PSU Magazine Fall 1988

bit impatient with the argument that swapping clean needles for dirty ones amounts to condoning or promoting drug abuse. "That attitude comes from a failure to understand people," said Maynard. "IV drug users are plentifully motivated by things other than the availability of needles. And it's extremely unlikely that someone is going to start taking drugs just because needles are available. People already have the means. We're just carry– ing out a substitution ." Preliminary results from needle ex– change programs in The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Australia support Maynard's position . In Amster– dam, where needle and syringe exchange began in 1984, there has been no indica– tion of increased injecting while there is evidence of a decrease in needle sharing. Unfortunately, nothing definite has been learned about the effect of needle ex– changes on the spread of the AIDS virus. "It's hard to say much about the spread of the virus, partly because of the latency period of infection,'' said Oliver. The short timeline of the Portland project poses problems for the two researchers. "We need at least three years to find out what's going on ," said Maynard . Both are hoping to get an extension from AmFAR. Maynard and Oliver believe their pro– gram, at the very least, could build trust between Outside In and the rather elusive population of IV drug users. "Anytime a social service agency can increase contact with the particular group, it can't help but be beneficial ," said Oliver. "They' re a really alienated group of people." Taking it one step farther, Oliver said , "We hope to use our program as a hook to get people into treatment. Ultimately, that's the answer. You want them to stop using drugs." Maynard has a slightly more detached view. "My business is to understand how nature works ... and to get some desperately needed information. This is dangerous to say. I don't have the 'right' ideology." He was referring to the public "hysteria" whipped up by the nationwide drug war and the resulting inability of leaders and citizens to view drug issues rationally. PSU 20 A logical place to start K athy Oliver joined Outside In nine years ago as a grant writer, one of a half dozen part-time employees. Now as director of the social service agency, she supervises 23 employees and administers a $1/2 million budget. During her tenure, Outside In has launched its prenatal clinic and street youth program and has become a United Way agency. Growth isn't always smooth, Oliver ad– mits. "It's a matter of learning what works and what doesn't work." She recalls one miscalculation with the street youth program, when she lodged eight homeless kids together in a hotel room , only to discover that they had burned the furniture and stabbed the hotel manager. Oliver's degree in philosophy from PSU gave her "a real good overall background and a way of viewing the world," she said . After "burning out" as a director of a rape relief hotline, she decided to help bring about social change through pro– gram planning, for the city and for Out– side In. Oliver returned to PSU for post– graduate coursework in financial and managerial accounting and urban studies. The AIDS Research and Prevention Project, commonly .known as the needle exchange project, will be the subject of Oliver's doctoral dissertation for her degree in urban studies from Portland State. 0 Understanding people L ast year Associate Professor of Psychology Hugo Maynard won an outstanding teaching award from the Burlington Northern Foundation. It confirmed what PSU students have known for twenty years - that Maynard is a committed and caring teacher. For the last ten years he has led his community psychology students in proj– ects outside the university walls. The PSU Community Psychology Group has staged eight annual child abuse conferences and is currently engaged in a large-scale survey of Portland-area adults and their history of childhood sex abuse. Maynard 's experience in this field has given him a different view of the drug Oliver, too, sees problems with public attitudes. "It's somewhat hypocritical to say people shouldn't use drugs and should get into treatment, because there's not the capacity in treatment programs to handle them. We need more treatment resources." While the President's AIDS commission made such recommendations earlier this year, it did not directly address the con- problem. It is popular these days to think of drugs as "the great corrupter and cor– roder of children," says Maynard. "But children are driven out to the street and to drugs. The drugs don't come and get them." What drives them out is family violence, he believes. Drugs have become the scapegoat, the "mask over the authoritarian violence" that Maynard finds to be pervasive in American society. Kathy Oliver, a former student of Maynard's, sought him out when the Out– side In project needed a principal in– vestigator. "When I first started thinking about this, he was one person who was really excited. And I like his values." O cept of needle exchange. This was an oversight at a time of real urgency, Oliver feels. ' 'AIDS has really changed the world. Drugs can be dangerous and can poten– tially be deadly, but AIDS is deadly. "Until people can and are willing to get into treatment, we want to give them the means to protect themselves - not only themselves but their partners, their future partners and their future children." 0