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I can only describe my mood today as "infuriated, but not surprised." Yesterday, Ottawa City Council voted to shut down a crack pipe exchange program, despite the strenuous objections of city health officials and local community workers. This came on the heels of an anti-drug demonstration staged by the Sandy Hill Business Improvement Association, who argued that the program led to increased drug use in Ottawa's touristy Byward Market.

The business owners arrived to a sympathetic audience at city hall. Mayor Larry O'Brien had promised to end the program as part of his municipal election campaign, and yesterday, he teamed up with councillor Rick Chiarelli (and 13 others) to cancel a program that cost a mere $8,000 a year, and had the potential to save a significant number of lives.

Local bloggers are going apeshit about this. Vicky Smallman points out the fact that "Ottawa has an alarmingly high rate of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among Intravenous Drug users - at 21%, it is 9 times greater than Toronto's infection rate." Yep, you heard her right. Nine times higher.

And even through city councillors claimed that there was no evidence to suggest that the program was working, they simply chose to ignore a study that the city itself commissioned last year from epidemiologist Lynne Leonard. The study demonstrates that while the program did lead to an increase in crack smoking, it also radically reduced users' sharing of drug paraphernalia, providing "significant scientific evidence" that the program reduced the harm associated with crack smoking.

As Adam Graham from the AIDS Committee of Ottawa explains, pipe and needle exchange programs also act as a first point of contact between users and health professionals, allowing them to access health services, therefore increasing the likelihood that they'll also seek out addiction counselling. In the case of crack smoking, a program like this prevents people from using burning metal pipes and cans, which cause open sores, and lead to HIV and hepatitis transmission.

But of course, these rational, health-based, scientifically-proven arguments mean nothing to bunch of city councillors who are more concerned about the "messaging" associated with handing out crack pipes. They've chosen to protect knee-jerk sensibilities over people's lives. It's simply shameful.

Still, local activists haven't given up the fight. The AIDS Committee of Ottawa announced that it would continue the program, even without city funding. And the new Ottawa Police chief has urged the city to conduct another study before burying the program for good.

Let's hope that city council smartens up, and chooses to listen to the facts. I'm not holding my breath.

-- Cross posted to Dykes vs. Harper

More entries on: Harm reduction

July 05, 2007

"Strawberry Quik" Methamphetamine: Anatomy of a moral panic

Posted by shawnsyms at 10:20 AM ET | Comments (5)

A few weeks ago, North American media outlets started running stories about the worst thing either law enforcement or parents could imagine. A new formulation of crystal meth had appeared on the scene, one that was pink and sweetened, dubbed "Strawberry Quik" and aimed at schoolkids.

According to police, it was poised to sweep the country. Even in harm-reduction circles, we started asking ourselves if this horrible-sounding phenomenon could really be happening.

It doesn't look like it. The US-based drug-policy group Join Together, a project of the Boston University School of Public Health, dug into the headlines a bit further and found less of a problem than had initially been suggested. They noted: "Flavored meth is somewhat akin to the Loch Ness Monster: everyone has heard of it, but firsthand sightings are hard to track down and verify."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency told Join Together they in fact had no confirmed seizures of "flavoured" methamphetamine. One drug expert told the agency that pink-coloured meth was a real possibility, but this was because of the dye that one precursor ingredient sometimes contains rather than any nefarious intentions.

The agency also talked to a former meth cook, who suggested the idea of "flavouring" meth—which is usually snorted, smoked or injected rather than eaten—made little sense and would be likely to hard to integrate into the manufacturing process of the drug.

The initial news story pitted evil drug dealers against vulnerable children. The reality, as usual, is more complex. To read the detailed investigation, go here.

PHOTO CREDIT: EROWID.ORG

More entries on: Harm reduction

May 29, 2007

HIV? Thanks, officer.

Posted by shawnsyms at 09:38 AM ET | Comments (5)

Police crackdowns on drug use lead to increases in HIV transmission. This assertion is supported by "Do Not Cross," a just-released report from the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

To avoid HIV, hepatitis, abcesses and other health problems, ideally an injection drug user should use a new, clean needle each time. But when people are afraid of being thrown in jail, they avoid carrying needles on their person, re-use them often, and hide them in dirty places—bushes, garbage cans—to avoid detection. They inject as quickly as possible to reduce the risk of getting caught in the act, often injuring themselves in the process. They can be forced to store their drugs in any available bodily orifice on approach of the cops, which is harmful and dangerous. In some cases, they may switch from smoking to injecting a drug like heroin, even though this is riskier, because it can done faster and requires less of the drug itself.

When people are displaced to random neighbourhoods as part of anti-drug legal strategies, they have less access to support services and clean needles, and they may introduce others to drug use and attendent harms who would not have otherwise been exposed.

And when drug users end up in jail, they suffer from a variety of HIV-related harm and risk, including "lack of access to clean syringes or sterilizing materials in prison, lack of access to information and education on HIV/AIDS, lack of reliable access to opioid substitution therapy, lack of access to condoms, failure to prevent sexual violence and coercion, and interruption of antiretroviral treatment." The last point is an important one: HIV treatment is a form of HIV prevention, as a person on anti-HIV meds is less likely to transmit the virus to someone else.

Not all drug users are affected equally by police crackdowns. As Do Not Cross author Joanne Csete notes, "Those who have the most marginal housing, the lowest income and the least developed social networks will be most at risk." Read the whole report here.

More entries on: HIV/AIDS | Harm reduction | Prisons

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July 12, 2007

Ottawa City Council chooses NIMBYism over public health

July 05, 2007

"Strawberry Quik" Methamphetamine: Anatomy of a moral panic

May 29, 2007

HIV? Thanks, officer.