August 08, 2017

Fact or Fake?: Report of a "legal shooting gallery" in U.S. helping heroin users to shoot up

Months ago I posted a piece about liberal cities proposing to emulate Vancouver, Canada by using taxpayer funds to create a place where heroin addicts could shoot up in comfort.

In Vancouver the government-run shooting gallery even paid medical staff to monitor junkies after they shot up, and to give them the heroin antidote if they overdosed.  Seattle's mayor pushed the same idea for that city, and it's supposedly been approved by the city council.

Now it's time once again to play "Fact or Fake," the game where readers get to decide whether the mainstream media is up to its usual tricks--i.e. lying shamelessly--or whether things in the U.S. have indeed gotten as crazy as the article implies.

Today the Associated Press reported that a just such a heroin shooting gallery has been operating secretly here in the U.S. for almost 3 years. 

"Wait," I hear liberals argue, "something like that couldn't possibly be kept secret for even a few months, let alone 3 years!  After all, everyone knows that's the reason conspiracies can't be real--it's simply impossible to keep something so unusual a secret for long!"

The article didn't disclose the state or city where the facility was located.

Some Democrat politicians have called for government-sanctioned injection sites as a way to reduce the rapidly-rising number of deaths due to heroin overdoses in the U.S.--reportedly over 52,000 in 2015.

It's thought that the success of this shooting gallery could help convince state lawmakers or mayors to establish similar facilities around the U.S.--an idea already backed by Democrat pols in New York, California and other states, and in cities like Seattle, San Francisco and Ithaca, New York.  Such government-run shooting galleries are legal in ten European countries.  Most also provide clean needles, to further reduce the risk to addicts.

The AP article notes that critics have argued that such facilities "seem to fly in the face of laws aimed at stopping use of deadly illicit drugs." 

The AP is careful to reassure readers (and voters) that government-run shooting galleries are, like, totally different from "needle exchange" programs, "which were once controversial but now exist in 33 states."  The implication is clearly that programs once thought of as "controversial" are eventually considered ho-hum after experts and pols and their supporters overcome the totally-irrational resistance of conservative knuckle-draggers.

Well certainly, citizen.  I support enlightened politicians who want to spend tax dollars on shooting galleries.  Since no one has a choice in whether they become addicted, clearly it's society's duty to make addiction as risk-free as possible for addicts.

In fact, I think the current proposals should go further:  Cities should provide new needles to users at a dime over cost.  Then after a facility demonstrates its value by reviving five or six overdose cases, the public should be willing to support an even more caring idea: having the city sell pharmaceutical-grade heroin to clients at cost.  After all, this will reduce the number of crimes addicts would otherwise be forced to commit to support their habit, and will reduce the otherwise huge flow of cash to the drug cartels.  Most voters would surely support this.

A postscript:  Interestingly, while the secret shooting gallery allows drugs like heroin, pain pills, cocaine and methamphetamine to be used, smoking isn't allowed. 

Cuz, you know, second-hand smoke is, like, dangerous, man!

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home