Crack pipe sharing

Benedikt Fischer, leader of a study released Wednesday. The director of the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research said it affirms the risk that oral crack users can pass on hep C through risky crack use methods.

The evidence comes from a new biological study of drug paraphernalia used by more than 50 inner city crack users in Toronto last year.

In the study, crack pipes were collected shortly after being used by 51 users, who were tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies. The study comes as public heat over the distribution of free, safe crack-pipe kits continues to inflame some Canadian communities. Political pressure at the municipal level saw Ottawa scrap its safe pipe program earlier this year, while a similar program in Nanaimo, B.

Fischer said he felt the study's results have implications and lessons for both scientists and public health officials.

British Columbia's provincial health officer said evidence of the virus on the stems of crack pipes clearly helps the argument that hep C can be transmitted between smokers of the concentrated cocaine concoction, sometimes known on the street as "rock. Perry Kendall.

Safer crack kits most often include a glass stem, mouthpiece, metal screens, matches, Vaseline, condoms, lubricant, hand wipes and alcohol swabs.

Some also include lip balm, chewing gum and information materials concerning safer crack use and treatment of oral sores and lesions. Kendall rejected suggestions that some harm reduction programs promote drug abuse. He said studies show needle-exchange programs and supervised safe injection sites do not encourage anyone "to take up drug use or do more drugs than they would have done otherwise.

In Victoria, about 70 per cent reported sharing crack pipes, while about 60 per cent in Vancouver said they shared. Researcher Andrew Ivsins said while smoking crack isn't as dangerous as using needles, sharing pipes still carries risks. But it has been hypothesized that hepatitis C, for example, can be transmitted through crack pipes. The rate of needle sharing was low in comparison: about 20 per cent in Victoria, and four per cent in Vancouver.

Ivsins said pipe sharing is more prevalent because local health authorities don't distribute pipes in the same way they distribute clean needles.

Ivsins said there are "limited" programs in both cities handing out rubber mouthpieces and other parts, but not pipes. Perry Kendall, the province's health officer, agreed programs distributing clean crack paraphernalia need to be expanded, and he said his office has encouraged municipalities and local health regions to do so.

Still, he suggested the rate of pipe sharing overstates the risk to crack users, since it doesn't account for those who share pipes but use their own mouthpieces. The director of the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research saidthe studyaffirms that oral crack users can pass on hepatitis C through risky crack use methods.

The evidence comes from a new biological study of drug paraphernalia used by more than 50 inner city crack users in Toronto last year. In the study, crack pipes were collected shortly after being used by 51 people, who were tested for hepatitis C virus antibodies. The virus was detected on one of 22 pipes tested whose owners had tested antibody positive. The study comes as public heat over the distribution of free, safe crack-pipe kits continues to inflame some Canadian communities.