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NYC vending machines cater to drug users with free crack pipes, lip balm — and Narcan for ODs
[NYPOST] Big Apple officials unveiled a street vending machine Monday that covers it all when it comes to catering to drug-users, offering free handy paraphernalia such as crack pipes and lip balm — and also Narcan for overdoses.The vending machine, one of four set to be placed in some of the city’s most drug-infested neighborhoods, swaps out what would be more typical offerings such as candy bars and potato chips for the drug-related freebies to try to combat the surge in overdoses in the five boroughs, city Health Department bigs said. "Every three hours, we’re losing a New Yorker [to drugs]. And it looks like 2022 is on track to be our highest year ever in overdoses,’’ Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said at a presser next to the first machine, which is parked near a nonprofit aimed at offering housing and other support for those in need. "We have a rising tide of fentanyl, and now we have other substances entering our drug supply, which is really putting us behind the eight ball," Vasan said. He specifically noted the increasing presence of Xylazine, a veterinary drug known as "Tranq" or the "zombie drug’’ that can leave users in a catatonic state and with conditions that eat their flesh off. "We’re looking to stock these machines with those [test strips] as well," Vasan said. Posted by: Fred 2023-06-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=669179 |