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SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Supporters of a plan to hand out clean crack pipes to San Francisco drug users say they’re not swayed by city opposition and plan to hand them out anyway.Activists claim that such a program would have many of the same benefits of needle exchanges, essentially connecting users with services that could help them turn their lives around.You need to download the latest version of flash player to use this playerNeed Help?The city of San Francisco hands out 2.7 million clean needles a year to IV drug users. Advocates said clean glass pipes to crack users could also cut HIV and Hepatitis C cases.Laura Thomas of the HIV Prevention and Planning Council has made a formal recommendation to the city’s health department. As KPIX 5 reported last week, city leaders have balked at the proposal.play“It may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s a great program. Once you can get people into your program, make them feel respected, taken care of them, they’re more likely to want to come back and want to get on HIV meds,” Thomas said.Last week’s report set of a flurry of opposition sentiment from government officials, including the mayor’s office. Mayor Ed Lee was first with a statement, via an email from his spokesperson, Christine Falvey: “Mayor Lee is not aware of this exploration and is not supportive. There are many other HIV interventions that could and should be explored before ever considering this.”However Isaac Jackson, a Tenderloin resident and founder of what he calls a “tiny” drug user advocate
