DISTRIBUTION OF CRACK KIT SURPRISING

A Nob Hill resident who tried to stop the sale of drug paraphernalia
in the neighbourhood is incensed that health nurses are handing them
out for free.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority's mental health and addictions
downtown team has been quietly handing out "safe crack kits" to drug
users downtown over the past five months.

But Norm Abbey wonders why the community wasn't notified first.

"I have a lot of questions - and everyone should, given the secrecy -
it kind of ruffles my feathers," Abbey said.

The kits are a reclosable plastic bag containing a glass tube shaped
like a ballpoint pen - a crack pipe - a rubber mouthpiece, one
condom, three screens and two pieces of chewing gum.

Jonnie Tunnell, coordinator of VIHA's mental health and addictions
crisis service, said the kits, worth about 96 cents each, have been
handed out to approximately 200 people in the past five months. "It's
an initiative that looks at reducing loss of life and the spread of
disease," Tunnell said.

Smoking a hot crack pipe can cause lips to blister and crack, and
sharing the pipe can spread hepatitis C and other diseases. The
rubber mouthpiece protects the lips from the heat of the crack pipe,
reducing chapping and the risk of spreading disease.

"One person being treated for hepatitis C is approximately $200,000,
over the course of the illness," Tunnell said.

Crack smokers also suffer lung damage by inhaling steel wool used as
a filter in the crack pipe. Screens are safer.

Abbey said he understands the need for harm reduction, but he wonders
why the team's intentions weren't communicated to the communities
directly affected.

Communication is a key recommendation made in the Neilson-Welch City
of Nanaimo Social Services Study, commissioned by the city in 2005.

The consultants recommend that service providers set up community
advisory committees to "formalize interaction with stakeholders in
the community."

Tunnell said she explained what nurses were doing to RCMP and VIHA.

Asked whether a more public approach would have been better, she said
health care providers aren't usually allowed to speak directly to the media.

"Right now there is a big sort of attack on our nurses," she said. "I
think there's a lot of people just not interested in helping people
who are down and out."

Dr. Fred Rockwell, VIHA's chief medical officer for the Central
Island, said Tuesday he didn't know the crisis nurses were
distributing the kits.

Mayor Gary Korpan said council first heard about it Friday in an
e-mail from a concerned resident. Council met privately with Tunnell
Monday, and Korpan said organizers have a responsibility to keep the
community informed.

"I'm still not sure about the legalities of this and have to ask harm
reduction for who(m)," he said. "Council wants to know who authorized this."

Coun. Merv Unger tabled a motion Monday to invite VIHA to appear at
the next public council meeting.

Cpl. Dave Laberge of the RCMP bicycle unit said he became aware of
the program several months ago, and police support what the nurses are doing.

"The community should be thanking them for the great job they're
doing, and if this improves the lines of communication, everyone
benefits," Laberge said.