Mel22
Bluelight Crew
- Joined
- May 28, 2011
- Messages
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http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/taking-a-jab-in-the-dark/story-fni0ffsx-1226818030159
SYRINGE vending machines on the streets of Melbourne are a shortsighted and misguided approach that defy law and order and make an existing public health risk worse.
It comes as no surprise that the often confused councillors of Yarra City Council are partners in this flawed project. The vending machines are to be placed in heroin hot spots in Richmond, Abbotsford, Footscray, Sunshine and Braybrook.
The gutters in these suburbs are already littered with syringes dumped by drug users and syringe vending machines will only add to the problem.
Drug addicts are selfish. They care only about themselves. They will go to the nearest dark place to shoot up and throw away the syringe provided by the Yarra Drug and Health Forum.
Blood-contaminated syringes are a public health issue. While the clean syringe program is designed to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, the risk to anyone who might pick up these discarded needles would seem to have been overlooked.
Yarra Drug and Health says the vending machines will be available in any area where there is “a market for injecting drug use’’. Footscray, Sunshine and Braybrook are also being looked at as sites for the vending machines, which will dispense syringes for a “small fee or token’’.
But there is no certainty they will dispose of the syringe they have just used in the receptacle provided. Often they are tossed over people’s fences.
Yarra Drug and Health, and its Yarra council partners, might think they are at the forefront of a public health issue, but they are contributing to it. The vending machines also send the message that injecting illegal drugs is somehow acceptable. Enabling illegal drug use, as the syringe vending machines are likely to do, will only make the drug scourge worse.
There is a law-and-order issue here that has a higher priority than making the means of shooting up as simple as going to an ATM. The police need to arrest the dealers who provide the drugs and the users who not only travel to these areas to buy drugs but then blatantly shoot up in the streets.
Some residents in Richmond and Abbotsford have put locks on their front gates to stop addicts injecting in their driveways and front gardens.
The Yarra Drug and Health Forum admits the syringe vending machines are likely to be “controversial’’. It is right about that but wrong about placing the benefits to drug users above public safety.
The drug forum’s motivation is “an urgency to save lives’’, it says in a submission to the Whole of Government Alcohol and Drugs Safety Strategy. “People who inject drugs,’’ it says loftily, “should not receive a lesser level of health and medical services and access to lifesaving programs than those who do not use drugs.’’
But facilitating drug use may well draw more drug users to heroin hot spots without reducing the risk to the community. Anyone taking a walk along Victoria St can see used syringes tossed carelessly into the gutters.
Users openly inject themselves in supermarket carparks, often tossing the syringe out of their car window before going on the nod behind the wheel.
The users and dealers are part of a thriving and illegal industry that needs to be rigorously policed, not promoted by offering services to assist their lethal littering.
-------------------------------
Lol. Nice article that one.
More: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/n...al-proposed-for-melbourne-20140105-30bwn.html
Needle vending machines could be rolled out for the first time in Victoria this year as part of trial to reduce infection rates among drug users.
Yarra Drug and Health Forum has been investigating a trial as an addition to existing needle exchange programs across Melbourne. The machines are unmarked and contain one-use sterile equipment and disposal bins. Syringes are either provided free or for a small fee such as $2.
Yarra Drug and Health Forum chief executive Greg Denham said restrictive opening hours of programs left a dangerous gap in which users could not access clean equipment.
Most needle exchange programs in Melbourne operate weekdays and between business hours.
Advertisement
''It's a logical next step to make sure we make clean syringes available when they're needed, such as weekends,'' he said.
Mr Denham acknowledged the introduction could be controversial, but added that Victoria was trailing other states, including New South Wales, which introduced the machines in 1992.
''We're always concerned about perception,'' he said. ''Drug use is quite tainted by myths that [a vending machine] will increase drug use.''
But the evidence showed vending machines did not create a problem, he said. ''It addresses one,'' Mr Denham said.
Department of Health spokesman Bram Alexander confirmed that there was no legal or policy barrier to prevent the machines being introduced.
''Agencies who may wish to provide this service in addition to existing needle and syringe programs can explore these possibilities,'' he said.
Up to four machines could be used and areas with a known drug problem, including north Richmond, St Kilda, Footscray and Braybrook, will be the first to have a trial of the machines.
Drug Free Australia has criticised the move, saying the unsupervised machines could advertise illicit drug use to children.
''If it's placed anywhere near schools, it's an invitation to experiment,'' executive officer Jo Baxter said.
She added that needle programs need to be handled ''professionally'' and with the aim of helping users into recovery programs, not just facilitating their habit.
The machines have already been introduced to other parts of Australia, including NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
A review of the 2005-06 ACT trial revealed the existence of the machines did not reduce the number of instances of users attending needle and syringe programs, where education and referrals to support services are provided.
Mr Denham said preventing blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C was paramount to users and public safety.
The Department of Health reported in 2009 injecting drugs was a risk factor in 79 per cent of newly acquired hepatitis C infections.
Independent health organisation Anex supports the trial in Victoria and has previously advocated the economic and health benefits of increasing access to clean syringes.
SYRINGE vending machines on the streets of Melbourne are a shortsighted and misguided approach that defy law and order and make an existing public health risk worse.
It comes as no surprise that the often confused councillors of Yarra City Council are partners in this flawed project. The vending machines are to be placed in heroin hot spots in Richmond, Abbotsford, Footscray, Sunshine and Braybrook.
The gutters in these suburbs are already littered with syringes dumped by drug users and syringe vending machines will only add to the problem.
Drug addicts are selfish. They care only about themselves. They will go to the nearest dark place to shoot up and throw away the syringe provided by the Yarra Drug and Health Forum.
Blood-contaminated syringes are a public health issue. While the clean syringe program is designed to prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, the risk to anyone who might pick up these discarded needles would seem to have been overlooked.
Yarra Drug and Health says the vending machines will be available in any area where there is “a market for injecting drug use’’. Footscray, Sunshine and Braybrook are also being looked at as sites for the vending machines, which will dispense syringes for a “small fee or token’’.
But there is no certainty they will dispose of the syringe they have just used in the receptacle provided. Often they are tossed over people’s fences.
Yarra Drug and Health, and its Yarra council partners, might think they are at the forefront of a public health issue, but they are contributing to it. The vending machines also send the message that injecting illegal drugs is somehow acceptable. Enabling illegal drug use, as the syringe vending machines are likely to do, will only make the drug scourge worse.
There is a law-and-order issue here that has a higher priority than making the means of shooting up as simple as going to an ATM. The police need to arrest the dealers who provide the drugs and the users who not only travel to these areas to buy drugs but then blatantly shoot up in the streets.
Some residents in Richmond and Abbotsford have put locks on their front gates to stop addicts injecting in their driveways and front gardens.
The Yarra Drug and Health Forum admits the syringe vending machines are likely to be “controversial’’. It is right about that but wrong about placing the benefits to drug users above public safety.
The drug forum’s motivation is “an urgency to save lives’’, it says in a submission to the Whole of Government Alcohol and Drugs Safety Strategy. “People who inject drugs,’’ it says loftily, “should not receive a lesser level of health and medical services and access to lifesaving programs than those who do not use drugs.’’
But facilitating drug use may well draw more drug users to heroin hot spots without reducing the risk to the community. Anyone taking a walk along Victoria St can see used syringes tossed carelessly into the gutters.
Users openly inject themselves in supermarket carparks, often tossing the syringe out of their car window before going on the nod behind the wheel.
The users and dealers are part of a thriving and illegal industry that needs to be rigorously policed, not promoted by offering services to assist their lethal littering.
-------------------------------
Lol. Nice article that one.
More: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/n...al-proposed-for-melbourne-20140105-30bwn.html
Needle vending machines could be rolled out for the first time in Victoria this year as part of trial to reduce infection rates among drug users.
Yarra Drug and Health Forum has been investigating a trial as an addition to existing needle exchange programs across Melbourne. The machines are unmarked and contain one-use sterile equipment and disposal bins. Syringes are either provided free or for a small fee such as $2.
Yarra Drug and Health Forum chief executive Greg Denham said restrictive opening hours of programs left a dangerous gap in which users could not access clean equipment.
Most needle exchange programs in Melbourne operate weekdays and between business hours.
Advertisement
''It's a logical next step to make sure we make clean syringes available when they're needed, such as weekends,'' he said.
Mr Denham acknowledged the introduction could be controversial, but added that Victoria was trailing other states, including New South Wales, which introduced the machines in 1992.
''We're always concerned about perception,'' he said. ''Drug use is quite tainted by myths that [a vending machine] will increase drug use.''
But the evidence showed vending machines did not create a problem, he said. ''It addresses one,'' Mr Denham said.
Department of Health spokesman Bram Alexander confirmed that there was no legal or policy barrier to prevent the machines being introduced.
''Agencies who may wish to provide this service in addition to existing needle and syringe programs can explore these possibilities,'' he said.
Up to four machines could be used and areas with a known drug problem, including north Richmond, St Kilda, Footscray and Braybrook, will be the first to have a trial of the machines.
Drug Free Australia has criticised the move, saying the unsupervised machines could advertise illicit drug use to children.
''If it's placed anywhere near schools, it's an invitation to experiment,'' executive officer Jo Baxter said.
She added that needle programs need to be handled ''professionally'' and with the aim of helping users into recovery programs, not just facilitating their habit.
The machines have already been introduced to other parts of Australia, including NSW, Queensland and South Australia.
A review of the 2005-06 ACT trial revealed the existence of the machines did not reduce the number of instances of users attending needle and syringe programs, where education and referrals to support services are provided.
Mr Denham said preventing blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C was paramount to users and public safety.
The Department of Health reported in 2009 injecting drugs was a risk factor in 79 per cent of newly acquired hepatitis C infections.
Independent health organisation Anex supports the trial in Victoria and has previously advocated the economic and health benefits of increasing access to clean syringes.
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