COURIER L 30 IFE, JAN. 4–10, 2019 M B G
s we begin a new year,
now is as good a time as
any for Mayor DeBlasio
to face the reality that is his
struggle with an addiction
problem.
No, the mayor does not
have a personal addiction.
But in his quest to make New
York the fairest big city in
America, he has become one
of the biggest enablers of drug
addicts in Brooklyn and beyond,
thanks to policies he
claims will help addicts kick
their habits — but others argue
will do just the opposite.
Last May, Hizzoner announced
he wants to open a
taxpayer-funded, so-called
Supervised Injection Center
— allowing addicts to inject
heroin and other drugs with
sterile syringes under medical
supervision — on Fourth
Avenue in Boerum Hill, where
the city is currently conducting
a “community outreach
process” about the facility.
The site — a stone’s throw
away from the Barclays Center
and a public school — is
one of four citywide that De-
Blasio wants to open. It would
be run by the organization
Voices of Community Activists
and Leaders, whose services
cater to low-income
individuals affected by HIVAIDS,
Hepatitis C, and homelessness,
along with people recently
released from prison.
Currently, there are only
about 100 Supervised Injection
Centers in the world, but
none in the United States,
with New York City racing
against Philadelphia and Seattle
to become the first metropolis
to open one stateside.
But officials’ rush to set a
record and effectively make
New York a sanctuary city for
heroin users could be argued
as misguided — especially
considering data recently released
by the Department of
Parks and Recreation, which
shows another DeBlasio policy
that brought needle-disposal
bins for addicts to 14 Bronx
parks has essentially turned
the play spaces into city-cordoned
shooting galleries.
Since the disposals arrived
in the meadows last May, some
66,656 needles were discarded
within the parks through October
2018, the data shows.
But just 11 percent — or
roughly 7,300 — of those needles
made their way into the
bins, according to the data,
with the rest falling to the
ground around them, turning
the parks used by law-abiding
residents and children into
minefields littered with used
drug paraphernalia.
Adding insult to injury,
the mayor now wants taxpayers
to foot the bill for $800,000
in salaries and benefits for
workers who will regularly
remove syringes from the
parks.
But instead of spending
more money on actions
that condone drug use, why
not dedicate funds to breaking
addicts’ cycles of dependency?
These sons, daughters,
sisters, brothers, and
friends need help, hope, and
rehab. Condoning drug use as
long as one shoots up at an approved
location is sentencing
people to a life of addiction.
As officials work to clean
up the mess resulting from
DeBlasio’s needle-disposalbin
policy, perhaps they
should more deeply consider
how bringing dedicated injection
sites to our neighborhoods
could yield similar
results. For the record, I’ve
been against the idea since
the city first floated it back in
2016, when I shined a national
spotlight on the issue while
opposing the plan during an
appearance on Fox News’s
“Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
There is no greater feeling
of helplessness than watching
a family member suffer from
addiction, because you know
there is nothing that can be
done until they are ready to
seek treatment. But the last
thing we need is any legal facility
or area that encourages
continued drug use.
Even some drug users
agree. For instance, self-proclaimed
user Javier Martinez
told the New York Post that, by
bringing the needle-disposal
bins to the Bronx parks, the
city is “giving permission”
to shoot up in public. And he
went on to ask: “If they don’t
want us doing drugs, why are
they putting the boxes here?”
Indeed, many experts and
relatives of addicts say that in
order for one to finally make
the decision to get help, he or
she must hit “rock bottom,”
and understand that their
family and friends will no longer
condone their behavior.
That group must also include
Mayor DeBlasio and his
administration.
Bob Capano is a professor
of political science of more
than 15 years, who has previously
worked for local Democratic
and Republican pols,
and as the chairman of the
Brooklyn Reform Party.
THE RIGHT
VIEW