Bonding With Syringe Exchange Programs

One of the unfathomable “fixes” to the drug crisis has been syringe exchange programs that arguably keep addicts, desperately needing help to get clean, “in a state of bondage,” at least, so says an ex-SF drug user …

In the recent Fox News story, the user-turned-abstinence advocate argued “the Golden Gate City’s harm reduction approach to the drug & homelessness crisis [simply] does not work.” Said Ricci Wynne: “The homeless in San Francisco don’t need more syringes, they don’t need crack pipes, they don’t need tinfoil.” Mr. Wynne was referring to the city’s establishment of over 20 “harm reduction centers” that provide a variety of services, including overdose prevention education, distribution of the overdose reversal drug naloxone and those safe-use drug supplies.” The program’s goal is to reduce overdoses & the spread of disease, like hepatitis.

But, says the reformed activist, the exact opposite is happening. These folks, like he once did, “need abstinence-based treatment, they need to get clean, they need help to get back on the road to recovery.” Wynne called the city’s well-intentioned approach a “failed model” & compared the harm reduction program to “putting a bucket under a leaky roof, a temporary solution that does not fix the root cause of addiction. “It basically allows [encourages?] these addicts to keep living in a state of bondage,” he said. “It’s a lawlessness type of situation [in the name of not being ‘judgmental’] where there’s no consequences for their actions & they just continue to be able to live in this way.” Result according to city stats: “556 accidental overdose deaths in San Francisco between January & November 2022. BTW, 400 were from fentanyl.

Davd Soul