Pubdate: Sat, 01 May 2010
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2010, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Toby Gorman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (HIV/AIDS)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CRACKS KITS COMING TO CITY THIS SUMMER

A controversial harm reduction strategy will go ahead in Nanaimo, 
this time with city council's consultation.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority's original foray into providing 
safer tools for drug users three years ago was met with outrage from 
both council and neighbourhood groups because of a lack of consultation.

This time, VIHA will use several fixed sites in areas known to be 
havens for drug users instead of a mobile van.

Lorna Medd, a medical health officer with VIHA, spoke to city council 
Monday, though neighbourhood groups continue to look in from the 
outside where consultation is concerned.

Medd said distributing the safer crack kits is the best way to reduce 
the spread of HIV, AIDS and hepatitis C among drug users.

"We are really struggling because we have no gold standard treatment 
to deal with addictions to crack cocaine," said Medd. "And they are 
not an easy group of people to connect with."

The kits include condoms, needles, syringes, alcohol swabs, push 
sticks, plastic tubes and cookers. The kits help reduce the risk of 
transmitting diseases like HIV, AIDS, and hepatitis C by replacing 
broken and dirty glass tubes drug users commonly use to inhale drugs.

In the central Island, 80 per cent of 125 known drug users use crack 
cocaine, which has become the drug of choice since the mid-1990s 
because of its availability. Sixty-five of those users are based in 
Nanaimo. Of those, five per cent have contracted HIV while 72 per 
cent have hepatitis C.

"The more we are able to offer useful tools that can prevent the 
transmission of these diseases the more likely we are to break the 
pattern and hopefully bring people in to other kinds of treatment," said Medd.

The kits will be distributed starting sometime in the summer.

The project will be coordinated with other outreach programs in 
Nanaimo, including the city's Housing First Strategy, RCMP community 
policing, homeless outreach crisis response, Clearview detox centre 
and Harris House clinic, and with a memorandum of understanding 
between the city and VIHA.

Mayor John Ruttan said he had concerns with the kits being 
distributed by vehicle, saying instead he would prefer the exchanges 
to be made a fixed sites.

"The mobile exchange certainly had its challenges and I think it 
would be more palatable to the city to have these exchanges at fixed 
sites," said Ruttan.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom