Van delivers clean crack pipes to city's drug users
As Downtown Eastside residents await the arrival of clean crack pipes at Insite, workers from the Vancouver Mobile Needle Exchange deliver tens of thousands of clean crack pipes to drug users in area.
"It's like distributing condoms," said Mark Townsend, co-founder and executive director of the Portland Hotel Society, which runs the needle exchange program. "There are studies showing that HIV and Hepatitis C is higher in the drug-addicted population, and that's how it spreads, from one population to another."
The program's black safari van is on the road for an exhausting 21 hours a day, providing free condoms, crack pipes, needles and referrals to detox centres. The van responds to calls from people who wish for delivery of crack pipes or needles, and also makes stops in alleyways to provide clean materials and needles to drug users.
In addition to the Downtown Eastside, the van helps distribute needles and crack pipes to people throught the city.
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