VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Curbing the spread of disease and ensuring drug users who want help get it is possible if governments are willing to embrace some unorthodox methods.
That's the message from advocates and experts who suggest cities should distribute clean crack pipes to crack cocaine users.
The goal is to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis.
Andrew Ivsins, a University of Victoria researcher, says right now people get free mouth pieces, but they are difficult to remove, so giving out crack pipes instead may be more effective.
"People end up just not taking the mouthpiece off and sharing it that way, with the mouthpiece on, or not putting the mouthpiece on anyway and just sharing the pipe," he explains.
Vancouver's health authority will start a pilot project later this year to hand out glass pipes, in the same city that hosts North America's only safe-injection site.
Vancouver Coastal Health's Chief Medical Health Officer
Dr. Patricia Daly says the real purpose of the program is for addicts to have more interaction with health workers.
"I think one of the really positive things we found is the real engagement strategy," she says. "Many of these people weren't engaged in treatment at all, and we've been able to get them into addiction treatment to engage them in other health services, whether it's immunization or other things."
Advocates and experts say crack pipes should be a standard tool in every province and municipality's drug strategies.
(The Canadian Press)