Injection Drug Users Hit the Vending Machines
Imagine a world in which the distribution of clean needles is not only legal but convenient, not relegated to two-hour exchanges in a back alley or handed out surreptitiously in the park after midnight. Imagine, if you will, that there are actual vending machines which dispense clean needles, guaranteed to be brand new and disease free, any time of the day. Sounds like a strange plot detail in a futuristic script, doesn’t it? Well, if it does, then the future has found the Czech Republic, ladies and gentlemen.
What They’re Saying About Needles in Vending Machines
According to Medical News Today and the CTK/Prague Daily Monitor, the citizens of Prague may now access clean needles from two automatic syringe machines. Says Medical News Today:
“The machines – the first to be installed in the country – provide a syringe and disinfection materials for 20 Czech koruna, or about $1.25. A second packet for 30 koruna, or about $1.90, also includes clean water, vitamin C and a special substance to dilute drugs. The project was launched by the group PROGRESSIVE to provide constant access to clean syringes, even if pharmacies are closed…. If the pilot project in Prague is successful, it could be expanded to other parts of the country.”
Why is the United States So Sadly Far Behind the Times?
Like Vojtech Janouskovec, the head of PROGRESSIVE’s No Biohazard program says, “The use of clean syringes prevents the spreading of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis.” It’s common knowledge. It’s not about legalizing drugs. It’s about saving lives and, honestly, it’s about saving money on the treatment for diseases like Hep C and HIV that are so commonly passed among intravenous drug users. But this is a country that flipped out about condom dispensers in high school bathrooms. Can you imagine the fall out over a needle vending machine?
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