Junkies in city centre [MOD WARNING POST #331]

gollem_1975

SteoL wrote: »

There's already needle exchange places in the city centre. It is scary seeing discared syringes around the place. The video uploaded by a DCC worker cleaning a laneway in town was very disturbing (think video was posted earlier in this thread - although it may have been another thread on boards.ie).

the guy didn't look like he was doing much cleaning tbh. and the laneway didn't look like it had been cleaned in a while...

most people don't like syringes full stop..though tbh i'd be more scared of an unleashed dog or a load of wasps than a syringe lying on the ground.

we're unlikely to ever see a thread about cigarette butts and they are all over the place!!

Degsy

gollem_1975 wrote: »

we're unlikely to ever see a thread about cigarette butts and they are all over the place!!

You're unlikely to contract hep c from a cigarette butt.

gollem_1975

Degsy wrote: »

You're unlikely to contract hep c from a cigarette butt.

how likely are YOU to pick up hep C from a syringe?

I mean its statistically possible i'm sure but really how likely is it that you are going to pick up a needle and stab yourself with it ?

zynaps

gollem_1975 wrote: »

how likely are YOU to pick up hep C from a syringe?

I mean its statistically possible i'm sure but really how likely is it that you are going to pick up a needle and stab yourself with it ?

How likely is it that a 3 year old child would pick it up and prick his/her skin with it? Somewhat more likely than with a cigarette butt!

gollem_1975

zynaps wrote: »

How likely is it that a 3 year old child would pick it up and prick his/her skin with it? Somewhat more likely than with a cigarette butt!

There are lots of things that can happen to 3 year old children thats why they need to be protected and supervised ( "watched like hawks" as the saying goes )

But statistically how likely is it that a random, unsupervised, 3 year old is going to be walking down a city centre laneway, pick up a syringe etc. ?

Now for children of IV drug using parents the odds of this happening are statistically more likely.

ToTheSea:

gollem_1975 wrote: »

they get clean needles (i'm assuming for free from the state..so they probably can't get them on weekends or after 5) but presumably they don't have to hand the old ones back in judging by the fact that you "occasionally" will see disposed needles around the place.

the reason you see them around the place is probably just as much due to the standard of street cleaning in the city.. unless you make a habit of walking along disused laneways frequented by junkies

You say this like its not a big deal?! I shouldnt be seeing any! Wherever I walk around town. It is not safe or clean and should not be tolerated. Simple as.

evercloserunion

gollem_1975 wrote: »

There are lots of things that can happen to 3 year old children thats why they need to be protected and supervised ( "watched like hawks" as the saying goes )

But statistically how likely is it that a random, unsupervised, 3 year old is going to be walking down a city centre laneway, pick up a syringe etc. ?

Now for children of IV drug using parents the odds of this happening are statistically more likely.

It gets a bit more likely every time another junkie discards his syringe. When I lived in Tallaght there used to be a really nice park where we could go for picnics and even school walks, eventually we had to stop going there because the place became inhabited by junkies and you would regularly find discarded syringes on the ground. Sure, it wasn't like you couldn't see the ground for all the syringes but if you're a parent of a young child, or a school teacher, do you want to risk it?

gollem_1975

evercloserunion wrote: »

It gets a bit more likely every time another junkie discards his syringe. When I lived in Tallaght there used to be a really nice park where we could go for picnics and even school walks, eventually we had to stop going there because the place became inhabited by junkies and you would regularly find discarded syringes on the ground. Sure, it wasn't like you couldn't see the ground for all the syringes but if you're a parent of a young child, or a school teacher, do you want to risk it?

exactly... I wouldn't risk letting my 3 year old run wild and free anywhere.. but especially somewhere that was inhabited by Junkies.

I'm just saying that people saying OMG look at that disused laneway with all those discarded needles won't someone please think of the children is a bit OTT.

I agree that we shouldn't have to see ANY on the ground and on a scale of things I wouldn't want to see on the ground syringes are definitely up near the top of the list but lets be realistic..this is a thread about "junkies in the city centre" not "junkies in a park in Tallaght" or "junkies in the playground".

In a perfect world we shouldn't have syringes or any harmful material, used prophylactics, dog sh1t, broken glass etc. lying on the ground

there is definitely a personal responsibility issue in that people need to clean up after themselves - And the "adam and pauls" of dublin are particularly bad offenders.

but there is also an issue that the councils could be doing a better job of managing and cleaning up public places too.

zynaps

gollem_1975 wrote: »

I'm just saying that people saying OMG look at that disused laneway with all those discarded needles won't someone please think of the children is a bit OTT.

I don't see how it's OTT. Three years ago we lived in a small townhouse just off Dorset Street, where a pair of women used to regularly shoot up across from our kitchen window and leave their needles on the ground.
Luckily we were able to find a decent quiet place in the suburbs just a few months before our daughter was born.
If not for that, we would regularly have to walk that laneway and travel through junkie central to get anywhere. And it's not just "disused" laneways that suffer from this problem - I stood on one under a table in McDonald's in Grafton Street once (luckily they were considerate enough to put a cap on it, but not to toss it in the bin which I was able to reach from the same seat).

gollem_1975 wrote: »

In a perfect world we shouldn't have syringes or any harmful material, used prophylactics, dog sh1t, broken glass etc. lying on the ground

What's your point here? Are you seriously comparing broken glass and dog turd with used syringes discarded on the street? You can't get HIV from stepping in dog shíte! Let's be real: discarded syringes are disgusting, dangerous and the sight of them on the street will make almost anybody (other than doctors and junkies) uncomfortable and worried. Saying "nobody complains about cigarette butts" is frankly ridiculous.

(Also, I frequently complain about cigarette butts )

evercloserunion

zynaps wrote: »

What's your point here? Are you seriously comparing broken glass and dog turd with used syringes discarded on the street? You can't get HIV from stepping in dog shíte! Let's be real: discarded syringes are disgusting, dangerous and the sight of them on the street will make almost anybody (other than doctors and junkies) uncomfortable and worried. Saying "nobody complains about cigarette butts" is frankly ridiculous.

(Also, I frequently complain about cigarette butts )

Agree with this. Dog turd you'd find anywhere, broken glass you will probably find in any heavily populated area. But used syringes lying around is something that gives a distinct impression of a filthy kip full of scumbags and an extremely unpleasant place to live or visit.

gollem_1975

zynaps wrote: »

What's your point here? Are you seriously comparing broken glass and dog turd with used syringes discarded on the street? You can't get HIV from stepping in dog shíte! Let's be real: discarded syringes are disgusting, dangerous and the sight of them on the street will make almost anybody (other than doctors and junkies) uncomfortable and worried. Saying "nobody complains about cigarette butts" is frankly ridiculous.

yes I am comparing syringes to other harmful detritus on the street.

Of course I am not equating them all as being equally offensive (i am not a big fan of needles myself) but I am making the comparison none the less (and admittedly they are all potentially harmful to children)

I don't live in an area where IV drugs are openly consumed, and the things you complain of are things that would commonly be complained about by residents in areas where there are IV users.

However I do work in the Central Business district, near the countries main thoroughfare, and if I'm not mistaken this topic was due to peoples annoyance that this behaviour was overtly taking place in the O'Connell Street area and how it would not be tolerated on the main thoroughfare of another Capital City.

seachto7

Not from Dublin, but would be up from time to time. I must say, last weekend, I noticed there were a lot of junkies around the city centre. I'm not sure I have ever noticed as many before. Saying that, there are now far more junkies around Limerick city centre, which wasn't common place before. Is heroin cheaper than it was or what?

I remember walking along O Connell street in Dublin a few years back around 11am, midweek morning. A couple walked past, obviously junkies, looked like they were on their way to get a hit by the cut of them (walking fast!) . There were two kids with them, in their pyjamas, they must have been about 3 or 4. So, so sad to see that....:(:(

BluesBerry

zynaps wrote: »

How likely is it that a 3 year old child would pick it up and prick his/her skin with it? Somewhat more likely than with a cigarette butt!

It is very likely a 3 year old would pick one up you cant keep your eyes peeled on them every second


In the 80's when I was about 6 or seven I picked up a syringe outside a house and called out to my mam to look at it and what was it , I had never seen anything like it before and was very curious

She freaked out and started screaming for me to drop it I had never seen my mam act like that before I will never forget it

All the kids in my family have been taught from a young age never to pick up a syringe they know what they look like and know to stay clear , because they know syringes outside in the street have germs

Chaotic_Forces

BluesBerry wrote: »

It is very likely a 3 year old would pick one up you cant keep your eyes peeled on them every second


In the 80's when I was about 6 or seven I picked up a syringe outside a house and called out to my mam to look at it and what was it , I had never seen anything like it before and was very curious

She freaked out and started screaming for me to drop it I had never seen my mam act like that before I will never forget it

All the kids in my family have been taught from a young age never to pick up a syringe they know what they look like and know to stay clear , because they know syringes outside in the street have germs

Mhmm, reminds me of when I was about 7/8 (I lived in flats), me and about 4 other kids were all curious and so on, thinking "ooh what's that?"...

About 10 seconds later, the older group of kids came running over like mad men, screaming at us to drop it, hoisted us all away, then one of them got their dad and he explained it to us all what it was and that it wasn't to be touched. Very simple really. But yeah, kids about 3/4 are very curious about the world. The first things they're taught shouldn't be about hbow wrong drugs are... :mad:

evercloserunion

gollem_1975 wrote: »

yes I am comparing syringes to other harmful detritus on the street.

Of course I am not equating them all as being equally offensive (i am not a big fan of needles myself) but I am making the comparison none the less (and admittedly they are all potentially harmful to children)

I don't live in an area where IV drugs are openly consumed, and the things you complain of are things that would commonly be complained about by residents in areas where there are IV users.

However I do work in the Central Business district, near the countries main thoroughfare, and if I'm not mistaken this topic was due to peoples annoyance that this behaviour was overtly taking place in the O'Connell Street area and how it would not be tolerated on the main thoroughfare of another Capital City.

the problem with Dublin is that the main thoroughfare is a residential area where IV drugs are consumed. There are a lot of corporation flats just off O'Connell Street, and a lot of these are hotspots for hard drug use (and other unpleasant behaviour).

zynaps

evercloserunion wrote: »

the problem with Dublin is that the main thoroughfare is a residential area where IV drugs are consumed. There are a lot of corporation flats just off O'Connell Street, and a lot of these are hotspots for hard drug use (and other unpleasant behaviour).

That's right - many parts of the city centre have corporation flats and apartments. When I lived near Dorset Street, the nearest problem was the street where the SFX used to be (before being knocked down about 3 years ago). From there, all the way down Gardiner Street/Mountjoy Square and through Summerhill, as well as the flats between Gardiner Street and Parnell Street were rife with social problems and drug abuse.
Similarly, the blocks of flats between Stephen's Green shopping centre and Camden Street seem pretty dodgy.

gollem_1975

evercloserunion wrote: »

the problem with Dublin is that the main thoroughfare is a residential area where IV drugs are consumed. There are a lot of corporation flats just off O'Connell Street, and a lot of these are hotspots for hard drug use (and other unpleasant behaviour).

I would say that proximity to the hostels, homeless shelters, drug treatment facilities are centralised in the area and the fact that all public transport services terminate in Town are also important factors in the visibility of junkies in the CBD.

but thats just my viewpoint , the junkies themselves would be the best people to tell you why they hang out where they do.

gollem_1975

bluesberry wrote:

It is very likely a 3 year old would pick one up you cant keep your eyes peeled on them every second


In the 80's when I was about 6 or seven I picked up a syringe outside a house and called out to my mam to look at it and what was it , I had never seen anything like it before and was very curious

She freaked out and started screaming for me to drop it I had never seen my mam act like that before I will never forget it

All the kids in my family have been taught from a young age never to pick up a syringe they know what they look like and know to stay clear , because they know syringes outside in the street have germs

In my (perhaps sheltered) world view its very UNlikely that a 3 year old would pick one up because they would be unlikely to be in a situation where they would see one. obviously if there was one dropped in the living room they would be curious and pick it up but no parent should leave their 3 year old to run around unsupervised in an area where there are likely to be syringes.

If its got to the stage where there are NO places that you wouldn't find a syringe then the problem is a lot worse than I originally thought

Chaotic Forces wrote:

Mhmm, reminds me of when I was about 7/8 (I lived in flats), me and about 4 other kids were all curious and so on, thinking "ooh what's that?"...

About 10 seconds later, the older group of kids came running over like mad men, screaming at us to drop it, hoisted us all away, then one of them got their dad and he explained it to us all what it was and that it wasn't to be touched. Very simple really. But yeah, kids about 3/4 are very curious about the world. The first things they're taught shouldn't be about hbow wrong drugs are...

Ok so perhaps the kids picking up syringes thing is more common than I thought

I sincerely hope that no innocent kid in Dublin has picked up a syringe and harmed themselves with it.

my comparison of syringes to other harmful stuff that gets left on the ground was that we should be more worried about material that we are more likely to encounter on the street than material we are statistically less likely to find. it was intentionally meant to be thought-provocative.

I was also making a point about poor standards of street cleaning by the local authorities (though maybe residents should take more responsibility for cleaning up of their own areas ?)

southsiderosie

gollem_1975 wrote: »

Ok so perhaps the kids picking up syringes thing is more common than I thought

I sincerely hope that no innocent kid in Dublin has picked up a syringe and harmed themselves with it.

my comparison of syringes to other harmful stuff that gets left on the ground was that we should be more worried about material that we are more likely to encounter on the street than material we are statistically less likely to find. it was intentionally meant to be thought-provocative.

I was also making a point about poor standards of street cleaning by the local authorities (though maybe residents should take more responsibility for cleaning up of their own areas ?)

The problem with syringes is that you can't put them in the regular garbage. They are disposed of in special hard-bodied cases, so garbage collectors don't accidentally prick themselves (for example, a syringe pokes out of a plastic trash bag and pokes the trash collector in the leg. Used syringes are extremely dangerous; they are not the kind of thing that you can organize a "neighborhood clean-up" to take care of.

As for 'statistical likelihood' the sad fact is that in a city with a significant IV drug use problem, you are likely to find syringes not only in dark alleys but in parks where junkies and winos like to congregate. And not all of these parks are necessarily in 'bad' areas.

cosmic

gollem_1975 wrote: »

In my (perhaps sheltered) world view its very UNlikely that a 3 year old would pick one up because they would be unlikely to be in a situation where they would see one.

I 've been told that once as a kid I was on Dollymount Strand with my dad for a walk and I spotted a syringe and he grabbed me just in time before I picked it up. Needless to say we didn't go walking on Dollymount Strand for a long time after that. Moral of the story - needles can be found in a load of places by little kids!

sagat2

Out of curiosity if a HIV positive addict uses a syringe, how long will the syringe remain hazardous until the virus dies off? I guess the same question for Hepatitis if anyone knows.

cosmic

sagat2 wrote: »

Out of curiosity if a HIV positive addict uses a syringe, how long will the syringe remain hazardous until the virus dies off? I guess the same question for Hepatitis if anyone knows.

I know that the HIV virus dies very quickly on a needle. Hepatitis lasts a lot longer and, therefore, is more of a concern. Not sure of exact time frames though.

Blackpitts

cosmic wrote: »

I know that the HIV virus dies very quickly on a needle. Hepatitis lasts a lot longer and, therefore, is more of a concern. Not sure of exact time frames though.

Air does not "kill" HIV, but exposure to air dries the fluid that contains the virus, and that will destroy or break up much of the virus very quickly. Drying HIV reduces viral amount by 90-99% within several hours.

gollem_1975

southsiderosie wrote: »

The problem with syringes is that you can't put them in the regular garbage. They are disposed of in special hard-bodied cases, so garbage collectors don't accidentally prick themselves (for example, a syringe pokes out of a plastic trash bag and pokes the trash collector in the leg. Used syringes are extremely dangerous; they are not the kind of thing that you can organize a "neighborhood clean-up" to take care of.

As for 'statistical likelihood' the sad fact is that in a city with a significant IV drug use problem, you are likely to find syringes not only in dark alleys but in parks where junkies and winos like to congregate. And not all of these parks are necessarily in 'bad' areas.

fair point *

I'm trying to get people to look at the issue more calmly or practically in terms of harm reduction ( perhaps I'm not doing a good job.. don't worry I won't give up the day job )

While I don't believe its easy to wean IV users off their drug of choice I do think that the clean up operation is something that can be tackled by the authorities in a better way than is happening at present.

Ok I know we can blame the IV users themselves for dropping the needles on the ground , but can't it be tackled in a way similar to the way bins are provided for dog mess ?

* - however if there were syringes on the ground in my neighbourhood I would be either on to the local councillor or they would be going into landfill with the rest of my household waste i.e. I wouldn't be waiting around for DCC if my child was at risk of picking up a syringe.

gollem_1975

cosmic wrote: »

I 've been told that once as a kid I was on Dollymount Strand with my dad for a walk and I spotted a syringe and he grabbed me just in time before I picked it up. Needless to say we didn't go walking on Dollymount Strand for a long time after that. Moral of the story - needles can be found in a load of places by little kids!

ok guys I'm admitting defeat on the syringe thing ( and I have no interest in dragging this thread OT into a discussion on statistics )

celtic Liger

seachto7 wrote: »

Is heroin cheaper than it was or what?

cheaper, i dunno. more readily available, most definitely. if fox news are reporting it and its not exactly pro american, then it must be true!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et9Ht2iCqZw

BraziliaNZ

This thread is getting old. Is anyone going to do anything about the junkies/homeless in town, or are we just going to continue complaining about them? If that's the case, just accept it and get on with your life, it's not THAT big a deal, and they're only in certain parts of town, which you wouldn't really want to be in anyway.

celtic Liger

i don’t think anything will change except maybe the gards pushing all the junkies to individual streets (Marlboro street by the sounds of it) instead of being spread around town.

i remember watching a documentary about a similar situation in the states where in one city all the junkies, dealers, users and abusers literally hung around 2 or 3 streets in the downtown. very convenient for the law to keep tabs on all these individuals, but allowed to happen mainly because society doesn’t care enough to stop it.

this, imo, is what’s slowly happening to our city centre. nobody really cares.

Chaotic_Forces

gollem_1975 wrote: »

ok guys I'm admitting defeat on the syringe thing ( and I have no interest in dragging this thread OT into a discussion on statistics )

You don't need to admit defeat; you just had a slightly lucklier upbringing is all.

Some of us got exposed to drugs earlier, some didn't.

celtic Liger wrote: »

i don’t think anything will change except maybe the gards pushing all the junkies to individual streets (Marlboro street by the sounds of it) instead of being spread around town.

i remember watching a documentary about a similar situation in the states where in one city all the junkies, dealers, users and abusers literally hung around 2 or 3 streets in the downtown. very convenient for the law to keep tabs on all these individuals, but allowed to happen mainly because society doesn’t care enough to stop it.

this, imo, is what’s slowly happening to our city centre. nobody really cares.

Of course nobody cares; they're too busy looking after their own, little, self-centered lives.

It's comical in town with the chuggers though.

"help the poor in X country"... How about we help our own first? :P

nxbyveromdwjpg

Chaotic_Forces wrote: »

You don't need to admit defeat; you just had a slightly lucklier upbringing is all.

Some of us got exposed to drugs earlier, some didn't.

God just shut up