Crack pipe vending machines are open for business in Vancouver

VANCOUVER , British Columbia, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- In an effort to stop the spread of disease among drug users, Vancouver has installed crack pipe vending machines in the city’s Downtown Eastside neighborhood.

The machines sell Pyrex crack pipes for 25 cents. "For us, this was about increasing access to safer inhalation supplies in the Downtown Eastside,” Drug Users Resource Centre director Kailin See told CTV Vancouver.

"This is one piece of the larger puzzle," See said. "You have to have treatment, you have to have detox, you have to have safe spaces to use your drug of choice, and you have to have safe and clean supplies."

According to See, while the pipes only cost a quarter apiece, individual cases of HIV or hepatitis cost taxpayers up to $250,000 in medical treatment.

The pipes in the machine are more durable and less likely to chip and cut drug users' mouths than traditional pipes. The company that opened the machines, InSite, thinks that the higher quality pipes will lead to a reduction in HIV and hepatitis C.

“Drug use damages the health of individuals and the safety of our communities,” said Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney. “We believe law enforcement should enforce the law.”

[CTV News]