CRACK SMOKERS MIGHT SET UP ILLEGAL SITE

An award given to a Vancouver nurse last week encouraged a group of
drug users pushing for a safe crack inhalation room to consider
setting up an illegal site if necessary.

"What were going to do is all the legal measures first," said Rob
Morgan, a member of the Rock Users Group, a group of crack users
lobbying for the safe inhalation room.

Morgan has so far concentrated his efforts on writing letters to the
provincial and federal government and trying to get crack kits
distributed in the Downtown Eastside.

But if the political process to approve the site takes a year, as the
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority predicts, Morgan said the delay
would be "too long" and an illegal site may be the solution to
expedite approval.

Morgan pointed to nurse Megan Oleson, honoured by the Canadian Awards
for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights last week. Oleson established
an illegal injection site last year while the federal government and
the city negotiated the establishment of a supervised site on the
100-block of East Hastings Street.

The health authority needs a special exemption from Health Canada to
open up the inhalation room. Clay Adams, health authority spokesman,
admits receiving approval for the room and opening the site could take
more than a year. Unlike the safe injection site, which took eight
months to approve, the inhalation room has divided the community.

Adams said the safe injection site was moved forward by the
overwhelming support from government and community groups involved in
the decision. He said the presence of the illegal injection site was
not a factor.

Last month, Mayor Larry Campbell threw his support behind the
inhalation room, but Insp. Bob Rolls, police commander for the
Downtown Eastside, is less convinced of the health benefits. Rolls
said the room would merely move criminal activity indoors, and he had
concerns about putting crack smokers into one area because users may
develop cocaine psychosis, leading to violent and dangerous behaviour.

Dr. David Marsh, the health authority's attending physician at the
safe injection site, said the injection site's staff has dealt with
people experiencing cocaine psychosis because users inject cocaine
there. He said he is confident staff could also handle the demands of
the inhalation room.

"We believe an inhalation room is an issue worth looking into," said
Marsh. He said smoking crack carries with it the risk of HIV and
hepatitis infection.

Morgan, who still uses crack, said glass crack pipes often break or
crack under the high heat.

The high temperatures also lead to scabbing on the user's lips, which
further increases the risk of infection, Marsh said.

Several inhalation rooms operate in Europe, but they are primarily
used for smoking heroin. Marsh said a crack inhalation room would
allow for further research into the risks faced by crack smokers.

Ann Livingston, program coordinator for the Vancouver Area Network of
Drug Users, said her organization has no plans to open an illegal
site, but said there are rumors circulating about an illegal site opening.

She said crack addicts, who spend their days with other addicts and
dealers, need to be in regular contact with counsellors.

"The injection site fails if you have to go into the alley and smoke
your rock," Livingston said.