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Behr79 t1_ixopul9 wrote

I know it sounds messed up, but I’m pretty sure it impairs the ability to find a vein for drug users.

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tusabescomoes t1_ixoqy5a wrote

This is correct here is a study done about it

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nxtfari t1_ixpi34e wrote

Interesting the conclusion from the study was that it's basically pointless:

>Conclusions: Blue lights are unlikely to deter injection drugs use in public washrooms, and may increase drug use-related harms. Despite recognizing these negative effects, people who use injection drugs may be reluctant to advocate against their use. We attempt to reconcile this apparent contradiction by interpreting blue lights as a form of symbolic violence and suggest a parallel with other emancipatory movements for inspiration in advocating against this and other oppressive interventions.

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Flat-Development-906 t1_ixpjrwx wrote

This. I work detox and substance abuse support- if someone really wants to get high, they’ll get high. It’s weird that the grocery store feels the need in their bathroom for this and all it does is piss off regular customers.

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mccarthycodes t1_ixpq9zu wrote

I mean it's a deterrent. No one says it stops drug use 100%.

It's the same as door locks. They deter opportunistic thieves, but it's not hard to pick a lock; the store is hoping other bathrooms are less inconvenient...

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ImNotAtAllCreative81 t1_ixq5s5r wrote

Drug use tends to be a problem in supermarket bathrooms. I know of a few ODs that have occured in them.

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ButterAndPaint t1_ixq34bn wrote

Are people pissed off by this? I think it looks cool.

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Torpul t1_ixqm9aw wrote

If your penis is small and blue it also makes it harder to pee without making a mess... or so I'm told.

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TecumsehSherman t1_ixrc4v1 wrote

>It’s weird that the grocery store feels the need in their bathroom for this and all it does is piss off regular

It's not weird that some junky customer thinks that they have the right to use other people's grocery stores to get high?

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rubicon83 t1_ixs6csj wrote

The have the need because the neiborhood this store is in is crawling with junkies. They likely had numerous overdoses and this is their solution to try to minimize it continuing.

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houndoftindalos t1_ixq7phq wrote

All this language about "symbolic violence" and "other emancipatory movements" tells me this study clearly had an agenda. They clearly weren't just there to study it and report the objective truth. I wouldn't trust it. What about the "violence" done to grocery store workers who have to clean up after these people and use this bathroom? Screw them I guess. Let the drug users reign supreme!

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Sheol t1_ixqqcy2 wrote

My dude, the paper was published in Harm Reduction, of course it's part of the harm reduction movement.

That conclusion unfortunately was only looking at the problem from the drug users and the harm reduction stand point and really ignores the property owners view. The take away from many of the interviews was, "I'd avoid the blue lights unless I really needed a spot, then I'd use it anyway and it's be more dangerous for me to inject without seeing right." Which has obvious negatives for those two parties, and quite a positive effect for the store owner.

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Shelby-Stylo t1_ixqhrwg wrote

I take “symbolic violence” and “oppressive interventions” to mean that the study’s authors find it abhorrent that anybody would do anything to prevent open drug use.

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lpn122 t1_ixqqva2 wrote

It literally says above that the blue lights don’t really deter drug use and instead can make it more likely for IV users to hurt themselves—but the lights are installed anyway because the store owners are being symbolically violent toward the drug users, that is, hoping they harm themselves because drug users deserve to be harmed.

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TecumsehSherman t1_ixrcdg9 wrote

>, that is, hoping they harm themselves because drug users deserve to be harmed.

Or maybe they're hoping that a young kid shopping with his family for dinner doesn't stumble on an OD victim just because he has to pee?

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lpn122 t1_ixrhaev wrote

I’m not saying that it’s wrong for stores to try to prevent people from using drugs in the bathrooms, I was just explaining the symbolic violence of the blue lights.

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PM_ME_SUMDICK t1_ixsduep wrote

They're more likely to stumble on the OD victim in the blue lit bathroom.

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StoJa9 t1_ixota5v wrote

Why is that messed up? would you rather walk in to take a shit and find that someone OD on the bathroom floor? Call me crazy but that would be messed up.

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jenn363 t1_ixowhfg wrote

Messed up that so many people are using intravenous drugs that we have to have blue lights up so people don’t OD at a grocery store.

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Local_Stuff_Acct t1_ixpdnpf wrote

Honestly yes I would prefer that, this looks like hell on the ol eyeballs.

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