Heroin for Dummies: NYC Taxpayers Footing the Tab for Smack Lessons

It's bad enough these morons give away free syringes to the junkies. Now they're also providing lessons on how to shoot up.

Wonderful.

Here's the latest smack on taxpayers.

The city spent $32,000 on 70,000 fliers that tell you how to shoot heroin, complete with detailed tips on prepping the dope and injecting it into your arm.

The Health Department handout has outraged New York's top drug prosecutors and abuse experts.

"It's basically step-by-step instruction on how to inject a poison," said John Gilbride, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office.

"It's sick," said City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens)

"Foolish," said Columbia University drug researcher and treatment expert Dr. Herbert Kleber.

The 16-page pamphlet features seven comics-like illustrations and offers dope fiends such useful advice as "Warm your body (jump up and down) to show your veins," and "Find the vein before you try to inject."

It even encourages addicts to keep jabbing if their needles miss the mark.

"If you don't 'register,' pull out and try again," it says.

The brochure sends the wrong message about the dangers of the drug, experts said.

"It concerns me that the city would produce a how-to on using drugs," Gilbride said. "Heroin is extremely potent. You may only get the chance to use it once. To suggest there is a method of using that alleviates the dangers, that's very disturbing."

Remarkably, the geniuses behind this say it promotes health.

The Health Department defended its brochure, saying it was helpful and necessary, and has been distributed only to addicts or those at risk of becoming abusers.

"Our goal is to promote health and save lives with this information," said Daliah Heller, assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Use Prevention, Care and Treatment.

Asked why the handout tells people how to shoot up, Heller said, "From a health perspective, there is a less harmful way to inject yourself."

Figures only a "community activist" would come up with such lunacy.

Daliah Heller has been involved in community health programs, activism, policy and research for over ten years. Although she has focused particularly on issues related to drug use, HIV/AIDS, and maternal-child health, she is a strong believer in the value of sound humanistic public health policy and practice for all areas of our lives.

Hot Air links. Thanks!