I find it interesting that they've taken the pamphlet down from the DoH site - does this mean they've stopped distributing it as well?

Spike up, bitches.

If you read the whole thing, it's far better than this one page suggests. About the first and last things the booklet says are "here's who to call to help you quit." It points out that heroin use is a great way to catch AIDS and hepatitis, that it leads to depression, and that overdosing will kill the fuck out of ya. Overall, it makes clear that using is dangerous, harmful, and just a bad fucking idea -- but that if you are going to use, you should at least take steps to reduce the chances that you'll die or end up in in the hospital with a horrible disease.

It could probably take a more lectoring tone, and would have an easier time with the general public as a result...but the people this is trying to reach aren't going to pick up a brochure and go "Holy fuck! You mean this stuff is bad for me?!" Bitching at them about their use will just lead to the brochure being discarded, and the cash being wasted. You've got to reach them -- and useful information in a straightforward, non-judgmental tone may actually reach them.

Besides, if it works and saves one person from catching AIDS, it's cost-effective -- a lifetime of AIDS medicine would be way more than $32k, and we'd almost certainly be the ones paying for it. Whether or not you give a shit about druggies (and...well, I can't say I give a particularly large shit), it's better to spend a little now to save a lot later.

Lectoring? Christ, it's late. "Hectoring."

This is realpolitik...the truth is that there are drugs out there. What is so wrong about educating the some of us that use recreational drugs? Even if it is illegal, it is still happening.

This is MORE pragmatic that some of the stupid epidemiological stuff that gets studied upon without addressing the underlying root problem; I'm all for it even though if I got a whiff of anything I'd probably cough and wheeze.

LEGALIZE IT.

here's the FULL PAMPHLET, don't rely on gothamist to hook you with one measly page hoping you would make fools of yourselves before commenting.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/basas/drug_use_take_care.pdf

and who gives a fuck what vallone says?

1-2-3-4-5-6-7!

Seven! Seven ways to take care of your veins when shooting smack!

HAAH!HAAH!HAAH!

--The Count

Coke-ees! I WANT COKE-EES!

Also, this pamphlet is a very good thing, but that is rather obvious. It's also rather obvious that certain people would react to it in rather obvious ways. All in all, we're being obvious on the internet, and the best raison d'être I can come up with for this post is ANGRYGOD11's horrible and horribly awesome post above.

i'm a shoplifting addict and i'd like a pamphlet on how to safely break the law (steal) until adequate programs are available to help me quit. i've also had urges to kill my cat, burn down my neighbor's house, and self-mutilate. tips on those topics would be great, too!

With only 70,000 copies, think of the collector value !! I doubt the local booters will put much of a dent on availability, as someone stupid enough to inject an unknown substance isn't going to be interested in such literature. Where can i get as many of these obvious gag gifts as possible.. since i helped pay for 'em anyway :D

Does anyone know if the city has its own printing facility, or if they use private printers for projects like this?

someone in the government clearly use the most expensive boutique printers ever!!! the tax payers over paid for these flyers.

I was thinking the same thing, until I re-read the part about it's a 16 PAGE booklet.

I wasn't shooting up, I was just tapping.

This hardly encourages me to want to try and jab myself with needles, an it doesn't seem that informative, they could have at least made a bullet on shooting up between your toes/fingers, i mean really, give them ALL the info so they do it right!

While they're at it, why exclude other drugs? Why not make a general drug use pamphlet, such as how to roll the perfect joint, pros and cons of Bong vs. joint, what size line to cut and is it better to use a mirror, etc, etc

DoH = IDIOTS!

Good point. People don't seem the realize the number of dangerous infections that result from poorly-rolled joints.

UMMMMM, they actually feel people who use heroin will be thinking about reading a pamphlet on doing it???

Really??

Peter Vallone Jr is an idiot. Damn,

The pamphlet on meth lab safety is dynamite.