What the Hayell reports:
There is certainly nothing wrong with preventative measures and thinking outside of the box when dealing with raging drug and STI epidemics.
But passing out free crack-pipes to crackheads? This one requires a bit of explaining.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, The Vancouver Coastal Health Harm Reduction program, in an effort to reduce the spread of Hepatitis B, crime and other illnesses, ha set up five centers that distribute heat-resistant/shatterproof glass pipes, filters, alcohol, swabs, mouthpieces, screens and push sticks. By providing all the necessary tools to the addicts, they hope to clamp down on unsanitary drug sharing habits. The eight month trial is focused in Vancouver’s worst community — the East Side, where drugs, prostitution and crime are wreaking havoc in the lives of the predominantly Black and Aboriginal populace.
The ground-breaking program costs 60k and spokesperson, Trudi Beutel, says that getting people in the door is the first step towards leading them to detox:
“What this boils down to is it’s about disease prevention. It’s about preventing more communicable diseases, which land these people in hospitals on a frequent basis and clogs up emergency rooms,” she said.
David Brener,Director of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada, told the National Post, “programs like this ignore the problems of addiction. All this does is aid and abet. What we should do is put that same amount of money into treatment and prevention, because treatment and prevention work.”
Weigh in readers: Would this program work in the United States?
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