Drug user support group hands out free crack pipes (canada.com)

Drug user support group hands out free crack pipes, seeks funding

Drug user support group hands out free crack pipes, seeks funding

See also: Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and Hepatitis C Resources

Tiffany Crawford
Canadian Press

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

VANCOUVER (CP) - A support group for drug users began distributing hundreds of free crack pipes over the weekend in an initiative they say will help slow the spread of disease among drug users.

Over 500 crack kits were handed out Friday and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users plans to hand out hundreds more in the coming days, said network president Rob Morgan on Sunday. Now the group is looking for public funding to maintain their crack kit program.

"In the same way as handing out needles, these kits advance harm reduction and prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C," said Morgan, a self-described crack cocaine addict.

Each kit contains a glass pipe, mouth pieces, condoms, alcohol swabs, matches, and smoking instructions.

The money to buy the crack kits came from private organizations and street donations. Morgan said drug users are asked for a minimum one dollar donation for the kits.

"But we're not going to turn people away," he said.

The Rock Users Group - a branch of VANDU - spearheaded the project and has asked the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to provide funding for the kits.

But the authority maintains that more research is needed to determine whether the crack kits have potential health benefits before it supports such an initiative.

"It's not something you just suddenly do in that we would have to consider this and there might be other options there," said Vancouver Coastal Health Authority spokesman Peter Roaf.

"It's not a simple decision to be made."

RUG has also been lobbying for a crack smoking room to be included in the city's controversial safe injection site, the first of its kind in North America.

There is no legal provision to allow safe inhalation sites, according to the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which runs the safe injection site.

The disposable mouthpieces included in the kits help to prevent the spread of infection from split or bleeding lips, Morgan said.

"It's not just crack users, there's a lot of them out there that are (multiple) drug users which could mean people who smoke crystal meth or heroin," Morgan said.

The Community Health and Safety Evaluation Project monitors population health trends and evaluates the impact of health services in Vancouver's seedy Downtown Eastside.

It is currently involved in putting together surveys on crack kit use to help RUG get the funding it needs, Morgan said.

Other "safe-inhalation" programs in Canada have received public funds.

In August, Winnipeg health officials began handing out similar kits endorsed by medical health officer Dr. Margaret Fast.

It would "reduce the physical harms that crack cocaine users suffer" she told critics at the time. Winnipeg based its crack pipe program on a similar one in Toronto.

Vancouver's safe injection site, a three-year pilot project, was launched in September 2003 to see if injecting drugs in a safe environment with clean equipment would lower the number of drug overdoses and halt the spread of HIV and other diseases among users.

AIDS Vancouver Island operates a Needle Exchange in Victoria Street Outreach Services.

AIDS Vancouver Island Position on Supervised (Safe)Injection Site in Victoria.

View AIDS Vancouver Island's Five Year Strategic Plan.

The city of Victoria's Downtown Action Plan