PIX News
If we’ve learned nothing else about the heroin epidemic in the South Bronx, it’s that there’s a seemingly endless supply of the opiate on the street, especially near the bustling intersection known officially as “The Hub” and unofficially as “The Hub of Heroin”.
That means plenty of temptation for recovering addicts like 53-year-old Enrique Santiago.
"They throw the needles on the floor and stuff like that," said Santiago. Santiago's spent the better part of the last two decades trying to stay clean. "I've been on methadone for a year."
He takes the synthetic drug once a day, six days a week to help ward off cravings for the real thing. And he admits that seventh day without any help is hard.
It was just last month PIX11’s reporting forced the de Blasio Administration to address residents’ concerns over hundreds of dirty needles found in city garbage cans, and on the street, tossed by the heroin addicts who are getting their fix in broad daylight.
"They be in the buildings, sleeping, urinating, feces and also, they just have so many needles. It's everywhere," said Bronx building porter Michael Dawson.
But in the wake of our reports, residents like building porter Michael Dawson and former heroin addict Vincent Almojera both question whether one of the city’s solutions — needle exchange programs — have only made the addiction crisis worse.
Vincent believes a neighborhood already playing host to a number of methadone clinics could use a few more without the bad rap that comes with visiting them.
"The methadone clinic is not the problem, the methadone clinic is one of the solutions," said Almojera. "The problem is handing out free needles, handing out free needles and the stigma that comes with treatment. People look down on you when you go into treatment and that's the problem."
10 comments:
abysmal failure sums up the Dumblasio administration
Clearly this is fake news. For us to have a heroin epidemic would mean there would have to be quite if bit of lawlessness, since heroin is illegal. And since we all know crime is down, our Mayor and previous puppet police commissioner never missed an opportunity to tell us..,this has to be fake!!
DeBozo Wilhelm is an abysmal failure himself.
I swear, wherever we send him, he's a failure.
Heroin addicts are not going to forgo heroin because they cant get free needles.
People are not going to start shooting heroin cause they can get free needles.
"People look down on you when you go into treatment"???
This "news story" is idiotic.
They need to send junkies to work camps.
No picnic, but they will be alive - and doing productive work not only covering their cost to society, but contributing.
Sorry, there is no hope for a heroin junkie. Best hope is that someday people will come to their senses and say no. But it'll never happen. Unless the world runs out of people. Says the pusher man.
And yes, my dumb brother in-law voted TWICE for him because he represents "Family value".
LMAO, they need to send Junkies to Work Camps. Do you want the job of supervising them and getting them to actually work? what a hoot.
Dang, with so many needles, you would think they could revive the garment industry
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