Is former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg supporting a backdoor legalization of opioid and heroin dens through the creation of injection sites to shoot up dangerous drugs in Denver and other U.S. cities?
Sure looks like it.
Bloomberg announced just days after the Denver City Council voted to allow the injection sites that Bloomberg Philanthropies will donate $50 million to states to “fight” the epidemic through “new approaches.”
He didn’t go into any detail, and as we all know, that’s where the devil always hides.
It just so happens that a study released this year by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative (yes, it’s the same Bloomberg funding it) on the opioid epidemic found ways to make it safer to shoot up, and mirrors what Denver has in mind.
The study recommends “drug checking services” like providing testing for a junkie’s heroin stash to make sure it’s not cut with other harmful substances like fentanyl.
But those testing strips don’t always work, so the study recommends educating users on the importance of “using drugs in the presence of others,” having naloxone on hand, also described as “drug checking services.”
“Where possible, drug checking services should provide supportive opportunities for individuals to access effective, evidence-based services including naloxone, syringe services, treatment for substance use disorders and naloxone.”
And where would all this take place? Some sort of center, we suppose.
For proof that Bloomberg’s millions are supporting injection sites, one need look no further than this study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on the public’s view on injection sites.
The public does not support it, so Bloomberg’s folks say they need to educate the public about how great these injection centers will be in the battle to enable addicts.
“These results suggest that we need to reduce stigma toward people who use opioids and do a better job educating the public about why these strategies work,” says study lead author Emma E. McGinty, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School.
“Safe consumption site” programs provide spaces where users can legally use previously purchased opioids or other drugs under medical supervision. Studies have found that these programs, which have been implemented in Canada and multiple European countries, can decrease overdose deaths and public drug use.
And which studies would that be? The same ones conducted with Bloomberg’s millions in funding.
In conclusion, Bloomberg is funding grants for states to begin opioid “treatment,” funded the research that backs radical approaches such as injection sites, and is running for president.
We’re guessing his platform won’t be on eradicating the country’s opioid crisis, but making it legal.