Proposal to give free pipes to crack addicts
FRANK URQUHART

ADDICTS who smoke crack cocaine could be given free pipes at the taxpayers' expense to prevent the spread of tuberculosis and other diseases.

The proposal, by officials in the north-east of Scotland, is among a series of potential "harm reduction" developments to be discussed at a meeting of the Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drug Action Team tomorrow.

Read Whole Article (http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=203832006)

why dont they give them a free sample of coke to go with each new pipe?

Well they do this here in Canada in many highly populated areas as well as places in Europe. Basically just because they have the disease of addiction does not mean they should die of another disease which the tax payers will have to pay for.
The purpose is to prevent the spread of diseases and is referred to as 'Harm Reduction'. Hep C and Aids are spread threw the mouth with crack addicts because the lips are often badly cut and have open infected burns. It is only to prevent the spread of disease and not promote the drug. Many of the street workers get to know the addicts well and spend time talking to them about getting help and offering them choices. The people who do this work are not just handing out tools for the drug trade, they are trying to save a life.
Hep C especially is running rampid among Meth and Crack addicts. I know one of the Toronto groups who do the street beats hand out medicated lip balm to help heal the lips and close the wounds, crack pipes, and condoms. They only ask for the old crack pipes in return which are disposed of the same way dirty needles are. The same sort of harm reduction goes on for needles on the streets in Canada also. There are also many people against it but the health benifit for these addicts far outweighs the stigma of handing out 'clean' equipment.
Here are some examples from Canada but there are now hundreds of them in the country:
http://www.avi.org/node/view/916
http://www.csdp.org/news/news/canada.htm
http://www.orwelltoday.com/drugcrackkits.shtml

I know if you dont look at both sides of the arguement and you have a loved one who is an addict, it is a natural thing to rid the world of the tools they need to smoke crack but trust me, very many things can be made into a crack pipe. When you find your car antena broken off, its probably being used to smoke crack. What should matter is that we dont let these addicts die of another disease as well as passing it on to others. It has become epidemic on the streets and in the homes of drug addicts and usually they dont even know they have contracted one of these deadly diseases and can pass it on to their loved ones. I use to be dead against this but Ive since changed my mind and have even gone on passing out the bags expeditions. Its a volunteer program to save lives.

i guess when they thought about this they did not think about drug users sharing a pipe? As Witchlinblue said if their our wounds by mouth area and they share a pipe, thats a way HepC can be spread.

America is so far behind in dealing with drugs, its ridiculous. Americas answer:Lock Em Up.