Safe inhalation kits coming to Sask.

Province sees rise in addiction to crystal meth

SASKATOON Safe inhalation kits will be made available at Saskatchewan harm-reduction sites in the new year as part of efforts to stem the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C among people using crack cocaine and methamphetamine.

Seven provinces already provide the supplies. Saskatchewan has lagged behind because the health authority believed the practice was illegal until legislative changes came into force last month as part of sweeping changes to the Criminal Code related to the legalization of marijuana on Oct. 17.

Specifically, the federal government decriminalized the distribution of instruments and literature related to illicit drug use.

Jacquie Holzmann, executive director of integrated primary health care for the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said some provinces, including Ontario, chose to offer the kits regardless, prior to Oct. 17.

But Saskatchewan wanted to operate within the confines of the law.

“The changes to the federal legislation that came into effect Oct. 17, that kind of removed a barrier that was existing in Saskatchewan to move forward with this plan,” Holzmann said.

Dr. Ashok Chhetri, medical health officer for Yorkton, said two different kits will eventually be available at the province’s 29 harm-reduction sites: one for crack cocaine and one for crystal meth.

He said both kits will include a brochure of sorts with information on how to smoke crack or crystal meth safely.

The kits will cost the province about $1 each. Chhetri said it’s not yet clear how many kits will be ordered.

He said people using the province’s harm-reduction sites have asked for the kits, so the health authority knows demand is there.

The safe-inhalation kits are intended to provide drug users with an alternative to injecting drugs or inhaling with makeshift pipes that can be made of materials like glass bottles, which can cause cuts, burns, blisters and other sores that can lead to the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C when shared.

Chhetri said there’s no data on how frequently drug users are contracting HIV and hepatitis C.

Saskatchewan has higher rates of HIV than the nation as a whole; according to provincial data, 67 per cent of Saskatchewan residents newly diagnosed with HIV in 2017 reported that they injected drugs.

The province is also seeing a rise in crystal meth use; according to the former Saskatoon Health Region, 25 per cent of people who were reported to addictions programs in 2015-16 reported using crystal meth.

That was a substantial increase from five per cent in 2012-13.