3 ms·

I used to work at a retail pharmacy and we would have addicts come in to buy needles all the time. On the one hand I felt bad about supplying these people with

I used to work at a retail pharmacy and we would have addicts come in to buy needles all the time. On the one hand I felt bad about supplying these people with what they needed to feed their habit, on the other hand I felt good that they were coming to us instead of sharing needles with their buddies.

trome 10y ago
I'd not feel bad one bit, you are preventing Hep C, HIV and many other infections from spreading by selling needles. There are already 3 million Hep C infected people in the US, despite it being a curable disease now :(
nrjdhsbsid 10y ago
I feel like harm reduction can go a long way toward helping these people. After all, something like 50% of alcoholics, and I assume other drug users, eventually quit on their own and remain abstinent. Making it harder for "functional" drug users to accidentally ruin their lives could significantly reduce the number of addicts in the long term by increasing quit rates
Slothrop99 10y ago
I was not good at feeding my good old cat, so I had to give her insulin injections for a while. Much later, I found the used and unused syringes in a bottom cabinet where I put them after she died. I used to work in a hospital and know you need to dispose of this stuff properly. I brought them back to the neighborhood Walgreens where I'd purchased them. The people in the pharmacy were just like "yeah right, your cat", and pretty much treated me like I was a junkie. Then again, this is San Francisco, and there are a lot of junkies, and Walgreens people have probably heard it all. But at ground-zero here, I'd guess not too many people are buying supplies at Walgreens.
- douche 10y ago
  Fuck those people. I had milk jugs full of used needles when I was a kid, since I had bad allergies and the doctors seemed to think that poking me every week with allergy antigens was a good idea...

trome 10y ago

I'd not feel bad one bit, you are preventing Hep C, HIV and many other infections from spreading by selling needles. There are already 3 million Hep C infected people in the US, despite it being a curable disease now :(

nrjdhsbsid 10y ago

I feel like harm reduction can go a long way toward helping these people. After all, something like 50% of alcoholics, and I assume other drug users, eventually quit on their own and remain abstinent. Making it harder for "functional" drug users to accidentally ruin their lives could significantly reduce the number of addicts in the long term by increasing quit rates

Slothrop99 10y ago

I was not good at feeding my good old cat, so I had to give her insulin injections for a while. Much later, I found the used and unused syringes in a bottom cabinet where I put them after she died. I used to work in a hospital and know you need to dispose of this stuff properly. I brought them back to the neighborhood Walgreens where I'd purchased them. The people in the pharmacy were just like "yeah right, your cat", and pretty much treated me like I was a junkie. Then again, this is San Francisco, and there are a lot of junkies, and Walgreens people have probably heard it all. But at ground-zero here, I'd guess not too many people are buying supplies at Walgreens.

douche 10y ago
Fuck those people. I had milk jugs full of used needles when I was a kid, since I had bad allergies and the doctors seemed to think that poking me every week with allergy antigens was a good idea...