Former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has criticized the city for installing a vending machine that dispenses free crack pipes and Narcan, an anti-overdose drug to residents, saying it encourages the use of dope.
New York health officials unveiled the $11,000 device set up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, earlier this month to give residents a supply of clean drug paraphernalia.
The machine offers drug smoking equipment, fentanyl test kits and condoms. It is planned to install three more vending machines in neighborhoods with a high density of drug addicts.
Former New York Police Department Chief Bratton denounced the political decision on Sunday and said, “The world has turned upside down.”
He claimed that the vending machine allowed people to continue using drugs rather than quitting them.
Former police commissioner Bill Bratton has slammed New York City for installing a vending machine that dispenses free crack pipes and Narcan, a drug that reverses overdoses
Health officials unveiled the $11,000 device installed in Brownsville, Brooklyn earlier this month
“Instead of trying to keep people off drugs, we now have policies where we have vending machines to encourage them to stay on drugs,” he told WABC’s The Cats roundtable. .
“We’re going to make your drug use safer so you can spend the rest of your life not trying to get off drugs but staying on drugs.”
Bratton claimed it would encourage people to use harder drugs.
He added: “What happens when you keep doing drugs?” You want the next high. You go from marijuana…to heroin. … This is the problem of addiction.
“There’s never enough drugs, there’s never enough high.
“City after city. State after state: this idea that we’re going to sustain your drug use rather than trying to get you out of it.
The former police commissioner, who served two terms, also took aim at legalizing recreational marijuana use in New York. He said it was a mistake and claimed it encouraged school children to smoke.
“I was just in Italy for a two week vacation…I didn’t smell any marijuana for two weeks…Boom! As soon as you come back to [New York]it hits you in the face,” he added.
Bratton believes authorities have allowed the illegal sale of marijuana to spiral out of control.
“They created an atmosphere where anything goes,” he said.
“The only positive thing about the red cloud we had last week is that we didn’t smell any marijuana,” he said, referring to the heavy smoke in the sky from the fires. of Canadian forests.
‘Kids aged 12, 13, 14, 15 can now get [marijuana]. It’s so readily available. If we sell it illegally in 1,200 stores in town, do you think they care who comes to buy it?
“They don’t check IDs. It’s a cash thing. The city has totally lost control of it. The state has lost control of it.
A “safer smoking kit” containing a heavy rod, mouthpiece, pusher, 6 screens, chore filter and lip balm for people who want to smoke crack
First aid kits containing Narcan and a nasal spray are also offered free of charge
It offers drug smoking equipment, fentanyl test kits and condoms, and there are plans to install three more in high-density drug neighborhoods.
Legislation was recently approved by Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to increase fines against illegal vendors.
Bratton criticized New York’s decision and said, “It was a system created by political leaders.
“Our systems have been stretched to the breaking point [and] in some cases have broken. And the only way to solve them effectively is through political leadership.
When the vending machine was installed, city health commissioner Ashwin Vasan said it would help New Yorkers stay safe.
“We are in the midst of an overdose crisis in our city, which takes a fellow New Yorker away from us every three hours and is a major cause of declining life expectancy in New York City,” he said. he stated at the time of unveiling.
“But we will continue to fight to keep our neighbors and loved ones alive with care, compassion and action.
“We will leave no stone unturned until we reverse the trends in opioid-related deaths in our city.”
The Brownsville machine was already empty less than 24 hours after it was uncovered by authorities and it was quickly replenished the following day.
City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan says vending machines filled with drug paraphernalia will help New Yorkers stay safe
Local Minoshi Caple, 56, is in favor of the machine. She is shown retrieving her free fentanyl test kit “People are just trying to get high, they’re not trying to die”. We need it!’ she says
The words “bad choice” were chalked on the sidewalk right in front of the machine the day after it was installed.
A disgruntled resident, who could see the vending machine from her bedroom window, complained that it should be placed in the lobby of one of the resource buildings, rather than on the street.
She also said it could be a hazard to children walking past, who may think the drug machine is filled with candy.
To access the contents of the machine, residents need only enter the correct postal code. Then they will have free access to strips, Narcan, condoms, tampons, nicotine gum, first aid kits and “safer smoking kits”, sanitary napkins, vitamin C tests and COVID-19.
