Vancouver health officials will distribute new crack pipes to drug users this fall as part of a pilot project aimed at reducing the transmission of diseases such as hepatitis C.
The program, part of Vancouver’s harm-reduction strategy, is expected to start in October and run for six months to a year, said Dr. Reka Gustafson, a medical health officer with the Vancouver Coastal Health authority.
The intent is to help health-care workers connect with crack-cocaine smokers to evaluate how many of the drug users are in the city and what equipment they need to lower their risk of catching diseases such as hepatitis C, HIV and even respiratory illnesses.
Get daily National news
Across Canada, only a handful of cities, including Calgary and Winnipeg, hand out crack pipes.
The Alberta Health Services program has been run by the Safeworks Van since November of 2008.
The three-year-old program has been launched into the spotlight in light of Vancouver’s announcement.
Staff in the Safeworks van distribute one pipe per day to addicts who request them as a way to reduce the spread of infection. Every exchange also comes with health counselling and treatment.
Each pipe costs the Alberta government less than 75 cents.
In Calgary, the number of clients requesting pipes has decreased since the program launched. In 2009, 5,000 pipes were distributed. As of the end of June in 2011, only 2,500 had been distributed.
Even so, the taxpayer funded program isn’t sitting well with people across the country, generating a lot of debate online and off.
Many Calgarians Global News spoke with say they feel the program is simply enabling drug users.
With files from Postmedia News
Comments