Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

towelr34dy

Safe injection sites are a socially responsible way of using resources.

It costs society money for ambulances to be running around to OD people.

Safe injection makes sense.

It doesn't promote heroin.

No one is saying: Heroin in a Healthy Manner.

They are simply saying: Let's spend a stitch in time. You don't even have to think of it as being kind, just rational.

View on HN

It is an opportunity to say "Ok, we can't stop these people from doing heroin. But we can make it as safe as possible, and we can provide a vector for additional health care interventions". It also means that you aren't psychologically torturing addicts by telling them that if they were only 'strong enough' they could cure their addiction.

You might not like the way HAES or fat acceptance is packaged, but this is exactly the same thing.

The key difference: Social stigma. HAES seeks to remove stigma.

Safe injection sites don't.

Both being fat, smoking cigarettes or being a heroin addict are things to be, at the least, slightly ashamed of.

*exceptions go out to anyone with thyroid or other such medical conditions, just as to people who are opioid dependent due to pain management.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com