HARM REDUCTION MORAL STRATEGY

In case you missed it, for the last three years Alberta Health
Services had been giving out crack pipe kits.

These cost around 50 cents each and were an effort to reduce
transmittable diseases.

For non-users of crack cocaine out there, each of the kits has a glass
pipe, mouthpiece and cleaning tool. Over three years, Alberta Health
gave out 14,500 kits. There are similar programs in Vancouver,
Winnipeg and throughout the United States. It's a response to a shift
away from injected drugs to crack in some cities.

Alberta recently discontinued the program because of a "potential for
a legal challenge with respect to distribution." In other words,
Alberta Health is trying to tell us that its lawyers think it is OK
for heroin, cocaine and Ritalin users to get free needles, but if an
addict wants to smoke crack in a safe pipe, a legal line has been crossed.

When you look past the spin, it's because of a growing political
firestorm generated by people who are against the idea of giving clean
crack pipes to addicts.

It's a simplistic moralistic reaction that only hurts people who most
need the help.

I grew up as an evangelical Christian and still am one. My grandmother
was president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union in
Saskatchewan, and I work for a faith-based organization that coined
the phrase, "demon rum," during Prohibition.

Being against harm reduction and all for temperance is in my DNA, so I
guess I should be celebrating the Alberta government's decision. But I
am not. At work I talk with addicts daily and I hate what the
addiction to drugs does to people. That's why I support harm reduction.

When people come for free crack pipes, clean needles or seek out a
safe injection site, they are doing two things: They are realizing
that things are out of control and they are putting themselves in
contact with the very people who can help them. A free crack pipe or
needle isn't an end; it's a means to an end. It's the first step to
realizing that this can't continue and they need help.

There is still some debate in Saskatoon about needle distribution and
harm reduction. After all, this was a city formed as a temperance
colony. It is a debate I can't understand, even from a legalistic
Christian perspective.

The idea is that we shouldn't make it easier for users to do drugs.
John Dooks, the head of the Calgary police association, said, "It's
implying you can use illicit drugs or unlawful drugs in a safe manner

The message should be there is no safe way to use drugs."

If you get caught with drugs in Calgary, Saskatoon or anywhere in
Canada, the police don't care that you have a clean crack pipe. You
will be charged. It comes from a puritan world view that says they got
themselves into this and must suffer the consequences even if it costs
society more in health-care costs later than to help addicts now.

When we look at drug users, the rationalization is that addicts either
have made a personal choice, or they have a low genetic tolerance to
drugs or alcohol. Both suppositions have the same underlying belief
that it's not society's fault or responsibility.

One thing we never talk about is the societal aspect of substance
abuse. Many addicts use drugs to escape suffering as a result of
horrible family situations, mental health issues, abuse, or physical
suffering. The drugs are pain killers. The problem is that in many
cases, the substances end up causing more pain and suffering than they
solve. Once people go down that road, many find it is impossible to
return.

Canadian society has always taken pride in its social safety net.
Saskatchewan has long covered the cost of addictions counselling and
treatment. As the drugs have become more addictive and damaging, the
techniques needed to overcome them must change, as well. Harm
reduction strategies are part of that, even if they make us
uncomfortable.

It isn't about enabling or making drug use normative. It's about
creating a path back out of the hell addicts find themselves trapped
in.

This isn't about morality or justice, it's about telling addicts that
they can find a way out and when they are out, they can be free of
both the drugs and, hopefully, avoid some medical consequences of drug
use.

Harm reduction also does something else. It tells addicts that someone
cares about them and their future. That's the moral decision we need
to be making.