VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH TO HAND OUT CRACK PIPES

Vancouver health officials will distribute new crack pipes to the
city's non-injection drug users this fall as part of a pilot project
aimed at engaging crack cocaine smokers and reducing the transmission
of disease such as hepatitis C.

The program, part of Vancouver's harm reduction strategy, is expected
to start in October and run for six months to a year, said Dr. Reka
Gustafson, a medical health officer with Vancouver Coastal Health.

The intent is to connect health care workers with crack cocaine
smokers to evaluate how many of the drug users are in the city and
what equipment they need to lower their risk of catching diseases such
as hepatitis C, HIV and even respiratory illnesses.

A kit with a clean, unused pipe, mouthpiece, filter and condoms will
be handed out to the participants, Gustafson said. It's not known at
this time how many drug users will take part in the pilot, which is
estimated to cost between $50,000 and $60,000.

"There's been a shift to crack cocaine smoking and we want to make
sure the services we provide are the services they need ... if we're
providing syringes and what we need are pipes, we're not serving
them," Gustafson said.

"We know there's a demand and chances are what we're going to be able
to supply won't last very long."

Health officials already provide mouthpieces for crack pipes but not
the pipe themselves. This means many drug users are sharing the glass
pipes, which may be old or chipped, and are at risk of contracting a
disease, such as hepatitis C, from cuts on their mouths, or
respiratory illness or pneumonia from inhaling crumbling filters or
the crack directly into their lungs.

"It's just understanding and knowing the health consequences of crack
cocaine smoking," Gustafson said. "Mouth pieces alone are not enough.
Health consequences don't just come from the mouth piece; they come
from unsafe pipes.

The pilot project is expected to reach out to the rising number of
crack cocaine smokers. Although specific numbers aren't known, it's
estimated there are up to 15,000 of drug users in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside.

But while heroin users can get clean needles from needleexchange
programs or the city's safe-injection site, new pipes aren't as easily
accessible.

"There's quite a high prevalence of [people] smoking crack but it can
differ from city to city," B.C. medical health officer Dr. Perry Kendall.

He said the pilot should help to reduce transmission rates for
disease, particularly for hepatitis C, which continues to be on the
rise in Vancouver. About 60% to 80% of drug users in Vancouver have
the disease or at risk of getting it, he said, because it's easily
spread through blood or saliva or through sexual activity.

"There's good reason that hepatitis C and HIV can be transmitted on
the mouth piece of pipes. It's not as clear as with needle-sharing but
it's pretty persuasive," Kendall said. "This pilot will tell us if we
should be doing more."

The pilot was initiated partly because of a report by Kendall last
spring, which found a rise in crack cocaine smoking has been
consistently reported in the Downtown Eastside with increases in
requests for crack smoking supplies.