By ALEX SILVERMAN
KIRO Radio

Seattle area drug users have relied on a University District needle exchange for two decades, but now, crack addicts can get a safe fix as well.

Shilo Murphy runs the Non-Profit Peoples Harm Reduction Alliance, which organizes the U-district needle exchange. "A participant came up to me and said, you give out syringes for injection drug users but you don't care about the ones who use crack. Where are our services?'" he said.

So Murphy did some research, "There's a real disease issue that no one to my knowledge is doing anything about," he said. Certain Hepatitis strains can be transmitted through the use of dirty and broken pipes.

In February, PHRA began distributing crack pipes and other materials needed for smoking the drug safely. Murphy estimates they now give out 10 pipes a day.

"I had a participant come from the other side of the table and give me a big hug," Murphy said. "He was so shocked that someone could care about his health."

Murphy says his program does not encourage drug use. "Being a drug user is not easy. We're not making it easier. We're just making it so you'll have less diseases."