Took this thread from Wolf over on the Coke board,basically i wanted to know peoples opinions on safe injection places i.e a healthcare/outreach place where addicts can get clean works etc.and take the smack as safely as poss.in this enviroment.They can ask any health related Qs?have blood tests done and basically not have to worry bout the law kicking down the door of a dingy public toilet.I think they already have such pilot schemes in Canada&Austrailia..me personally would welcome this type of help..obviously they would have to be tightly run with tough rules concerning dealing&privicy.When i was an active addict&had to have my dig pronto coz i was sick/wds...i knew all the choice places where i could sneak into and have my relief..but this didnt take away the danger from police or dirty facilitys..and how many times have we seen or heard of Mr.A found dead with a spike in his arm in a public toilet?plenty..its a media cliche now.Anyway just wanted to throw the question out there.
Take care all.........Davey
Hi Davey, I think it can only be a good thing. We all know that the current policy of brushing it all under the carpet doesn't work. I think ignoring a problem doesnt make it go away. Addicts are going to do the heroin they've bought, regardless, and anything that makes it safer is bound to save lives. When I was using, I personally didn't give a s*** where I did in my drugs. One of my places to park up and cane it in was right outside the police station! And many times, when I didn't have any citric acid handy, I'd use lemon juice or vinegar, which can introduce fungal infections into the blood. And as for clean works, the amount of times I raided the sin bin, and rummaged through a bunch of dirty needles, looking for the least blunt one doesn't bear thinking about, especially as not all the used needles were my own. I used to try and mark all my used pins by biting off a piece of the top of the plunger, or scratching off some of the numbers up the side, but I could never be totally sure it was one of my own pins.
I think it brings up the whole question of legalising drugs. The idea of legalising heroin doesn't sit comfortably with me, but it has to be said that virtually all the problems that heroin brings about could be solved by legalising it, or at least bringing it out in the open - maybe the first stage of treatment should be with pharmacutical heroin, instead of methadone or subutex, coz when I first went into treatment, I certainly wasn't mentally ready to stop heroin. If you could get heroin from the chemist instead of some dodgy geezer in the bus shelter, then drug dealing would disappear over night, dirty gear would disappear, the need to commit crime to support your habit would disappear, you would be certain of the strength of the drug. If you had clean works, and were able to get any infected sites looked at without feeling stigmatised then you'd be less likely to lose a limb etc, and if you were given proper advice on the best ways to inject yourself without causing too much damage then it would obviously extend the life of your veins. I haven't stuck a needle in myself for 2 years, and I went for a blood test yesterday. It took 3 nurses 9 attempts to find a vein, and then it was only because I told them that they'd have to take it from the back of my hand, and forget trying for the "mainer". And I was good at injecting! I could find veins that most people don't even know they have. People would be knocking my door in the middle of the night, crying outside my window coz they wanted me to inject them.
Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is heroin is a social taboo, and many addicts are so disaffected that they don't seek help or medical attention because they get treated like crap by "the great and the good", and it would be a real bonus to have somewhere safe and non-judgemental to go to get advice and help, and a safe place to do their drugs in, where somebody will help them if they OD, instead of dragging their corpse out the back door and dumping it in the lane out back, which tends to be what happens round here if you OD in the wrong persons house.
love
diff x
I think it brings up the whole question of legalising drugs. The idea of legalising heroin doesn't sit comfortably with me, but it has to be said that virtually all the problems that heroin brings about could be solved by legalising it, or at least bringing it out in the open - maybe the first stage of treatment should be with pharmacutical heroin, instead of methadone or subutex, coz when I first went into treatment, I certainly wasn't mentally ready to stop heroin. If you could get heroin from the chemist instead of some dodgy geezer in the bus shelter, then drug dealing would disappear over night, dirty gear would disappear, the need to commit crime to support your habit would disappear, you would be certain of the strength of the drug. If you had clean works, and were able to get any infected sites looked at without feeling stigmatised then you'd be less likely to lose a limb etc, and if you were given proper advice on the best ways to inject yourself without causing too much damage then it would obviously extend the life of your veins. I haven't stuck a needle in myself for 2 years, and I went for a blood test yesterday. It took 3 nurses 9 attempts to find a vein, and then it was only because I told them that they'd have to take it from the back of my hand, and forget trying for the "mainer". And I was good at injecting! I could find veins that most people don't even know they have. People would be knocking my door in the middle of the night, crying outside my window coz they wanted me to inject them.
Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is heroin is a social taboo, and many addicts are so disaffected that they don't seek help or medical attention because they get treated like crap by "the great and the good", and it would be a real bonus to have somewhere safe and non-judgemental to go to get advice and help, and a safe place to do their drugs in, where somebody will help them if they OD, instead of dragging their corpse out the back door and dumping it in the lane out back, which tends to be what happens round here if you OD in the wrong persons house.
love
diff x
Diff...i agree with all you have said..i think their is a pilot scheme in Merseyside...that gives l/t addicts the choice of pharmacutical heroin..with very little of it being transferred to the black market and non violent acquisition type crime is way down in this area.
If we look back to the late 60s some doctors could prescribe heroin to their patients ..with the result that there were very few addicts in the U.K...but a small minority of docs were way overprescribing hence more onto the streets...then came the Dangerous Drugs Act 1972...which is the template for our drug laws today.At the stroke of a pen addicts were cut off from their legal supply....bring in the gangs who were the new smack salesmen and thru the 70s into the 80s H epidemic soared in the U.K.As said..i dont want to see heroin legalized but our medicos and political friends have gotta take their heads out of the sand.
Take care.......Davey
If we look back to the late 60s some doctors could prescribe heroin to their patients ..with the result that there were very few addicts in the U.K...but a small minority of docs were way overprescribing hence more onto the streets...then came the Dangerous Drugs Act 1972...which is the template for our drug laws today.At the stroke of a pen addicts were cut off from their legal supply....bring in the gangs who were the new smack salesmen and thru the 70s into the 80s H epidemic soared in the U.K.As said..i dont want to see heroin legalized but our medicos and political friends have gotta take their heads out of the sand.
Take care.......Davey
Hey Davey and Diff, Well, I have a plan of being part of opening a safe Injection Site in the town that I live in Canada. I'm from England and I think that we are much more accepting of the drug issue in England than in Canada (although I know Vancouver is very ahead of the game). I believe that addiction is a health care issue and that we need to keep people as safe as we can. We have a needle exchange but we need to have more.
Take care.
Karen
Take care.
Karen
