Prevention is better than cure, so in an attempt to prevent the spread of disease, a Canadian non-profit has gone ahead to install the first crack pipe vending machines in Vancouver, Canada. These vending machines will allow drug users to purchase any number of Pyrex crack pipes that they require for a mere $0.25 each. This particular measure will hopefully reduce the rate of diseases that are spread through the use of drug paraphernalia which is shared among other drug users. A couple of these vending machines have been installed by the non-profit Portland Hotel Society’s Drug Users Resource Center (DURC) in Vancouver’s Washington Market.
According to Mark Townsend, an addictions worker with the Portland Hotel Society, “Various studies show a correlation between HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases with crack pipe use. People can have sores on their lips, and [get diseases] from cracked or broken pipes.”
I suppose this is the same line of thinking where one sees condom vending machines to make sure that everyone who has multiple sexual partners would have easy access to some form of protection instead of taking their chances. What other items do you think that vending machines should offer to the man on the street?
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