In a small handful of cities, including Calgary and Winnipeg, local health authorities pass out crack pipes. Others prefer to only hand out mouth pieces, which users can place on their own pipes to avoid exposing themselves to others' saliva and blood.
Strange that nobody cared until B.C. decided to do this. The article mentions using harm reduction to get addicts into treatment. That's a better idea than putting them in prison.
In a small handful of cities, including Calgary and Winnipeg, local health authorities pass out crack pipes. Others prefer to only hand out mouth pieces, which users can place on their own pipes to avoid exposing themselves to others' saliva and blood.
Strange that nobody cared until B.C. decided to do this. The article mentions using harm reduction to get addicts into treatment. That's a better idea than putting them in prison.
My only objection is that it's a band aid approach. People can pat themselves on the back that they're doing something.
We pour $1,000,000 per day into the downtown eastside. (Where the problem is concentrated). And things mostly just get worse, because the approach is scatter shot and even contradictory. The approach was supposed to have 4 pillars - enforcement, harm reduction, treatment and prevention. No problem with getting money for enforcement, but once a bit of harm reduction was put in place, the other two pillars were neglected, because they cost real money. IMO it's those last two that have any hope of reducing the problem.
"BartSimpson" said I'm surprised they're not handing out publicly subsidized crack.
Well they were handing out free heroin as part of a study that also included the US. Found it to be very effective at reducing harm. But in fact they found it just as effective to hand out a synthetic drug that is already legal and much cheaper than heroin.
Crack, I'm not sure anybody wants to go there, since it's so destructive, just like crystal meth.
Junkies are just creeps. They're not mentally unstable like crackheads. Hope they make nice pretty ones out of leaded glass. Can't make the crackheads any more stupid.
Strange that nobody cared until B.C. decided to do this. The article mentions using harm reduction to get addicts into treatment. That's a better idea than putting them in prison.
Strange that nobody cared until B.C. decided to do this. The article mentions using harm reduction to get addicts into treatment. That's a better idea than putting them in prison.
My only objection is that it's a band aid approach. People can pat themselves on the back that they're doing something.
We pour $1,000,000 per day into the downtown eastside. (Where the problem is concentrated). And things mostly just get worse, because the approach is scatter shot and even contradictory. The approach was supposed to have 4 pillars - enforcement, harm reduction, treatment and prevention. No problem with getting money for enforcement, but once a bit of harm reduction was put in place, the other two pillars were neglected, because they cost real money. IMO it's those last two that have any hope of reducing the problem.
I'm surprised they're not handing out publicly subsidized crack.
Well they were handing out free heroin as part of a study that also included the US. Found it to be very effective at reducing harm. But in fact they found it just as effective to hand out a synthetic drug that is already legal and much cheaper than heroin.
Crack, I'm not sure anybody wants to go there, since it's so destructive, just like crystal meth.
Hope they make nice pretty ones out of leaded glass. Can't make the crackheads any more stupid.