Addiction Activists Say They’re ‘Reducing Harm’ in Philly. Locals Say They’re Causing It.

[Geee]

The Free Press

 

Addicts have turned a minority neighborhood into an open-air drug market. Residents blame the mostly white advocates for ‘destroying’ their community.

 

 

For three years, Sonja Bingham, a 55-year-old mother of three, started every day the same way: with a broom. At dawn, she would come out to sweep away the damage from the previous night—the syringes, the fentanyl baggies, the cigarette butts, and the half-eaten sandwiches. And sometimes as she swept, she couldn’t help but think that the city of Philadelphia would’ve never let this fly during the crack epidemic. 

“They threw our black asses in jail,” says Bingham, who’s speaking to me in her living room where there’s a TV streaming the live feed of four security cameras placed throughout her property. 

“Now that the color of the addicts has changed, they’re going to meet them where they are in our community and allow them to destroy it. So, now you have the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, watching how once again, our lives don’t matter.” 

Her problem is not just with the hundreds of drug users camped out in Kensington—her neighborhood in northeast Philly that’s been dubbed ground zero for the city’s opioid crisis. It’s with an ecosystem of activists that call themselves “harm reductionists.” :snip:

[Valin]

Apr 4, 2024 #kensington #fentanyl #portland

As the U.S. has turned away from “the war on drugs,” many cities have sought more “humane” approaches to dealing with addiction. They’re not working.

In my new documentary, I explore just how deep-seated America's Drug Crisis has become – and how the policies we’ve embraced may be exacerbating it.

______________________________________________________________

1. Memo to the Libertarian Party. Victimless Crime?

2. Since 2020 100,000 Americans have Died by Fentanyl OD's. That works out to around 65 every day.

3. The answer? A lot of our betters are not gonna like this. one word Jesus. I know I know t sounds simplistic, But History shows us it Works.

 

 

 

[Valin]

Apr 9, 2024

Addicts have turned a minority neighborhood into an open-air drug market. Residents blame the mostly white advocates for ‘destroying’ their community.