NYC Teaches People How to Properly Shoot Heroin
Good Lord, you just have to LOVE New York City! I know I do. The Health Department is always looking out for the needs of their citizens, most recently by issuing a pamphlet teaching you the proper way to be a junkie. I’m sure that many of you, like me, could be very confused about how to mainline smack, should you try to do so. What am I… a doctor? Never fear… this helpful guide will walk you through the process and start you on your way to a safe, happy career path as a heroin addict.
NEW YORK — Do you want to learn a safer way to shoot heroin? New York City has a guide for that.
The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene spent $32,000 of tax money on 70,000 copies that offer information on how to prepare drugs carefully and care for veins to avoid infection.
The 16-page booklet features seven comics-like illustrations and offers such advice as “Warm your body (jump up and down) to show your veins,” and “Find the vein before you try to inject.”
I watched the report on this story on CNN this morning and I think the most shocking part is that I’m just not shocked any more. On some level I can see the need for information on not using or sharing dirty needles to prevent the spread of disease, or where to go in case of an overdose, but this? It really is a “how to” guide on booting horse, as they used to say in my day.
Of course, in retrospect, this pamphlet may not seem very shocking after we read the rest of the guides in this series, coming soon to a public safety office near you:
- Crack: The best value for your drug dollar
- New York Businesses and Residences With Inadequate Security Systems
- Bullets Are Expensive: Vital points on the human body for one shot kills
- Unjamming Your Nine Quickly When the Po-Po Have You Cornered in an Ally
and
- Where to Smack That Beeyatch When She Just Won’t Shut Up Without Leaving Bruises for the Cops to Find
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27 Responses to “NYC Teaches People How to Properly Shoot Heroin”
i think its a good idea because if kids or young adults or anyone for that matter doesnt do it correctly, it can kill them. they can blow veins, and a ton of other things. theyre gonna do it anyways, so youre turning your back on reality. 32,000 is nothing an the budget anyways. youre probably against free clean needles too, they cost a whole quarter each! face reality buddy….
The war on drugs is a war on your neighbors.
Of the plethora of news stories out there, this is the one, heh?
There are a lot of pariahs in this country. Homeless, drug users, alcoholics, mentally disturbed or retarded, even chain smokers are considered pariahs. How do we deal with them? Do we round them up and exterminate them? Do we isolate or imprison them forever? Do we simply ignore them? Do we let them die off from their excesses in the hopes the problem goes away? Or do we try to help them?
When people poo-poo ideas like NYC's, they are saying “no” to the last choice, and “yes” to one or more of the first four.
[...] NYC Teaches People How to Properly Shoot Heroin – The Moderate VoiceGood Lord, you just have to LOVE New York City! I know I do. The Health Department is always looking out for the needs of their citizens, most recently by issuing a pamphlet teaching you the proper way to be a junkie . I’m sure that many of you [...]
Well, in that case, I suppose we should be on the lookout for Drunk Driving Tips and Tricks, after all, people are going to drive drunk anyway, let's teach them how to do it safely. Domestic abuse? How about Living as a Victim Instead of Dying as a Hero. This way, people can learn to take it instead of trying to defend themselves.
And that quip about $32,000 being “nothing”, well then I would expect nothing less than you making a $32,000 donation to pay for the program in your area.
Peter Lynch wrote “One Up on Wall Street” long ago.
Bloomberg's New York City is harming his Presidential prospects with One Up on Condomania.
i like what youre trying to say, and i like your p.o.v. but the saying “retarded” was uncalled for. my son has downs syndrome, but can read and if he sees these remarks, its very hurtful. just be careful about the words you choose. besides tht i agree with you. we need to help addicts, and the homeless, and the less fortunate. addiction is a disease, not a choice, but it can be controlled by 12 step programs and support. when an addict gets busted for buying (not selling) drugs, they should be automatically sent to a drub rehab instead of jail, so when he comes out he/she is prepared to deal with the world without drugs. people dont want to be addicts and live that way. its a disease, and it can be fatal. i agree with the pamphlet completely.
these are 2 different scenarios, im not talking about drunk driving. they didnt say in the pamphlet “how to drive on heroin” its to educate them so they dont die trying to get high. they do spend a lot more money on drinking and driving prevention than they do on heroin education, because alcohol is socially acceptable, when it kills more people than heroin. you have no argument. this also has nothing to do with domestic abuse. you have no point or argument. you obviously know nothing of addiction or disease. and my “quip” about the 32,000 not being much, considering how much given to these programs, it isnt a lot of money, considering what is put into other programs. theyre doing their jobs. oh, and you never hear about people on heroin getting arrested for driving under the influence or beating their spouses, because it mellows them out. alcohol on the other hand is almost always the culprit for DWI and beating theyre wives when drunk. i think alcohol ahould be illegal, but thats not gonna happen. anyways, comment back when you actually have an argument.
I'm assuming that the decision to produce this guide was based on simple economics. If the drug users end up in emergency rooms a lot, then $32,000 vs the hospital costs might save the city money. It's a great political football, for sure, but some things that would seem ludicrous on their own, make sense in the context of the whole system.
You either have to rethink the entire system, or you just keep patching up the old one.
i think the war on drugs is a bunch of bull, and its obviously not working. drugs are still everywhere, and you can go to your doc and get opiates and get high. there are people in jail for 20 years because they sold a coule hits of acid, when rapists and pedophiles get out in a few years. even murderers get out sooner sometimes. thats a fact. its ridiculous, and doesn't work. it should have changed long ago…..
i completely agree!
I'm not sure I'm even trying to have a debate…What I am saying is that bad behavior shouldn't be rewarded; is that out of line?
“I'm assuming that the decision to produce this guide was based on simple economics. If the drug users end up in emergency rooms a lot, then $32,000 vs the hospital costs might save the city money”
Granted.
But let's take that a step further:
Shooting heroine is illegal.
Bilking billions off of investors is illegal.
Why not publish a pamphlet on how to pull a Bernie Madoff scam?
That would also save money in all of the facilities and resources used to incarcerate those that do that wrong also.
Saving money is not an excuse to condone behavior. And this pamphlet (although produced with good economic intent) does just that. People will still shoot up. People will still attempt to rob investors. But when the government writes how-to books, then something is wrong.
I am personally quite offended, as a New Yorker, by having to pay even a cent to provide free and clean needles to drug users (or abusers, since one is synonymous with the other), let alone teaching them to properly use illegal drugs. I would rather see drug users die from their inability to properly use said drugs than to pay any amount of money so as to aid drug users in their endeavours to procure and use illegal drugs.
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I believe you got the economics messed up.
Shooting heroine is illegal.
But those that mess it up, often end up in the emergency room, which (I'm assuming) costs more than the guides.
Bilking billions off of investors is illegal.
But those that mess it up save everyone money, because they can be caught and convicted earlier. Those that do it well, cost everyone, including the city, more.
Again, simple economics: if this guide succeeds, the city and its citizens save money; if the Ponzi guide succeeds, they both lose money. Until someone can provide a cost analysis, I can't assume that they got it wrong.
But when the government writes how-to books, then something is wrong.
Bingo! The problem isn't the book itself, but system that made it worthwhile. When guides like this make sense, that's a sign that the system is broken, and should be treated as such.
well, youre gonna be more offended after you read this. youre an idiot. what if one of your precious children, or family members, turns to drugs because they want to escape from your stifling environment and close minded views. do you realize that these are PEOPLE we're talking about. mothers, fathers, grandsons, grandfathers, veterans, not just junkies. they have loved ones. actually you have offended me by saying you would rather them die. i bet you claim to be “christian,” too. Wait til you get judged at your pearly gates.
its not out of line, but how are they being rewarded? by getting a pamphlet? not dying?
“But those that mess it up, often end up in the emergency room, which (I'm assuming) costs more than the guides”
I realize that is the case. But heroine use DOES cost in terms of cultural decay. They still have to buy the heroine, and heroine addicts don't make the best employees. How do you suppose they'll pay for the heroine? Burglury? Mugging?
To be honest, if I ever caught a friend, family member or disinterested party in the process of using illegal drugs, or in possession of drug paraphernalia, I would make a call straightaway to the police, and make sure the person did not flee. I have no tolerance whatsoever for drug users. That these people have families and friends that care about them is good, but frankly, what rehab have they forced the person into? Have they called the police when they have seen the drugs or the paraphernalia lying around? Have the families and friends sought to protect these people from themselves? I do not see many Persons in Need of Supervision Petitions being filed on behalf of drug addicts. I see little evidence that these families care and are willing to take the steps required to stop drug use.
The libertine view that drug use should be or is acceptable is yet another sign our society is in decline, and needs serious reformation soon. It is time for the rest of the United States to adopt laws that make the New York Rockefeller Drug Laws look kind and gentle. It is time to make all drug possession or drug use a felony, and imprison people for lengthy terms, (at a minimum, a decade without possibility of parole for mere use of less than a tenth of an ounce of marijuana), when caught using or possessing or selling drugs.
You'll never get an argument from me on that point. But that's not what this guide is really about.
I've always maintained that government doesn't influence people directly as much as we would like to think. I seriously doubt that a guide is going to affect drug usage, because parents and peers do that. I know that I never cared whether they were illegal or not, and I certainly had opportunities to try them. We'd get more bang for the buck by penalizing movies and media that are available to kids for glorifying drug use than by trying to stop it using the law.
aammbbeerr, please concentrate on the comment, not the commenter. It's a big difference between TMV and many other sites. Personal attacks aren't appreciated by anyone here. You've been raising good points, but now you're getting personal.
I didn't reply to your comment, in order to give you a chance to edit it (the edit button disappears after someone replies).
i agree. the government has nothing to do with influencing people. movies do glorify drug use, and im sick of that too.
yeah, youre rught, this is just something personal to me, i have a close family member who struggles with this for her entire life, and died because of it. i will choose my words more carefully next time. buy you know that was in reply to someone who said they would rather see these people DIE than pay a penny for free needles, and ive seen that happen. its sad. but i got your point, and i apologize.
wow. thats all i can say. i really hope for your sake that someone close to you doesnt have this disease. you cannot force someone into rehab if they are not ready, because it will not work. you dont know about this disease. thats not really the argument anyways. you say you “see little evidence that these families care and are willing to take the steps required to stop drug use.” i didnt know that you knew every addict and their families in New York. The point is that these pamphlets will help people be safe, which helps stop the spread of disease. And not just within addicts, but everyone. there are good looking, normal people who carry normal jobs and have money, and are functioning addicts. trust me, you know someone right now who is an addict and you dont even know it. these functioning addicts sleep with other people who have no idea and guess what, the disease spreads. i just hope its not someone close to you. i sincerely mean that. just like i cant get you to see my view, you cant stop a drug addict by calling the police.
“Bloomberg's New York City is harming his Presidential prospects with One Up on Condomania.”
Making it even worse is the stunt now in the news with foods in New York and salt content. PC idiocy