A drug rehabilitation facility in Vancouver has installed a vending machine that offers crack pipes to addicts — an apparent desperate attempt at reaching out to users and getting them off the streets.
The Portland Hotel Society — the group that operates a legal injection site and treatment facility — installed the machine, The New York Post reported. It operates just like a snack machine, with a sign that says: “Pipes 25” cents.
The program is aimed at providing cleaner drug paraphernalia to addicts, who are often at risk of HIV and hepatitis C. Apparently, crack pipes corrode after use, and then transmit disease via cuts on users’ mouths, The New York Post reported.
The facility also offers drug counseling to users — but not all see the sense in providing crack pipes in a vending machine.
“Drug use damages the health of individuals and the safety of our communities. We believe law enforcement should enforce the law,” Federal Safety Minister Steven Blaney told QMI Agency, a Canadian news wire service. “While the NDP [Canada’s New Democratic Party] and Liberals would prefer that doctors hand out heroin and needles to those suffering from addiction, this government supports treatment that ends drug use, including limiting access to drug paraphernalia by young people.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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