Free Crack Pipes in San Francisco

Good news for people who are sick and tired of getting their lightbulbs repeatedly stolen out of the socket, I guess.

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Supporters of a plan to hand out clean crack pipes to San Francisco drug users say they’re not swayed by city opposition and plan to hand them out anyway. Activists claim that such a program would have many of the same benefits of needle exchanges, essentially connecting users with services that could help them turn their lives around.

...but wait... don't people get AIDS from needles because they directly inject the virus into their blood stream? With crack, the virus is spread through Crack Hos (both male and female). So it seems they ought to be passing out clean Hos not clean pipes.

Laura Thomas of the HIV Prevention and Planning Council has made a formal recommendation to the city’s health department:
“It may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s a great program. Once you can get people into your program, make them feel respected, taken care of them, they’re more likely to want to come back and want to get on HIV meds,” Thomas said.

She's right... it does sound counter intuitive. I'll go as far as saying it sounds bat-shit crazy. We're forcing the taxpayers of SF to buy crack pipes so that the people who piss in the streets and jack off at bus stops "feel respected"? Listen lady, I don't think crack addicts are in it for the respect.
What's next? Free Krokodil?

Krokodil Rocks

When most people think of "Crocodile" they imagine something like this:

But according to Wikipedia, Krokodil is something a lot less gay and festive than Sir Elton John http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desomorphine

Krokodil aka Desomorphine is a derivative from morphine (an opioid) with powerful, fast-acting sedative and analgesic effects.[1][2][3][4] Patented in 1932,[5] it is around 8–10 times more potent than morphine. It was used in Switzerland under the brand name Permonid[6] and was described as having a fast onset and a short duration of action, with relatively little nausea or respiratory depression compared to equivalent doses of morphine. Desomorphine is derived from morphine where the 6-hydroxyl group and the 7,8 double bond have been reduced.[5] The traditional synthesis of desomorphine starts from α-chlorocodide, which is itself obtained by reacting thionyl chloride with codeine. By catalytic reduction, α-chlorocodide gives dihydrodesoxycodeine, which yields desomorphine on demethylation.[7][8]


According to IBT
tp://www.ibtimes.co.uk/krokodil-flesh-eating-drug-spreading-usa-canada-524200">http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/krokodil-flesh-eating-drug-spreading-usa-canada-524200">tp://www.ibtimes.co.uk/krokodil-flesh-eating-drug-spreading-usa-canada-524200 The deadly flesh-eating drug krokodil is not spreading throughout the US, Canada and the UK, despite reports suggesting otherwise. Experts have said it is unlikely the drug has even really left Russia, as it is only used by people in remote parts of the country where heroin has become too expensive or unavailable - it is turned to as a last resort among addicts. In September, reports emerged that two cases of krokodil users had been found in Phoenix, Arizona, at a drug treatment centre. Since then, reports of the drug emerging in several other states have surfaced, with suspected cases found in Illinois, Ohio and Missouri. However the Drugs Enforcement Agency has categorically denied the drug has entered the US, with no laboratory confirmed cases found. Rusty Payne, spokesman for the DEA, told IBTimes UK that while they are investigating, there is nothing to suggest the presence of krokodil. "DEA is aware of and tracking the nation-wide reports of alleged abuse of the controlled substance desomorphine that is found in the drug krokodil, a homemade substitute for heroin invented and used in rural Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

You can view MORE of the horribleness here:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/gavon/seriously-dont-use-krokodil