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HOLLAND
COLLEGE • April 29, 2003
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FEATURES
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{Program
helps Island addicts By Daniel
MurphySurveyor Reporter For five years he placed his life and health at risk. Like many in Prince Edward Island, he had a secret, so he had to take some risks. For many, when they think of P.E.I., potatoes and Anne of Green Gables spring to mind. It's a place of green fields, red clay and small town values. A dirty needle hanging from an arm is not part of the image. It is for Daniel Nowogorski. He is the co-ordinator of the harm reduction program at AIDS PEI. The program tries to reduce or contain the health, social and economic consequences of alcohol or other drug use. A needle exchange is one example of the work it does. Nowogorski can relate. The former injection drug user uses the experiences of his life to help prevent users on P.E.I. from contracting diseases such as hepatitis and HIV/AIDS. Through his work at AIDS PEI he has helped hundreds, providing clean needles and lending an ear. However, the program receives no funding from the provincial government. "Harm reduction itself is becoming a world-wide movement and P.E.I. is no part of that," said Nowogorski, relaxing in front of his computer, his tattooed arms an array of coloured ink. He looks part of the stereotypical younger generation of users. In his mid-twenties, his head is shaved and he has an assortment of piercings and lobe stretching the size of a loonie in each ear. In his office of blues and grays, casually dressed in black jeans, T-shirt and combat boots, Nowogorski looks more like a client than the co-ordinator. Yet when he speaks,he reveals a great understanding about harm reduction. And he hopes to gather enough information to prove the need for a government funded needle exchange, a methadone program and an update of the addiction services offered to injection drug (ID) users. "We need programs that cater directly to ID users. They can't be bunched in with other groups, it's completely different all together," he said as the light reflected off his tongue piercing. There are no programs directed to those addicted to opiates such as heroin, dilaudid, or morphine in P.E.I. An addict may end up sitting in a room of alcoholics going through the 12- step program. It doesn't work, says Nowogorski. "I get a lot of complaints from my clients saying ‘no I don't want to go to detox because I am not an alcoholic and I don't want to be treated like one,'" he said. Misconceptions are common. Some people believe handing out needles will promote drug use or users unwilling to seek treatment. This is not the case, he said, shaking his head. Many of his clients have attempted treatment and it didn't work, they tire of getting their hopes up. "For an addict, there is not much in the line of hope in their life, let alone have someone pump you full of it and let you down in the end." The injection drug population is a secretive group because of the stigma attached to the treatment they receive from the public and even some health care professionals. "The reaction to needle use, I think, is a combination of fear and disgust, so of course people don't want people to know about it." Even years after kicking his own habit, Nowogorski still has some problems when people learn of his past. He was once told by an Island physician not to come back to the hospital because he was probably just looking for a way to get high. "I suffer a problem due to my drug abuse, I have an incredible tolerance to a lot of drugs. I didn't kick my addictions for some guy who doesn't know me to treat me like I'm just itching to go shot up," Nowogorski said. It took nearly two years to find and earn the trust of his clients. Now many see him as a confidant and prefer to speak with him rather than a drug counselor because he understands them and he is clean. He can understand how important access to clean needles is in the injection drug world. Coming from a small town, he and his friends would argue over which one would go to the pharmacy to buy clean needles. "We'd be re-using our needles so much the tips were dull," he said. "You have to get in with brute force, which I can say hurts like hell." At times they would lose track of whose needles were whose. And there was a hepatitis outbreak where he was living. He credits Mainline, a Halifax needle exchange, with helping him remain disease free. "Having access to clean needles keeps them [users] alive, keeps them healthy and greatly improves their quality of life," he said. Shortly after his return to the Island he realized there was a need for clean needles, so he started an outreach service with the help of Barb Gibson, the executive director of AIDS PEI. The ringing of his cell phone has awakened him at all hours with calls from users who had run out of clean needles. After wiping the sleep from his eyes, he jumps into his car to deliver. "Addicts don't really follow that nine-to-five schedule," said Nowogorski. In November he represented P.E.I. at a harm reduction conference in Toronto and many of the delegates were surprised to learn about the lack of services offered on P.E.I. "The federal government is looking at legalizing certain drugs and other places are opening up safe injection sites, needle exchanges, methadone programs," he said "It's phenomenal to look at everything west of here doing something and we're not. It's like we don't have any problems." The number of injection drug users may not be enormous on P.E.I. but it does affect the general population, Nowogorski said. Health Canada estimates 210,000 to 275,000 Canadians are infected with hepatitis C, only 30 per cent know it and 63 per cent of new infections are related to injection drug use. Providing clean needles saves the government money on health care because it lowers the infection rate, Nowogorski said. The study, An Economic Evaluation of Mainline Needle Exchange, concluded Mainline saved the Nova Scotia government approximately $11 million from 1993 to 1997. Mainline was born out of the banding together of five community agencies who formed a committee and in 1991 negotiated for funding from the Department of Health, said Diane Bailey, executive director of Mainline. "What happened in ‘89 was the AIDS Coalition had given out 1,300 needles within eight months. We get $177,000 from the Department of Health now, that's for our core funding.” In the beginning the majority of Mainline clients were over 35. These people are now dying of hepatitis C. Today Bailey confirms they are getting larger numbers of young people and give out about 100,000 needles a year. "We are very committed and the government's been so supportive," said Bailey. Nowogorski is looking for $3,000. So far the P.E.I. government has not been interested. "It's not as simple as saying that's a great idea. Things need to be balanced," said assistant deputy health minister Bill Harper. The department only gets so much money and to fund a program the money must come from other programs, he said. Bailey suggests Nowogorski keep trying. This is the first year Mainline has received secured funding for three years and the money only supports for Bailey and one other staff person. Bailey said she is constantly proposing other projects, like one relating to hepatitis, so Mainline can hire more staff to deal with the 60 to 75 clients they see daily. "Just keep kicking the can. I can remember one of the ministers around ‘88-89 said as long as he was minister of health there would never be a needle exchange in Nova Scotia," she said. "You're going to get somebody. When you are thinking of the Island you have to think of a way not to shock the shit out of people." Mainline has grown into an provincial outreach program. She said you must make people understand it's not promoting drugs and educate them on the work being done. Mainline offers individual counselling, referrals, advocacy, a food bank, immunization for hepatitis A and B, anonymous testing and condom distribution. They also look for discarded needles to safely dispose of them. "A lot of families are in the closet and just don't know where to go for the help. This is what we are there for, try to keep it positive about other things you can offer besides needles," said Bailey. Meanwhile, Nowogorski remains hopeful. He was what others saw as a lost cause. Today he is successful, and a proud father. But for the rest of his life he will be an addict. "It's like an ironic joke and I'll wake up someday and think ‘Wow, that was a pretty good dream.'” Nowogorski can be reached at AIDS P.E.I. at 10 St. Peter's Rd. or at 940-0511 } |
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