Canada: Crack Kits Hit Ottawa

In a bid to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, Ottawa will begin dispensing free crack kits to drug users. "Many crack users share their crack pipes," said Dr. Benedikt Fischer, a senior researcher at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health. Blood that may contain hepatitis C virus could pass between users via open sores or burns.

Ottawa has Canada's second-highest HIV rate and Ontario's highest rate of hepatitis C among injection drug users. A recent study showed between 70-80 percent of IV drug users have hepatitis C, said David Salisbury, the city's associate medical officer of health. "Sharing crack paraphernalia may contribute to that spread," he noted.

Each kit contains a glass stem with mouthpiece, alcohol swabs, aluminum caps, hand wipes, lip balms and a pamphlet on where to seek drug addiction treatment. Salisbury said the kits will cost the city less that $2 Canadian (US$1.65) per person per year, compared to a single hepatitis C drug treatment regimen at $30,000 (US$24,791).

The effort is modeled after an initiative in Toronto, whose drug users have had access to crack kits for a number of years, thanks to community-based organizations such as the Safer Crack Coalition of Toronto, said Fischer. "The hope is that if people are given safer crack-use kits that have not been used by anyone else, sharing won't occur, and risks and problems that lead to infectious disease won't happen," said Fischer, who is also an associate professor of public health sciences at the University of Toronto. The kits could help community groups connect with drug users, he added.

Toronto Public Health Director Liz Janson said the city does not have a formal program to distribute kits but funds community groups that do. "We do provide some resources, including alcohol swabs, lip balm, condoms and some educational materials," Janson said.

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