CRACK PIPE PROGRAM IRKS OTTAWA MAYOR

OTTAWA (CNS) -Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien isn't happy that a local
crack pipe distribution program was revived by the provincial
government last month, so he has written a letter to Municipal
Affairs and Housing Minister Jim Watson, demanding an explanation.
Mr. O'Brien's letter to Mr. Watson asks why the government supports
the program that provides drug users with clean crack pipes, which
city councillors voted to discontinue last summer.

The controversial program is designed to limit the spread of
communicable diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, by way of reducing
the sharing of pipes among drug users.

In his letter to Mr. Watson, Mr. O'Brien expresses his
"disappointment" with the way the Liberal government has chosen to
wade into the city's affairs. Though the province did inform the
Somerset West Community Health Centre, who applied for the funding,
Mr. O'Brien said city officials were not consulted.