Crack pipe vending machines come to Vancouver, Canada

Crack Pipe Vending Machines

It is the end of the world as we know it.  I no

longer want to live on this planet.

A non-profit organization has installed the country’s first-ever crack pipe vending machines in Vancouver in a new bid to halt the spread of disease in the city’s Downtown Eastside.

The Portland Hotel Society has been operating two of the machines – which dispense Pyrex crack pipes in exchange for just $0.25 – in the Washington Market and the PHS’s Drug Users Resource Centre for the last six months.

“For us, this was about increasing access to safer inhalation supplies in the Downtown Eastside,” said Kailin See, director of the DURC reports CTV News.

Though many programs provide pipes for drug users in the neighborhood, it’s usually on a one pipe per person per day basis, according to See. Vending machines allow addicts to purchase as many as they need, with each $0.25 per pipe barely covering production costs.

“They don’t run the risk of then sharing pipes, or pipes that are chipped or broken,” See said. “Everything from flu, colds, cold sores, HIV: If you cut your lip on a pipe that someone else has been using, there are risks there.”

Appearance-wise, the machines don’t look much different than a regular vending machine. Covered in colourful polka dots, the only indication these aren’t your run-of-the-mill snack machines is a blue sign at the top that reads “PIPES” in bold red lettering, and, of course, the pipes inside.

“It looks funny, and that’s kind of part of it,” See said. “It’s making this not look like a scary or stigmatized thing. This is a very important thing for the community and we thought we wanted to make it look really snazzy.”

Mariner Janes, the manager of the PHS’ mobile needle exchange, said the concept took about a year-and-a-half of production until the machines were debuted.

So far, response from the DTES community has been positive.

“Through and through, the people that are using the machine and need the pipes are kind of in dire need of the supplies, and really it’s a health care kind of item,” he said. “The pipes on the streets themselves can get very expensive, just because they’re kind of scarce.”

See said the machine at the drug users center routinely sells out every week.

Suicide Booth

Hell, just legalize everything.  Who the fuck cares any more?

Coming Soon?
I want to decriminalize drugs to eliminate the mafia-style drug gang profits and violence, but all deadly drug products need to be controlled by doctors and pharmacists.  Vending machine distribution is an act of insanity.