Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2009. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - October 20, 2009
British Columbia Health officials want the federal government's permission to operate medically supervised sites to allow crack cocaine users to smoke.
Dr. Evan Wood of the B.C. Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS released his recommendations Monday in Vancouver, where the center already oversees Canada's only legal site for heroin and other drug users to inject themselves under supervision.
A paper published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said crack users were four times more likely to contract HIV than the other drug users, and Wood's research suggested that was because burns around the mouth from inhaling heated crack cocaine in glass bowls provided a perfect path for infection, the Vancouver Sun reported.
The provincial initiative does not have the support of federal Conservative Attorney General Rob Nicholson, a spokeswoman told the Sun in an e-mail, adding the minister feels so-called harm reduction sites "are inherently harmful to human health."
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