Health

New York Spends $32,000 on 'Heroin for Dummies' Flyers

by Jordan Yerman | January 4, 2010 at 02:48 pm

1499 views | 32 Recommendations | 6 comments

New York City has spent $32,000 to print up 70,000 flyers on how to safely prepare and shoot heroin, complete with diagrams. (New York heroin flyer: Take Charge, Take Care- pdf link) The New York City Health Department has outraged the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which asserts that New York is sending the wrong message about heroin, and has created a "how-to on using drugs", though DEA's John Gilbride concedes that the 16-page handout has some valid safety suggestions.

"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.

The heroin flyer was created by LifeNet, which is operated by the Mental Health Association of New York City.

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Karen Hatter

at 17:17 on January 4th, 2010

Uh .... well .... nevermind!

Jessica Tucker

at 18:08 on January 4th, 2010

Should of just spent the $32K on dope and passed it around the streets...

eastvanray

at 10:01 on January 5th, 2010

Wow! Not only are they encouraging heroin use, they are enabling the survival of the dumbest addicts. Surprised this isn't from Vancouver.

Patricc (not verified)

at 20:00 on January 5th, 2010

Totally reasonable, really. I mean theres always gonna be a fucking drug problem, try to improve the problem instead of violently trying to get rid of it all at once.

MacA877 (not verified)

at 10:29 on January 6th, 2010

No way you're that much of an idiot....I mean are you? Really? Ever wonder if this will wind up in the hands of someone "just thinking" about shooting up? This is clearly the wrong message and has the ability to promote the use of ILLEGAL drugs. The funds are much better spent by enforcing drug laws. Police fight (and sometimes at the cost of their lives) to stop drug trafficking. Personally, I spent several years of my life involved with counter-narcotics missions in Central and South America, then earned a C.J. degree, and became a law enforcement officer. If you ask me, I certainly feel this contradicts any efforts I've made, and efforts and sacrifices made by others like me.

eastvanray

at 16:17 on January 14th, 2010

I disagree - strongly! If the money were better spent enforcing drug laws then, given the enormous sums of money already spent, the US would have eradicated their drug problem several billion dollars ago. The key is education, treatment and selective decriminalization. Stop putting pot smokers in jail. It's just plain bad social policy. Pot smokers do not cause problems. The only problems associated with pot are all due to the fact it is illegal not due to the drug use itself (even compared with alcohol use). Take all that money and give real fact-based not value-based drug education. When people slip up offer detox and rehab not jail. One day the US will realize that they have pissed away their childrens prosperity fighting a "war" that they never should have started in the first place. The war on drugs is a bigger waste of money than the bank bailouts were. Open your eyes and your mind.