This is probably, personally, one of the most offensive comments that I have heard about Occupy. And the reason is, that in my backpack, on any given day, I will have needles with me. Am I a heroin addict? Or do I have a legitimate, legal use for them?
Yeah, that’s right, I carry needles with me. Listen to Dan, or Danny, to find out why. (audio is a little sucky, so I also transcribed it. Video isn’t awesome either, I had some technical difficulties. Sorry Dan.)
I was at Occupy since January, I lived there and, the whole time I was there, I never seen needles being used except for the diabetics. They said there were needles on site, well if they were used for illegal drugs, they should have been tested. And arrests should have been made. There was never anyone doing that type of illegal drugs there at all. I just don’t think they should be able to make a comment like that and not back it up. Arrests should have been made if there were illegal drugs there, but there were no arrests for any drugs at all there.
I would add, that if there were needles found on the site, why didn’t our public health department look into it and provide a proper way to dispose of them. And if there were diabetics on site, why didn’t they help provide safe and clean ways for people to make sure that they are taking care of themselves and ensure they were doing regular testing. Even if they were using heroin, why didn’t they make sure people had clean needles. I mean, isn’t that what public health should be doing? Instead of finding ways to make it so that people get scattered into the woods where they increase their risks of not having adequate emergency medical services.
Like I said, this issue irks me more than anything. Between this issue, and what HAP talks about . . . I shudder to think about what could happen to people without adequate health care.
Finally, listen to what Luca has to say. About how the mayor’s own staff didn’t believe the site was hazardous and the mayor’s “ridiculous lie”.
I’ll just add, I joked with some of the city staff there about needles, asking them to point them out, and all they could do was shake their heads, smirk and say nothing.
