SAFE CRACK KITS MAKING THE ROUNDS

In its fight to reduce the risk of spreading HIV and Hepatitis C,
Blood Ties Four Directions and the Outreach van began distributing
safe crack kits Thursday in Whitehorse.

Patricia Bacon, executive director of Blood Ties, said in an interview
this morning the kits are aimed at promoting safe practices among
users of crack cocaine.

The risk of spreading HIV and Hep C occurs when users with open sores
in their mouths or chapped lips share crack pipes, Bacon said.

Crack pipes, she added, can become hot and cause blistering of the
lips and such.

Distributing individual pipes not only reduces the risk of spreading
disease, but provides Blood Ties and the Outreach van with a means of
getting in touch with the crack users, she said.

Bacon said the needle distribution program by the two organizations
reaches a specific segment of the drug user population, but not the
crack user population, generally.

While the initiative to hand out safe crack kit is aimed at harm
reduction, it will also open the door to that segment of drug users
who staff can get to know and perhaps help by other means. That can
range from counselling to just explaining the hazards of sharing
pipes, she said.

Bacon accepts that just as with other harm reduction programs like the
needle exchange program and Canada's two safe injection sites, the
distribution of safe crack kits is likely to draw the ire of some who
see it as condoning or promoting the use of crack cocaine.

"It is about keeping people safe," Bacon emphasized.

Programs to distribute crack kits already exist in six other Canadian
cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Guelph,
Ont., she added

"It's about entitlement to health care."

The executive director of Blood Ties noted that Canada is among the
world leaders of reducing harm and risk among drug users.

And while there are some naysayers, the majority of Canadians accept
the harm reduction programs, she said.

"Canada does get harm reduction, and Canadians do support harm
reduction, and we do see how it works, and it is effective."

Bacon said the staff of Blood Ties and the Outreach van began
discussing the program last spring.

There have been inquiries from users about the possibility of getting
pipes, just as needle users are able to exchange needles, she said.

Among the items in the kit are a pyrex glass pipe, lip moisturizer, a
pamphlet promoting healthy choices and brass screens to insert in the
pipe.

Some material used as pipe screens can burn and end up in the lungs,
she said.