IDEA CRACKED, CRITICS SAY

City Move To Hand Out Drug-Use Kits To Addicts No 'Miracle Solution,'
Toronto Researcher Says

Giving out free crack paraphernalia might help to lower the spread of
infectious diseases, but it doesn't help people get off crack, critics
said yesterday. "You can talk about safe injection sites, or safer
crack-use pipes, (but) none of those are miracle solutions," said Dr.
Benedikt Fischer, associate professor of public health at the
University of Toronto and research scientist at the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health.

Ottawa Coun. Eli El-Chantiry doesn't want the city to have any part in
the distribution of drug paraphernalia. Instead, he wants more
counsellors talking to users about their addictions to convince them
to seek treatment. He goes as far as supporting forced rehab.

"All I can say is providing them with the tool is not going to solve
the problem," El-Chantiry said yesterday.

Tomorrow, the city will begin distributing glass stems, alcohol wipes
and lip balm to crack smokers. The move was approved last October as
part of the public health budget in an effort to curb the spread of
HIV and hepatitis among drug addicts.

Ottawa police confirm that over the past four or five years, crack use
has become more prevalent.

"We notice it in our seizures," said Ottawa police drug Staff-Sgt.
Marc Pinault. "We see a lot more crack cocaine. We see larger
quantities of crack cocaine."

Fischer said the crack pipe program doesn't address issues such as the
addiction itself, social marginalization, crime linked to crack use
and housing.

300 PARTICIPANTS

"We have to be very realistic about these things. They (free crack
pipes) will not solve the problems of crack use in our cities," he
said.

Paul Lavigne, harm reduction officer with the city's public health
department, said a process is in place to track people's behaviour and
see if the initiative is having an impact.

Ottawa is part of I-Track, the national surveillance system headed by
Health Canada, which includes a section on oral crack use.

Already, 300 participants have been questioned in Ottawa to give a
"before" picture. In May, 150 participants will be asked about their
oral crack use to get an idea of the short-term effects of the crack
pipe kit program. Followups will be done every six months,
indefinitely.

Operation Go Home will be the only distributor to street youth. Tom
Sidney, director of prevention and public education, called the
program "vital."

"If we don't do it, our kids are going to get infected. What are the
long-term effects of not doing anything? Our people are going to die."