VALLEY NOT SPARED RAVAGES OF DRUG ABUSE

Roots of the drug scene in Vancouver's downtown east side reach deep into
the families and green back yards of the North Island, says film maker
Nettie Wild.

"Most people down there come from somewhere else -- there is this huge pull
from small communities to the big city from the small towns. They go there,
and a lot of them eventually go home. It's a horrible thing. You go to
Vancouver, and you come home to die," Wild said.

Wild's documentary, Fix: the Story of an Addicted City, will be shown
tomorrow at 7 and 9:30 p.m. at the Rialto Theatre. Tickets will be
available at the theatre. A panel, including Wild, North Island AIDS
Society social worker Phyllis Wood, and physician Barb Sehlau will host a
discussion after the 7 p.m. showing.

"When we get to the forums, people cut straight to the chase," Wild said.
"They deal straight with whatever has pulled them to the theatre: usually
what is happening in their own back yards, or in their families. It's so
immediate ... and it's a very non-threatening evening. We've seen teenagers
bring their parents."

And there are immense drug-related problems in Comox Valley families and
back yards, says Wood.

Each month, the needle exchange run by the North Island AIDS Society
(formerly the North Island AIDS Coalition) distributes some 52,000
hypodermic syringes to some 700 registered users (many of whom collect
syringes for friends who are wary of coming to the needle exchange themselves).

The needle exchange spawned controversy when it opened several years ago,
and opponents continue to see it as an encouragement to illicit drug use,
Wood says.

But the needle exchange aims to stem the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C,
rather than to encourage drug use, says Wood.

"Harm reduction is often the first step on the road to abstinence," she
said. "They come to see us looking for clean needles, and I say, 'have you
eaten today? Are you living inside?' and they realize that some people do
care ... and I say, 'if you were going to clean up, how would it happen?'
It becomes a safe place for them to ask questions."

"Cleaning up" is often more complex than just giving up drugs, says Wood.

Many users in their 30s and 40s have lived in the hand-to-mouth drug scene
since they were 13, and have never learned basic survival skills like
balancing a cheque book.

People often protest use of government money to fund the needle exchange,
but if the program prevents just one person from AIDS of Hepatitis C, the
health care system saves about $250,000, says Wood.

In time, Wood hopes to establish a safe injection site where addicts could
be supervised by trained medical staff while they take drugs.

People "shooting up" in alleys and public parks take enormous health risks,
because they are always in a hurry. They use water from mud puddles and
risk overdose by injecting drugs much too quickly, Wood says.

"We're not about facilitating drug use: We try to keep people alive so they
can eventually recover," Wood said.

"It's easy for people to say, 'it's just a junky; let they die,' but this
is someone's son or daughter or husband or wife."

The North Island AIDS Society offers free, legal and confidential harm
reduction programs in the Comox Valley, Campbell River, Alert Bay, Port
Hardy and Port McNeill. Harm reduction measures include needle exchanges,
disposable swabs and bleach kits for cleaning syringes, condoms, HIV and
Hepatitis A, B, and C testing, Hepatitis A and B vaccinations plus
counselling and support. For information about the North Island AIDS
Coalition, phone 338-7400.