6 comments

  1. But how do you know the strength or purity of what is being injected? I would think it’s a valid concern that you could inject something that actually contained a lethal contaminant. Or do they do the actual injecting? That would be a somewhat safer option, for the practitioners..

    1. They do the injecting. There has been a crazy scary number of overdoses so we are there simply to be able to respond if (and when unfortunately) an overdose occurs. But they do the injecting. We provide clean supplies and safe disposal boxes for dirty equipment.

      1. Ah, yeah. That makes sense. I would imagine that there are those who object to this concept, understandably so, who would look to find a way to eliminate it. Do you get people of all classes coming through? I guess I’m wondering if white collar workers with an addiction are more likely to consider themselves “functional” and able to handle it and so would just never come in.

  2. Very true. We tend to see (at least when I am there) people who are living rough already. All ages, both genders, a variety of substances. And yes, there is lots of opposition. I don’t think it is a perfect solution but I also object to people dying in doorways.

  3. We would see alllll walks of life at the needle exchange in Hamilton. My concern was sex-trade workers, but we saw lawyers, students, engineers, etc. Addiction doesn’t discriminate.

  4. At the needle exchange we would see all walks of life. At the safe injection tent it is more just folks sleeping rough.

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