SAFE DRUG USE ADVOCATE DIES

Advocates for safe drug use in Canadian prisons are mourning the loss of a
well-known champion of the cause, Ladysmith resident Michael Linhart, who
died in Ottawa last week.

Linhart, an ex-prisoner who in September moved to Ladysmith from Vancouver,
was in the nation's capital to speak on a recently released report by the
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (CHALN) recommending the introduction of
needle exchange programs in Canadian prisons, but died of complications
resulting from a long running battle with AIDS and Hepatitis C.

"It's a big loss to anyone who is concerned about the health of all
Canadians by advocating for better health policy in prisons," said Ralf
Jurgens, former executive director of CHALN, where Linhart served as a
board member for several years. "He was a very warm person who had paid his
dues. He very much regretted what he did to get into prison and he wanted
to do good for all prisoners and all Canadians."

Linhart, who spent over a decade in the correctional system before being
granted parole in the mid-90s, was one of the first inmates in Canada to
speak out publically on the spread of disease in prisons after being
diagnosed HIV-positive himself in 1991. He helped found a Prison Outreach
Program for prisoners with AIDS in 1993, and also presented to the
International Conference on HIV/AIDS in Vancouver in 1996.

Linhart's mother Rosaline described her son as affectionate, caring, and
imbued with a gentle spirit, demonstrated through his involvement, while
incarcerated, with a program that rescued sick or unwanted horses. She said
he was determined to travel to Ottawa, despite the risk to his health.

"He said 'mom I have worked for this for 11 years. I'm going even if it
kills me,'" said Rosaline, who spoke to the Chronicle from Edmonton. "So
that's how passionate he was about this cause. He'd lived the situation and
he knew about it."

Both Jurgens and Linhart's mother said the said irony of Linhart's death,
is that he was just beginning to turn his troubled life around, and saw his
move to Ladysmith as signalling a positive change.

"The last thing Michael showed me was the pictures from his windows in
Ladysmith overlooking the harbour," said Jurgens. "He was so happy to be there."