LOS ANGELES — Are you a drug addict who just picked up a bag of crack or fentanyl on Skid Row but doesn't have a pipe to smoke it with?
Don't worry. A local nonprofit will give away a new crack pipe for free.
Look for a door that says “Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles.” There, addicts line up for free needles, glass pipes, smoking foil and other accessories to get high.
Homeless Healthcare LA is one of several organizations in California that provides smoking supplies to those who request them. This is despite critics claiming there is no direct medical evidence that crack pipe giveaways stop the spread of disease.
And addicts told the Post that free crack pipe gives them access to more drugs to feed their habit.
During a recent visit to Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row slum, the newspaper saw more than a dozen people gathered outside Homeless Health Care, most clutching matching glass pipes handed out by the organization. I witnessed it.
Some were filled with fentanyl and lit up in broad daylight as volunteers ushered more people into the center.
Some, like Amiyah Johnson, who lives on the streets of Skid Row with her dog, let them sell and trade more drugs.
“When a lot of people get this, they trade it for drugs,” Johnson said.
“Oh, they're on sale,” joked a neighbor in line, adding that all glass pipes from the center were on sale for $2.
Danion Corral visits homeless health care Even if the pipes weren't handed out, he said he would still visit Skid Row Center almost every day.
Homeless Healthcare, which provides free coffee, snacks, transportation to doctor's appointments and other services, will become a “heaven of peace” for him and his fellow addicts.
“This is the only place I go and am treated like a human being,” Corral said.
But he said it's a big bonus because the free goodies help feed his habit.
Corral said the money saved by distributing drug paraphernalia goes directly to buying more drugs, either by not having to buy new pipes or by selling pipes provided by the organization. It is said that it will be done.
“They're not giving it to us to sell, but some people do,” he says.
The nonprofit group handing out the pipes claims this is “harm reduction,” effectively a “if you can't beat them, join them” approach to the drug crisis.
Harm reduction is usually associated with things like needle exchanges aimed at stopping the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, which are transmitted through contaminated syringes.
But Michael Wright, who directs the homeless health care program at Orange County nonprofit Lestonack Free Clinic, said you can't catch these diseases through saliva.
“There's no point in giving someone a new glass pipe. The old glass pipe works fine. He's not going to get sick. It's not like a needle,” Wright said.
Homeless Healthcare Los Angeles did not respond to a request for comment.
Advocates say there are several studies that support the distribution of crack pipes. A Harm Reduction Journal study found that homeless people tend to be healthier in communities with “safe smoking” programs.
But many safe smoking programs (including those funded by the federal government) don't provide the pipe itself, but things like cleaning wipes and rubber mouthguards.
“There is a lot more research being done on health and safety concerns when it comes to needle exchange. …Science [behind free crack pipes] is not clearly defined,” said Ian Kemmer, director of behavioral health for the Orange County Public Health Department.
OC Health Care has invested heavily in harm reduction, excluding free crack pipes.
Instead, the agency is focusing on providing overdose prevention drugs such as naloxone and Narcan, as well as community engagement and education.
Michael Wright, a street care advocate, believes it can ease the burden on homeless addicts without helping them smoke fentanyl.
“There is no safe way to smoke drugs. Giving drug addicts the means to use drugs is not 'harm reduction,'” Wright said.
The floodgates to harm reduction funding were opened in the midst of a pandemic when overdose deaths among California's homeless reached crisis levels.
In Los Angeles County, more than 1,500 homeless people died of overdoses in 2020-2021, and more than half of them tested positive for fentanyl, leading the county to increase its harm reduction budget from $5.1 million to $31.5 million over the next few years. are being asked to increase the amount. According to the LA Times.
The Times reported that some of that money will go toward the cost of free crack pipes.
But as Corral waited in line outside Homeless Health Care, she wasn't thinking about whether the free tools would help her in the long run.
For better or worse, he was just there for coffee, hot instant ramen, and a shiny new crack pipe.
“You make drug addicts happy,” he said. “If they had to buy something like that, they wouldn't have much money to buy drugs. Then drug addicts would be very unhappy.”
