island.=94

While the percentage of intravenous users who
reported sharing needles has shrunk from 42 per
cent in 2005 to 23 per cent in 2009, the trend
doesn't diminish the importance of needle
exchanges. Rather, it underlines the need for an
integrated approach to services.

This really emphasizes that work needs to continue,=94 Fyfe added.