Monday, January 04, 2010

Hey, New York Effing City, you like where your money

is going?
The city spent $32,000 on 70,000 fliers that tell you how to shoot heroin, complete with detailed tips on prepping the dope and injecting it into your arm.
The Health Department handout has outraged New York's top drug prosecutors and abuse experts.
"It's basically step-by- step instruction on how to inject a poison," said John Gilbride, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office.
"It's sick," said City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens)
"Foolish," said Columbia University drug researcher and treatment expert Dr. Herbert Kleber.
The 16-page pamphlet features seven comics-like illustrations and offers dope fiends such useful advice as "Warm your body (jump up and down) to show your veins," and "Find the vein before you try to inject."
It even encourages addicts to keep jabbing if their needles miss the mark.
"If you don't 'register,' pull out and try again," it says
.
But the Health Department says not to worry,
The Health Department defended its brochure, saying it was helpful and necessary, and has been distributed only to addicts or those at risk of becoming abusers.
Because someone in danger of becoming a drug abuser primarily needs directions on how to shoot up.

3 comments:

Daniel Newby said...

"Because someone in danger of becoming a drug abuser primarily needs directions on how to shoot up."

As a matter of fact they do. Infection resulting from poor technique is the biggest danger of injected opioids. Septicemia every few weeks takes a terrible cumulative toll on the body. (Conversely, it's pretty well known that doctors and nurses who do it "right" have essentially zero problems. Physically at least.)

Firehand said...

I don't doubt it might keep the fatality numbers down; but it's not the job of the government to use other people's money to give "How to properly use heroin" instructions. And for someone 'in danger of becoming' I'd rather they tried to discourage it, not give helpful tips.

Firehand said...

Yes, if you're an adult and want to use this crap it's on your head; just don't expect to be given official help and encouragement in it.