Handing out safer-crack-use kits, which contain a glass stem, a rubber piece to go over the pipe, and five screens for the drug, are one of several services the needle exchange provides. Mainline, which opened in 1992, offers "harm reduction" programs, such as needle and pipe exchanges, to keep drug addicts from sharing dirty pipes and bloody needles and spreading diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS.

The centre has been providing the kits for over a year, handing out 917 kits last month. But the Halifax Regional Police say they just found out and they aren't pleased.

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