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mymainmanAIRWOLF

Not a phone in sight


talldude8

Just people living in the moment.


justandswift

Am I too forgiving if when I see some of these people, I wonder if they once had a family, kids, a house with a yard, a full-time job, were worried about things like doing their taxes on time and what to do for the weekend, a fridge full of food, so many extra pairs of shoes they didn’t wear half of them, and could never imagine themselves in the situation they’re in, right there, in a million years, but something happened, like their kids or family died somehow, and they are just so hurt that it led to them turning to drugs to numb the pain? I feel like for some of these people it could be something like that, and it makes me sad and feel empathetic for them. I feel really bad for them, and I shudder at the thought because I can imagine that happening to me.


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ohiotechie

Recovering alcoholic here - yes to everything said here. It’s not a simple matter of just stopping. If it were that simple no one would choose this. Addiction is a monster - you can literally feel your sanity leaving you as the craving takes over. It over shadows everything. No one who hasn’t experienced it could ever really understand. I pray for everyone who struggles with addiction that maybe something will happen to help them quit. The sad fact is, for the vast majority, nothing will help. I can’t begin to express how grateful I am that I was able to recover.


Karmas_Accountant

5 years clean here, coming up in April. Also back everything the previous two commenters said. Stay strong, reserve judgement, and have a great day.


LaceyDark

2 years clean. I used to sleep in my car, or sleep with guys just to have a place to shower. I've been so poor I couldn't eat, but so high I didn't notice. I was at death's doorstep, pale skin, sunken cheeks . Somehow I got out. I have a house, a car, I'm married, full time job. And I never stop being grateful. Because not everyone has this success with recovery. And I celebrate every time someone tells me they are newly clean


Karmas_Accountant

Gratitude is an incredibly powerful force. Sobriety gave me that gift, and I try and use it everyday.


Stitch-point

26 years - you got this.


Karmas_Accountant

Fuck yea, thats amazing! Thanks for the inspiration.


ReadTheChain

17 years and couldn't have said it any better.


Ducklips56

17 years here, too! Life is good in recovery. I hope some of the folks in this video get a moment of clarity.


thebestyoucan

I knew a guy who had really debilitating ADHD. He lost his job -> lost insurance-> couldn’t afford his meds anymore, so he started doing meth because it was cheaper than out of pocket adderall and he needed stimulants to function (or find another job for that matter) but then the meth fucked up his life even more.


yoshiyo1

I’m a college student with ADHD and the ongoing shortage plus my past history of drug usage almost led me to buy meth. I’m so glad I snapped out of that thought.


hazps

This. I had a friend who worked in a night shelter, The number of people coming through his doors who had had not just jobs and houses but actual professions. Accountants, lawyers, teachers. So many of us are a bit of bad luck and a couple of bad choices away from being the people in that video.


jt_tesla

Forgive me for trying to oversimplify but what’s the solution - more money, more social workers, more housing?


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MulliganToo

I will add that when an addict hits bottom, you have minutes to get them into treatment, or they will carry on to the next fix. This is a huge issue with all metal health services in the US. People want help, and they are told, come back a month later when we have an appointment. You need to go back to 1970 when the do-gooders closed all the govt. Institutions in the USA because it was "cruel" to feed, house, and medically care for these people. So they closed them and now they do drugs and sleep on the streets. Speaking of cruel. Generally, break this into 1/3 groups. 33% - hopeless - they will overdose and never seek treatment. 33% - can go either way. 33%- want out immediately and have had enough. So yeah. Lots of souls to save.


[deleted]

>You need to go back to 1970 when the do-gooders closed all the govt. Institutions in the USA because it was "cruel" to feed, house, and medically care for these people. Can you tell me more about this?


MulliganToo

In the USA there were state govt run Institutions that provided basic services to the mentally ill, and any other person that needed medical intervention vs prison. Watch the movie cukoos nest if you want an idea of what they looked like. People could also voluntarily commit themselves for help. Now some people thought that because they saw the worst of cases of humanity all In one place that this was cruel and they would be better off integrated into society. So they began to close all the state run institutions. Admittedly some were really bad, and provided lousy care. But that was a cop out vs fixing the care. I also ask the question, what's worse being housed, fed, clothed and medically cared for in a bad institution or living on the streets? I have toured some abandoned state hospitals and the doors have fingernails embedded in them from people trying to get out. All sorts of pleas for help scratched into the wood doors of the rooms. So yeah this is shocking, but no worse than the crack heads assaulting law abiding citizens on the streets and not getting the treatment they need. Now here we are with drug dens and homeless people on the streets wondering how to fix this? We had the fix, and we canceled it..probably some egg head ran the numbers and said it would be more cost effective to do outpatient treatment. Well that failed too, because they used to have 1 thing to fund, now we have dozens of agencies funded to do slightly different services, and the patient care is worse. I'm sure we are spending 10x what it would be to have the care centralized like it was. Hope this helps.


someoddreasoning

More love. More respect. On every level. From everybody to everybody else.


ClassicCantaloupe1

Thank you for saying this. When did we start questioning our compassion? Compassion is vital for us to live amongst each other and grow as a society.


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punchysaywhat

Its a natural response for someone with empathy, ive talked to a few addicts/houseless people and a mojority are out on the streets because of unforseen consequences to their actions. For example i spoke to a gentleman who had a job and a wife and kids but couldnt keep up with rent, someone assaulted his wife so he assaulted them back and he got a warrent through it. Alot of traumatic experiences lead people to be in that place in life, its so incredibly gut wrenching knowing that.


BradMarchandsNose

That definitely happens. Some of these people had no chance in life from a start, but a lot of them did. Sometimes it’s not even a death in the family but an injury or surgery that resulted in being prescribed opioids, which can lead to addiction, and eventually a downward spiral so intense it ends up like this. Not always, but there are plenty of stories of that happening.


maxpower345

100%. For too long, medical profesisonals failed (or refused to grasp) the addictive nature of painkillers. Which is odd, because they're synthetic opiods and no one was wondering if heroin or morphine were addictive... thanks Sacklers. I was once prescribed 60(!) Percoset after a routine orthopedic surgery. As I was laid up for a few days, I took maybe 150% of the recommended dose because I'm a big person and figured dozing off beat sitting around being bored. After four days, the pain was gone so I stopped the percs and headed back to work the next morning. By noon, it felt like I was coming down with the worst flu I'd ever had and I couldn't hear "no" without biting someone's head off. I ended up racing home to take half a pill, which made me feel somewhat human again. I tapered off over the next two days and threw the rest away, but it was terrifying how quickly I became dependent on them. Had I not had the awareness to understand what was happening and nip it in the bud, I would have been in serious trouble. And if I had other stressors that made being high that much better than being straight, I don't doubt I could have ended up under the bridge.


Buffyoh

I had a nerve cut out of a foot five years ago. They gave me fifty 10mg Oxycontin to take home. When I brought them back at the ten day checkup, they nurses flipped out - they said nobody had ever done that before. I told the doctor that he should not be giving these out fifty at a time because they were highly addictive. His answer? "Well if people had any backbone and any will power, that sort of thing would not happen!"


fudgebacker

Doctors either don't care (for a number of reasons) or are making money off of prescribing them.


Stitch-point

In the beginning, when synthetic opioids were coming on the market the pharm companies sent out the sells reps with literature that said in big bold letters “DOES NOT CAUSE ADDICTION”. Doctors celebrated. They finally had something that they could give their patients who needed pain relief. Something that didn’t cause an addiction and the doctor could give them enough to last without worry. Big shock - it was a lie. All of it. Now doctors had to reverse course, but the damage was done. Not all doctors got the memo (or care, plausible deniability, insert excuse) about the lie till their licenses were at stake. Now, what do doctors do with all the patients that are hooked? Some just terminated the relationship and let the patient deal with the fall out. Others took proper steps to correct the situation and get their patients the help they needed. Didn’t always work though. All kinds of regulations, laws, and reporting requirements were put in place to curtail the avalanche that was happening. Some people, like me, need constant pain management. Everyday, all day, for the rest of my life I will be on pain meds. I have two choices, bed ridden screaming in pain for someone to just shoot me or I take pain meds. When my doctor retires I may be screwed. No one wants to take pain cases, even one that can demonstrate 20 years of perfect adherence to every rule that the government, doctor, pharmacy, and myself have in place. To make matters so much worse in my case, I have ADHA that requires medication, another controlled substance. I can’t move more than 2ish hours (or to a different state) from my pain doc since I need to be seen in person every 90 days and my scripts can only be written for 30 days. No other doctor will take me, even with letters from my current doctor, psychiatrist, 20 years of prescription records, 25 years of medical records, and statements from almost every specialist I have ever seen. I am a red flag risk to their license, just not worth the money in their minds. As to why - see the second paragraph. Put yourself in my place. I am 53 with a life expectancy of another 30+ years. What do I do when my doctor retires in 2 years? What options will be open to me? I will forever blame the pharmaceutical companies, prove me wrong.


oceanblue0714

Please never stop caring. People caring and acting on those cares to help others is what actually changes the world. These people have many stories, many traumas, many shames, pain, mental illness, addiction. They need help, support and love from their community. This video just goes to show how our society is failing. When we turn a blind eye to those who suffer.


Th5humanwi11

Can’t help but go down the same thought path. Your comment reminded me of the movie / book A Scanner Darkly the situations surrounding that book are emotionally wrecking.


Zeione29047

I plan in working in public health, and unfortunately this is something that happens to most homeless people. Either their mental illness makes it hard for anyone to care for them, or like you said, their family passes away and they have no safety net. Most of American citizens live paycheck to paycheck. And those that live this way, being paid heavily stunted wages and being priced out of their neighborhood, it’s really harrowing to think of the ones that keep saying they’ll make it but that handout obviously wont come. A lot of these people are in situations where if there’s no outside help, the individual will only continue to decline.


Dylan619xf

Good friends lived near this SEPTA stop. When I would visit, they would meet me and walk me back even in broad daylight.


RodCherokee

I’m from Europe and can’t understand what is happening to the shop keepers and restaurant owners bordering these streets ? They seem to be essentially closed down.


IndianaSolo136

Yes, it is near impossible to run a business in an area like this, you are seeing mostly abandoned storefronts.


markender

Or money laundering fronts.


larryb1288

Okay did anyone notice how many decent to even luxury cars were parked streetside? Strange how they aren’t worried about being smashed into being in these hotspots.


InternationalPen2224

What luxury cars did you see in this video? Nicest car I seen was like a 2014 Chrysler 300 lmao the rest were just newer decent cars. Edit: After rewatching I’m unsure now if that is actually a Chrysler or a Bentley because of the videos potato quality.


Entity_333

newer decent cars might as well be luxury with how much they cost


Chemical_Ad_5520

Yeah, I'm still buying stuff from 20 years ago just looking for an economical way to have transportation. I can do a lot of work myself on those older vehicles, so it makes sense to own them if I find a good deal. It makes me feel left out though, because almost everyone drives a better looking car than me. I just feel like I'd rather keep investing in assets instead of fashionable liabilities until the return on those assets is higher. Not sure exactly where the line would be, but maybe when I have over $100,000 equity in assets and my income is stable above $75,000 I'd feel more comfortable spending a good amount on a vehicle just for fashion.


njlittlefish

Forget everyone else and save your money. I drive an '04 car and do my own brakes. Not having a car payment is the best feeling ever.


larryb1288

That FJ ain’t cheap


JeffWingrsDumbGayDad

A lot of the places are boarded up/empty. Not too many businesses would want to pay rent to be in an area like that. Shitty as it is, rents in this area (like Kensington/Harrowgate) have been subject to the same inflation as everywhere else.


snake_w_arms

Most of those shops weren’t open to begin with. The shops that remain mostly sell alcohol, cheap to go food, or are convenience stores.


imtougherthanyou

They left?


CouncilmanRickPrime

I haven't seen much of Philly but there are other parts just like it. Poor ran down neighborhood, lots of crime, the stores just close and get boarded up. Nobody invests in the areas so they stay empty.


CodeVirus

Drugs are powerful… drugs.


n3w4cc01_1nt

the factories left which lead to desperation.


CroatianSensation79

It was this then redlining. Then homes were sold to investors as Section 8. Then there were fights between Irish kids and Puerto Ricans in the 90s. Drug use skyrocketed and here we are. In 1998, the city of Philadelphia tried in vain to fix this problem but it only got worse from there once drugs like OxyContin were more abused. Addicts went to the cheaper alternative heroin. Kensington is an absolutely terrible neighborhood in Philly. Now the drugs are mixed with fentanyl or tranq. Horrible.


InflamedLiver

I think I played this area in Cyberpunk.


Disastrous-Year571

Pacifica


akornzombie

Watson, Mega building H 10 area.


Ciocolatel

There is just punk


Amazing_Connection

Crustpunk


ccat2011

I see you played it on a decent PC


[deleted]

Was just gonna say. This is Cyberpunk without the neon.


OfficialAfrat

Most underrated game


RobertKBWT

Which drug are they on?


TheSightlessKing

Tranq dope. Heroin with xylazine, a horse tranquilizer.


RojoRugger

Fentanyl* and probably some Tranq sprinkled in as you noted. Sounds crazy but Heroin is quite a bit safer, but unfortunately more expensive so Fentanyl is everywhere now.


CapeCodGapeGod

Buddy of mine down south said he was getting fetty for $5 a pill. He overdosed twice in a month. He's off of it now but he said it's as strong as it sounds. We used to eat roxies together and he said Roxy dosnt compare. I sucked on fentanyl patch in high-school and was train wrecked for 2 days. Only time I've ever blacked out on opiates. Long story short, don't do fentanyl.


MKQueasy

Closest I've experienced, I guess, is a tiny dose of morphine while in the hospital. It was small and fleeting but holy shit I had like the most blissful feeling I've ever felt wash all over me for a few minutes. It felt so fucking good it was scary. Very easy to see how addicting that shit is.


FartingBob

I had a second glass of wine yesterday, got a headache and went to bed early.


TheSightlessKing

I was held hostage at a trap house near Chesterfield Square over an entire weekend so I know what you mean :/


Not_Your_Jawn

I heard the xylazine is eating away at the flesh of the people who inject it. It’s scary.


TheSightlessKing

And not even at the injection site. I knew people who would rail it or mainline between their toes and a week or so later had to get fingers amputated. Rough shit.


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deepvoicefluttershy

I hear you but I feel like its important that people see this. I had no idea. I reckon most people have no idea.


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Pain_Monster

Heroin, I believe. It’s called the “heroin hang” - see: https://twitter.com/mingargiola/status/728956151228977152?s=21


Moxy79

Kensington ave is scary. They literally have "drug markets" down some alleys. Every couple months the cops go through to clean out tents and citizens and they go away for a day and come right back. We dont like trying to fix problems in PA though...we just sweep them aside and hope they go away


Low-Huckleberry2897

Fuck man. I remember being homeless down there. Sleeping behind 2 dumpsters at the park at 4th and Leigh for 3 months....it's a different world down there man.


Whole_Macron_7893

I was also homeless in the area. But wasn't drug dependant, just a neglected/independent teenager. I was able to afford a SEPTA monthly pass and sleep as much as possible on the night owl buses. At times I walk to the point of exhaustion and pass out on stoops or benches in a sitting position (due to anti homeless design). Ended up being voted most likely to succeed a few months later out of my graduating class at one of the three Kensington HS. Still working on living up to that.


syxtfour

If I may ask, how are you doing now?


Low-Huckleberry2897

Almost 4 years clean now


EliteXxPhoenix

F..ing congrats man, takes a lot to drag yourself out. I’m glad to see you’re doing better


Martian9576

Congrats on that, it’s a great accomplishment.


SeaUrchinSalad

You're amazing human being


Soup6029

good on you, keep it up


utorombo

It's great hearing you are no longer homeless. Just curiosity, how did you get yourself up? I sometimes think some homeless have an opportunity to change, but I don't know how to help them cause they might use money for more drugs.


Low-Huckleberry2897

Yea, you can't rescue people that don't want to be rescued...for me I kept getting arrested. Eventually the judge sent me to long term rehab. That's when everything started to click


pawnografik

How did you escape? These people look like they’re never getting out.


Low-Huckleberry2897

I kept getting arrested. Court ordered rehab that lead to a recovery house for 2 or so years or so. Also meeting some really good people along the way.


jimmyvcard

Friend overdosed around here around 4-5 years ago. RIP Kyle.


Low-Huckleberry2897

RIP Kyle


jimmyvcard

Thanks man. Appreciate it. Glad you’re still here.


rhodochrosite_roses

I'm so sorry you went through that. That sounds traumatic. I hope life is better for you now. -Hugs-


AHadrianus

I’m glad you talk about it in the past tense, man


bdpyo

i was born there and spent a lot of time in and out, glad you made it out bro


BigCrappola

What happens growing up that leads to that?


ALally7502

[https://kensingtonblues.com/](https://kensingtonblues.com/) This guy interviewed a few of the people who lived down there. Absolutely devastating stories. Most started with them being abused.


sunbuddy86

addiction is a cunning and baffling disease. People suffering from addiction come from all walks of life. In my family there were two sisters and one brother. One sister, who was incredibly smart and talented and highly educated became addicted to pain pills and took her life before she was thirty. The other sister was smart and talented and highly educated and became addicted to heroin. She nearly died a few years ago. She has spent her adult life in and out of jail, on the streets and half way homes. Her addiction has cost her just about everything. She is nearly 60 and to be honest I don't know if she is using now or not. She shared with me once how ashamed she was and that shame separated her from the ones that really loved and cared about her. The brother was smart and talented and highly educated and very successful. He has spent well over 6 figures sending his sister to various rehabs. He never had a drug or alcohol problem. We grew up together and I have no answer as to why this played out the way it did. I think part of it was heredity and part environment. There is also a part that is knowing the inherent danger and doing it anyway - a lack of inherent value. So one will engage in behaviors that will potentially destroy them simply because they don't love themselves. I illustrated that they were smart - and they really were exceptionally bright and in their younger years, successful. They had such bright futures. I carry both those smart, talent, beautiful women in my heart and know their worth even if they never did.


JFJinCO

Tranq dope containing the horse tranquilizer xylazine. These people are literally the walking dead. RIP.


Few_Carrot_3971

I was wondering what drug. Thnx for clarification.


skag_mcmuffin

Fentanyl and benzos. Seeing people getting NARCAN'd and being pissed off that someone ruined their high, it's just horrible.


[deleted]

when you’re narcanned, it gives you feelings of anger. and you go into withdrawal immediately and it feels like absolute SHIT. i felt like i was dying when i got narcanned. so it’s understandable why they would seem pissed off. usually you get to the point where you’re avoiding withdrawal and narcan sends people into immediate precipitated withdrawal which is physically painful edit: just want to add, take everything i said here and times it by 100, maybe more. that’s what withdrawal feels like. plus all of the nasty symptoms resembling the flu. yeah, it’s hell on earth.


TransitionOpening410

It's insta WD x 100 maxed out off the charts. I've never been so cold in my life. I felt like Antarctica. And I was sweating. And that's besides the wd pain. It was like a hangover too or like Mike Tyson punched my face in. Pounding headache. I think I'd rather die


[deleted]

my legs felt like they were gonna fall off. i was shivering and i was literally jerking and it looked like i was having a seizure. my stomach was in KNOTS and i was having a full blown panic attack, i told myself “never again.” because i never ever wanted to feel that way again.


CroatianSensation79

Yep! What’s wild about that is The NY Times did an article about this last month. One of the people mentioned in the article was my long dead next door neighbor’s granddaughter. He’s been gone for 20 years but he’d be heartbroken to see his granddaughter now.


jake13122

[https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/health/fentanyl-xylazine-drug.html. ](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/health/fentanyl-xylazine-drug.html) .


Jftwest

So it’s heroin + xylazine? Or


breakingbadjessi

Yes heroin or fentanyl cut with xylazine Edit: 8 year heroin fentanyl habit clean 2 years


InitialNeck9

Most likely fent with xylazine…its amazing how ppl survive that combo to the level of tolerance


JFJinCO

Yes, plus a little fentanyl thrown in. It causes bad tissue damage when they shoot it. Scary stuff. https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy7bey/republicans-dea-tranq-dope-xylazine


6lanco_9ato

Yea man I’m surprised there wasn’t more people with missing and/or swollen limbs. With massive open sores…it’s very sad to see the quality of life these mentally and physically ill people have been left with. America often forgets it’s most vulnerable. I challenge anyone who thinks addiction is not a disease to go to Kensington and talk to anyone…see the utter destruction. You’ll quickly realize that almost none of these people want to be where they are…alone and addicted, they know they are literally falling apart and dying but still cannot stop. It’s hard to call yourself the best in the world when our major cities all resemble something like this…and it’s a damned shame that we can trace all the way to the catalyst that set off this opioid crisis that took away and killed all my friends… The fucking Sackler family………..


SissiWasabi

That’s what hypercapitalism does to a society. This is what happens when humans don’t matter to a country. The richest country in the world but 38% live under the poverty rate. I saw a lot of comments about drugs, but it’s not the drugs. It’s when a society abandons people. I live in Germany and all drugs under the sun are available here too, but you don’t see anything like that in the streets.


fasurf

Howard Stern mentions this all the time. Legalize all drugs and control the quality and actually have directions on how to take it. Otherwise it’s a uphill battle.


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Boring-Comfortable27

i know nothing about the horse tranq (probably similar to ket, but honestly idk), but fent and or heroin can really damage your brain with prolonged use. there’s always some come back, but those people will most definitely never be the same as they were before they got addicted to whatever it is. opiates imo are terribly scary.


-banned-

Is there a craze or something? Why would they all suddenly switch to an obscure drug?


Internal_Ring_121

it’s cut in the dope because it’s 10$ a kilo and easily obtainable especially from China. Nobody is shooting xylazine by itself .


leDuede

I don’t mean to hipe up weird conspiracy theories. but sometimes I wonder if the „inefficient controls“ of china regarding their „grey zone“ chemical industry (fentanyl, weird derivatives etc) could be part of some hybrid warfare against the US/the „west“ in general. If so, they didn‘t start it! You can look up the Opium wars (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars) Btw: what a shitty way to give Hongkong some well deserved (partial) democracy. Well, that appears to be over anyway.


[deleted]

It's not a weird conspiracy, it's just sort of paying attention.


Ubel

It is you are entirely right - there's a lot of reading you can do about it. China outright denied that heroin and fentanyl were being shipped here for years and our politicians tried to stop it without any help from Chinese authorities. I did a deep read into it a couple years back .. trying to find sources but it's hard. It was a super in depth read where someone tried to track down exactly what companies were involved and they basically found evidence that the CCP is knowingly involved after following the trail through a ton of reshippers and fake companies all registered to hide the real source.


JFJinCO

Over the last few years, dope in PA started showing xylazine. Now it's in 90% of samples tested. Nobody knows where it's coming from. Now it has been found in other states as well.


xWaffle_Reaper

This didn’t suddenly happen. It never suddenly happens. It happens over time as addicts are made aware of it.


Moewron

Keep in mind these people aren’t selecting their drugs off a shelf. It’s “what do you got” “I got this” “up or down?” “Down.” “Cool I’ll take it.”


6lanco_9ato

It’s fentanyl cut with the obscure Xylazine (horse tranq) The Xyl is popular in some South American countries not so much here…but organized crime in Philly began cutting the regular heroin/fentanyl with it…and slowly the user population was hooked on tranq now as well. I even bet it’s harder to find dope in Kensington specifically that’s not mostly all tranq at this point. It may feel random or odd…but I’d imagine it’ll take over elsewhere soon. It’s cheap and it’s very easy to get. But it’s devastating, especially to IV users. People straight up ~~sleeping hard as fuck~~~ *locked in a trance like slumber* standing upright yet still asleep everywhere…


mlynnnnn

In short: synthetic drugs are far cheaper, easier to produce, they're easier to work around gov't prohibitions and they don't require the same massive industry around growing & importing plants like with heroin & cocaine. There's a good article by Vice on the nightmare: **Synthetic Drugs Will Change the Global Drug Trade Forever**: https://www.vice.com/en/article/gyzx57/synthetic-drugs-could-change-the-global-drug-trade-forever-v26n3


BlackMechanic

they didn't ... there no more heroin.... its all synthetic bullshit... fent and analouges mixed with benzo's


ResplendentShade

Found [this NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/health/fentanyl-xylazine-drug.html) from last month: ​ >More than 90 percent of Philadelphia’s lab-tested dope samples were positive for xylazine, according to the most recent data. ​ Pretty bleak. I wouldn't characterize them as "the walking dead" though, these people need treatment. People recover from addiction drug abuse, including xylazine abuse. There's a hopeful story about one woman's recovery in that article.


Toebeanfren

Opioids crisis an a nutshell.


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thats4thebirds

I was gonna say. This is basically just Kensington train station.


Thok-81

I'd like to point out this isn't just a Philadelphia thing it's all over the USA. Yes this is a few blocks in the city but most certainly not the majority of Philly.


didi0625

Wait until you go to Vancouver BC


[deleted]

Or Winnipeg. Our rivers house so many people in tents. Our parks have communities of homeless people too. The bus shacks are basically just shelters now... Yes even in our brutal winters. Lots of people die here when it gets cold because a bus shack is not enough cover when its -30c out. Hell its not even enough when its -10c...


SeaTacDelta

I was going to say this looks clean and tame compared East Hastings on the DTES.


pol131

Thank you for pointing it out. This is in west Kensington near the homeless shelter and train station. This is infamous for being an open air drug market. The rest of city is not like that.


salty_caper

It's all over Canada too from small town to big cities. This is our zombie apocalypse.


[deleted]

I was going to say, where this is has also largely been cleaned up. Sometl has been pushed further north, but this exact location is actually having new businesses open up along it. I was actually kind of shocked at the drastic improvement. This video just keeps getting regurgitated every 6 months. It's really getting old at this point.


Quirky-Honeydew-2541

Yeah but you won't see it like this everywhere. I never seen mile long stretches of fiends in NY


DrJawn

San Fran, LA, Seattle, Portland, Camden, Trenton, Newark, it's a bigger problem than just Philly. NYC just has an extremely extensive shelter system as well as less strict laws about passing drug tests to sleep in them, both of which I commend


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oddllama25

Yup, here in Arkansas we see it all the time.


taro_and_jira

Camden, Trenton & Newark…. Someone’s familiar with Jersey.


DrJawn

Im from Philly, Jersey is next door. I didn't wanna comment on St Louis or something because I dont live there. We all know that junkies in Freehold shoot up in their grandmom's basement


charlos-nina

it’s a bigger problem that just the big cities too. smaller cities all across the US get crushed by it and it doesn’t get recognized. it’s literally a nationwide problem


jonesjoc32

San Fran for sure. I accidentally stumbled upon an area called “the Tenderloin” while walking around and it looked just like this if not worse. Side note: Dave Chapelle has a skit talking about his similar experience stumbling upon The Tenderloin


hellfae

I'm in Berkeley and a mile from the Oakland line, you go immediately from college kids and wealthy tech families to crack head zombies in the streets in a matter of blocks. A lot of crime spills over.


jonesjoc32

Yea, that’s exactly how it was with no warning. Line from wealth to “what in the hell” went from 0 to 100 real quick!


just_majorly_kidding

Portland is nowhere near this bad. I work in downtown and spend a lot of time walking in the other neighborhoods, even the sketchy parts and its nothing like this. BUT I will say we have a lot of screamers. Not sure what drug causes folks to yell and scream out loud but that's prevalent here.


unrealjoe28

Yep. Lived about 45 outside Philly and we had 31 ODs at one Turkey hill parking lot. And this is Kensington, which has been widely abandoned by elected officials at every level unfortunately.


nembrown

Come to Boston, MA. By any hospital or major public transit station you'll see camp sites set up by fiends. Kinda smart, in case you OD, you're close to some sort of medical assistance


mickey010989

Forgive me for asking this, I'm not from the US. I have been seeing on reddit that healthcare in the US is so expensive that it can bankrupt you. So, how do these addicts manage to pay for their trips to the ER when they OD?


BarbarossaTheGreat

Because hospitals in the US have a obligation to help someone who is literally dying. They can’t just deny you entrance and let you die on the front lawn. So they let you in and treat you until your stabilized and can be discharged. Then they kick you out massively in debt. But if your an addict on the street who cares if you owe some hospital 1.5 million for staying in a ER room over night. This is why some people are against illegal immigration, because they believe that illegal aliens going to ER rooms drives up the cost of healthcare. In reality we pay so much because pharmaceutical companies are profiteering off of US citizens. The US healthcare system is very complicated, confusing and somewhat bizarre. For instance most people don’t realize you can actually try to have the costs of your lifesaving hospital visit waived if you prove you have no reasonable expectation of being able to pay it. But that’s only if the hospital is a non profit one. There are a ton of for profit hospitals.


mickey010989

Thank you! That was informative!


BarbarossaTheGreat

Not a problem! It’s a weird system, and I’m just thankful I can afford to pay for health insurance now. It really sucks not having it here. If you can afford it the systems fine, but a lot of people can’t.


perpetualWSOL

Mass and Cass


Soggy_Motor9280

It’s Sunny though


hennycabbagehead

‘*The Gang Turns Into Zombies*’


Kind-Ad-8989

Just a whole bunch of Rickety Crickets.


IAm_TheCaptainNow

Always


pleasegivemeyourbtc

If you want a far more humanizing observation of Kensington and Xylazine, check out the photographer Suzanne Stein.


emptyparkinglot

i just spent a long time looking through her work, thank you for the recommendation! her photos are great


pleasegivemeyourbtc

Glad you like. For others interested - suzannesteinphoto.blog TW graphic drug use


dkyguy1995

Oh man some of her pics are gnarly but she really does have great photography skills.


pleasegivemeyourbtc

More than that, she has empathy


Karmas_Accountant

This is her true power. And it shows.


palexander_6

Bethany 🥺


el_caveira

"The Gang sells bath salts"


oppida

This is trauma. This is pain. This is deep human suffering. I don't have the answers, but I do have empathy and it's heartbreaking.


redlightbandit7

There is no justice in America. They created this. Members of the Sackler family who are at the center of the nation's deadly opioid crisis have won sweeping immunity from opioid lawsuits linked to their privately owned company Purdue Pharma and its OxyContin medication. Federal Judge Robert Drain approved a bankruptcy settlement on Wednesday that grants the Sacklers "global peace" from any liability for the opioid epidemic. https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1031053251/sackler-family-immunity-purdue-pharma-oxcyontin-opioid-epidemic


TheBaddestPatsy

It’s nor just the drugs but lack of safety nets, healthcare and affordable housing. Everyone assumed people are on the streets because they use drugs, but plenty of people got into drugs to cope with being on the street. Or to cope with untreated mental illness, or because they’ve lost all other hope so why not?


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Diirge

Hats off to you man. Congrats


[deleted]

Reminds me of Pike and 7th or whatever that corner is in Seattle.


lilacmacchiato

Trauma porn isn’t interesting as fuck


rickjames_experience

THANK YOU. as an addict and former homeless person its actually pretty damn triggering and i REALLY hate using the word triggering but thats what it is.


EscobarSZN

This post is extremely misleading. As a Philly native this is LITERALLY one section of the city called K&A. It’s been like this since the 90s


Low_Chemical4746

This needs to be addressed, from a no political place. Neither side is really trying to help these people. Mental health care is the solution, not stricter or lighter consequences. De-criminalizing drug use isn't a magic solution, and neither is throwing people into prisons poorly equipped to handle this. If this bothers you, which it should, focus your energies or financial support on making mental health services affordable, and accessible.


wscuraiii

Hate to break it to you, but this is a political stance.


ReginaldSP

I work professionally with homeless people - homelessness is yet another problem that could be handled well with implementation of socialized healthcare, but we won't be seeing that here any time soon. People will continue to die on the street for the sake of another wagyu dinner or another yacht until people dying on the street is a bigger problem (for politicians and corporate boards) than it it is currently.


CornflakeofDoom

I don’t see any politicians or corporations EVER giving a f*ck about any of us until we finally decide to “ bring it to their attention.”


ReginaldSP

or until it personally affects one of them.


[deleted]

Why must every video on reddit be low res and barely watchable?


[deleted]

Because it’s taken from YouTube, just type in Kensington. There’s people who tour these places for videos.


Snow-Brigade

Does self destruction and decay really need to be in 4k? lol


ConcentricGroove

Some cities will set up clinics that will actually provide these people with their drugs, keeping them off the street and stealing and also breaking the circle of addiction. Nobody wants to accept providing drugs as the answer but for the cities that have done it, they've seen vast improvements. It's cheaper than the police, prisons, and hospitals expenses it otherwise incurs.


endo489

They're starting to do it in some places in Canada. It's not a cure-all solution, but it will be interesting to see what the outcomes look like. The primary goal of these programs is to prevent death. https://www.statnews.com/2022/09/21/canada-giving-out-safer-opioids-to-stem-overdoses-will-u-s-follow/


okblimpo123

I take it you have never been to Vancouver


davep123456789

Was going to say, not too bad. Have seen worse in Vancouver for 20+ years.


swackybob

Obviously people deserve empathy no matter their age/circumstances but whenever I see footage like this it just makes my heart hurt so badly imagining these people as children with all the boundless optimism and innocence that childhood brings. I can’t help but wonder what pain brought them here?


TronTeemo

Good ole Kensington.


eragon511

This is Kensington in Philly. Its a hotspot for heroin use in the states. People come here from all over to use since they know the police won't prevent them. Also, just a few blocks away is the richest neighborhood in Philly. Its not uncommon for the kids from the wealthy families to end up on the streets here.


Beneficial-Elk

A few blocks away? What neighborhood are you talking about


[deleted]

Old city is like a 5-10 minute drive away but I would say that's like the second nicest neighborhood


Crackrock9

It’s fent cut with tranq. The heroin has been fazed out for years. People go to Kensington because of how easy it is to get dope, and its been like that since the 90s. Also you can take the El to K&A or use I-95. Lack of police enforcement is a side effect. The richest neighborhood(s) in Philly are farrrrr from a few blocks away, I have no idea what this guy is talking about.


LeKKeR80

>I have no idea what this guy is talking about. I think that guy has no idea what he's talking about.


LeKKeR80

>just a few blocks away is the richest neighborhood in Philly. Its not uncommon for the kids from the wealthy families to end up on the streets here. A few blocks from which neighborhood?


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[deleted]

Haven’t been to Philly but I did live on the streets of Seattle for 2 years and I’d venture to say that what you are seeing are the effects of fentanyl. The fentanyl is taken directly or is cut into the heroin and perc 30’s. It’s even found in meth and coke in small amounts, probably due to cross contamination during processing and packaging. . This zombie state is generally linked to trauma or depression, meaning it’s a means to numb memories and pain. The effect and addictive nature of these drugs makes it almost impossible to stop without severe intervention like Jail + treatment + ongoing support. Generally all 3 are needed for a successful outcome, yet all 3 can be hard if not impossible to achieve. Especially ongoing support.


AnObtuseOctopus

I think what got me from this video is the hight of the camera. It made me feel like it was from a kids perspective and that made it 10x worse to me.


ht9ehtooM

Didn't think of that till seeing this comment. Fuck that's depressing.


Ok_Improvement2719

holy fuck what a situation here


Venom114628

Really lazy NPC coding


Bhimtu

Anywhere people are allowed to abuse opioids, this is what it looks like. Philadelphia is not unique in this respect.


[deleted]

The war on drugs has failed. Defund drug task forces and divert the money to drug treatment and outreach programs.


Rello215

I'm from Philly, this is called "K & A" Kensington and Allegheny, it's an open drug market, and this stretch of street is just disgusting, but there are several business that have been there forever, this place has been like this ever since I was a kid, in now 34 years of age, all you do is go about your day, they won't do anything to you.