Free crack cocaine pipes enable the saving of lives

Louise Gallagher (Director, Public Relations & Volunteer Services, with the Calgary Drop In and Rehab Centre)
The Calgary Herald (Canada)
Sunday, August 21, 2011

In 2008, Safeworks, an outreach program of Alberta Health Services, began a harm reduction program aimed at mitigating the effects of sharing crack pipes with other addicts. Through the program, users had the opportunity to obtain a clean pipe. It helped cut down on transmittable diseases and it gave outreach workers an opportunity to build relationships and explore safer options with this at-risk population of crack users. It's disheartening that AHS decided last week to let this program go up in smoke because it became controversial.