Pubdate: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Prince George Citizen Contact: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350 Author: Frank Peebles Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) CRACK PIPES HANDED OUT DOWNTOWN The Needle Exchange is now handing out free crack pipes downtown in an effort to reduce the broader harm caused by drug use in the city. The little glass pipes with a rubber mouthpiece are the tool of choice for those who smoke crack cocaine and some other drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine. "Our IVDU (intravenous drug users) clients were telling us about the significant crack cocaine and crystal meth use in our community," said Needle Exchange co-ordinator Linda Keefe. There was already a body of research indicating that the rubber ends on the crack pipes did a lot to curb the spread of disease, as would having a supply of clean pipes. "We thought we would put out this little feeler to see if there would be any response," Keefe said. "Our drug-user population was so spread out, and for other reasons too, that we did not think we could get them to embrace the mouth guard concept, but we thought we would do a trial run. This we did with a sample of 400 pipes. We got them on a Thursday and they were all gone by the Tuesday. We were blown away. We had no idea, back then, that so many people were smoking crack cocaine. We set about ordering a supply because it was clearly a service in demand." Just like sharing needles, the passing of drug pipes can also spread diseases. In Prince George, the Needle Exchange, became concerned that diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, tuberculosis, syphilis and other blood-borne infections might well take off in the community unless this transmission vehicle was stopped. In 2003, they made their first foray into the crack cocaine community. Today, the free crack pipes are given out at a rate of between 20 and 50 per day. They easily exceed 1,000 per month. Officials say the service is also a foot in the door for health-care providers to a group of local people who do not always seek out help. "It gave us a chance to engage a group of people, and also provide routine public health services, that we were hardly reaching at all before," Keefe said. Prince George is not the only centre to take on pipe-passed diseases. The District of Sechelt was doing it as of 2002 and at that time, was encouraging intravenous drug addicts to switch to the safer pipes, if possible. In 2007, the chief medical officer for the City of Ottawa, Dr. David Salisbury, estimated the cost of hospitalizing an AIDS sufferer there to be about $600,000 compared to a few thousand dollars in costs to distribute clean needles and crack pipes. In January, the provincial Ministry of Health introduced free crack pipes as a province-wide service for those health authorities who had an applicable distribution network like the Needle Exchange in Prince George. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin