Ottawa mayor against crack pipe program despite hep C study

Research that found traces of the hepatitis C virus on a used crack pipe has not changed Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien's opposition to the city's former crack pipe program.

The study released this week by Dr. Benedikt Fischer of the University of Victoria showed it may be possible to pass hepatitis C from one crack smoker to another.

That was one situation that the Ottawa program tried to prevent by providing clean, rubber-tipped crack pipes to addicts until it was cancelled by city council in July

O'Brien said Friday he is "very open-minded in terms of scientific evidence," but would have to see data that suggest the city program caused addicts to avoid sharing crack pipes before he would change his mind.

"Based on what I've seen, based on what the police have told me, based on what I've been told by the crack addicts themselves, it isn't even in their mindset," he said while at a staff Christmas party at city hall.

However, he addedthere's no question in his mind that sharing crack pipes is dangerous.

Incidents of crack pipe sharing did fall after the Ottawa program began, according to a study by University of Ottawa researcher Lynne Leonard that wasavailable online as a corrected proof in the International Journal of Drug Policy in May.

However, the mayor and some councillors dispute the study's findings.

The mayor has expressed his opposition to the program since he started running foroffice in the 2006 election campaign, saying that addicts need help, not supplies.

When council cancelled the program, at least one councillor argued there's no evidence the program did reduce the spread of disease and the program sent mixed messages, since people could be arrested for possessing crack.