Times ColonistJune 2, 2009

A woman smokes crack on Pandora Avenue. Crack pipes and other drug-use equipment should be distributed in a safe manner to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, a letter-writer says.

Photograph by: Debra Brash, Times Colonist, Times Colonist

I support Coun. Philippe Lucas’ call for the distribution of crack pipes. Hepatitis C and tuberculosis are among the serious health complications resulting from shared pipe use. The distribution of safer drug-use equipment in no way encourages illicit drug use; rather, it prevents the spread of infectious diseases and therefore demonstrates to people who use illicit drugs that we are a compassionate society and believe in the right of all people to essential public health-care services.

VIHA should be basing its policies on the abundant public-health research available, rather than on misinformed police officers. Contrary to police advice that the number of pipes on the street appears to be meeting demand, the limited crack pipe distribution currently occurring has created a volatile situation in which pipes are a commodity on the street.

Disease prevention, the opportunity for treatment and harm reduction are all encompassed by the distribution of safer drug-use equipment. Widespread international public-health evidence has shown that prohibition and enforcement cause the lion’s share of harm.

Heather Hobbs Victoria

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