Pubdate: Tue, 26 Sep 2006
Source: Mcgill Tribune (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2006 The McGill Tribune
Contact:  http://www.mcgilltribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2672
Author: Kevin Hampson

HARM REDUCTION CENTRE PROVIDES "RESOURCES FOR DRUG USERS"

New Campus Service For Safer Drug Use

The Students' Society has developed a new service to provide 
resources for drug and alcohol education as well as activism on drug policy.

SSMU's Harm Reduction Centre aims primarily at ensuring the safe use 
of drugs and alcohol among McGill students, said Floh Hera-Vega, vice 
president clubs and services. This will include hard drugs, such as 
heroine and crack cocaine, as well as marijuana and alcohol.?

HRC is based on the premise that "if people are going to do 
something, one should give them the tools to do so safely," Herra-Vega said.

According to Herra-Vega, the new service will make information 
available to students about what is dangerous, such as the reuse of 
needles, or smoking marijuana while on certain medications.? The HRC 
will also provide resources for people with drug abuse problems, such 
as a help line and possibly counseling.

"We neither condone drug use nor condemn it," said Eric Rumi, the 
interim president of the HRC, "we're non-judgmental."

Harm reductionists say that the preventive approach, which attempts 
to dissuade people from using drugs, is ineffective and has negative 
consequences.

"For all the people who choose to use [drugs] anyhow, they're left 
with no access to information about the safe use of drugs, no 
information about the manufacture of drugs to ensure they are pure 
and safe," he said.

Although Rumi acknowledges that preventive measures work with some 
people, he says harm reduction completely rejects that approach.

"We wouldn't go out and say 'this is dangerous, don't do it.'" 
Instead, Rumi said, they would explain to McGill students and 
Montreal youths how to reduce the harms associated with the use of 
drugs, "should they choose to use them."

However, some students don't agree with the HRC's approach to the issue.

Charles de Lannoy, U3 Physics, said that the use of heroine and crack 
cocaine should not under any circumstances be considered "safe." They 
are extremely addictive and destructive to the body, he said.

"Their claim of being neutral towards drug use is kind of 
disingenuous," de Lannoy said. "If [the HRC] is not discouraging the 
use of hard drugs and it's showing students the 'safe' way to use 
them, they are implying that the use of this kind of drug is 
acceptable and legitimate," he said. "They're really not that neutral."

The HRC has a policy agenda, which it will promote within the 
framework of the Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP).

"There'll be chapters [of CSSDP] opening in different parts of the 
country . . . we will be the leading chapter," Rumi said.

While the HRC advocates the legalization of marijuana, its policy 
position on hard drugs is still being developed.. Harm Reduction sees 
the ramifications of prohibitive drug policies as the cause of much 
of the harm associated with drug use, Rumi said.

"A lot [of harm reductionists] favour shifting Canada's drug policy 
from enforcement to [a situation in which the] health care sector 
would regulate drug use," he said. "One of the big misconceptions 
surrounding heroine addiction is that it renders you incapable of 
running your life. If heroine were available and prescribed by a 
doctor, [addicts] wouldn't be in a desperate situation where they 
need to commit crimes," Rumi said. "If they didn't have to worry 
about where [to get] their heroine, they would have time . . . to 
look after their well being."

Rumi does not think law enforcement alone will reduce the number of 
Canadian drug users.

"Studies show heroine and marijuana use has increased, despite the 
hundreds of millions the government spends every year on drug 
enforcement," he said.

The HRC plans on working with the North American Opiate Medical 
Initiative, which does studies in the use of prescription heroine to 
help addicts get off the drug.

Jennifer Robinson, associate vice principal of communications at 
McGill, said that there is no concern that the HRC will have a 
lasting effect on McGill's image. While the Administration "would not 
tolerate the promotion of drug use," she said there is no evidence 
that the HRC does so and any suggestion that it does is speculation.

In two months, SSMU Council will decide whether to grant the HRC 
full-fledged service status. It was given interim service status in 
the meantime, because it would not receive the money and resources it 
requires without service status.

Over the next two months, the HRC "will have to show [it is] doing 
the work of a service," Herra-Vega said. "It's a trial period."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine