Quote:
Originally Posted by Firebot
The point of safe injection sites was never to reduce drug use and crime, it was to protect drug addicts from themselves and giving them clean needles and prevent spread of costly disease. They can shoot in a medically supervised environment. People can get high and be in safe hands and prevent overdoses and diseases from spreading. This is supposed to reduce medical cost overall while keeping our drug addicts safer.
That's the fantasy.
The reality is that by allowing needles to be taken offsite instead of mandating all needles administered at the facility, safe injection sites are merely a distribution center for free needles. Drug addicts just take the free needles and shoot up in a park nearby, with the money saved on needles to be used for more important stuff, like drugs. A person on fenthanyl won't think "Oh I just used this needle let's safely dispose of it" as a socialist would think, they go "#### I need my fix! I need money!" while he throws the needle in a playground and starts breaking into cars. He's a goddamn drug addict and high, he's not thinking logically.
It simply made it easier and cheaper to be a drug addict. They are all congregated to the area that gives them free stuff, and drug dealers go to where their clients go. Since drug addicts still need money for drugs, they commit crimes to get money for those drugs. More drug addicts, more drug dealers, more crimes, but hey let's look at this myopic study to show that it indirectly lowers medical costs in one area. And since this is congregated to one area, it's no longer a problem since the break in is not happening in my suburban home.
Safe injection sites as they are implemented today are more about a self pat on the back than they are about resolving social problems.
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I am genuinely curious how much you think addicts were spending on needles per month prior to receiving free needle from safe injection sites? You seem to insinuate that free needles are a significant cost savings that is now being directed towards drugs.
Lets you put in a addicts shoes. You’re in a back alley with $20. Do you
a) Buy $20 worth of drugs and reuse a buddies needle
b) Buy $15 worth of drugs, walk to a drugstore and buy a $5 needle
c) Save your $20 until you can get $200. Go on Amazon.ca and bulk order 100 needles for $2 each. Whichever ones you don’t use yourself, you can sell to your health conscience addict buddies for $4.
I’d be willing to bet that b and c almost never happen.
In general, I am on the fence about safe injection sites and the current policies surrounding them, but the drug user cost savings from free needles is an almost inconsequential issue.