>

Are people doing meth because it's cheaper than having a place to sleep?
According to the city, there have been 12 to 15 incidents of people possibly doing meth in the bathroom that were reported to security.
On two separate occasions, city employees were evaluated and cleared for health concerns after experiencing symptoms of possible meth exposure, the city said. The employees were medically cleared by paramedics. >

This shit is one of the countless reasons why safe injection sites are becoming a thing. Gives them somewhere safe, clean, and designed to help if something goes wrong, not to mention open offers of counseling, drug testing, even stuff like job and housing help and so on, to keep them from dying and give them a chance to get their addiction under control. >

No, not really. Meth is one of those drugs that works however you get it into your body. Smoke it, snort it, eat it, brett kavanaugh boof it, there's no wrong way to do meth! >

"Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden meth with a nice piece of fried fish." >

"Gives it to us raw, and wriggling!" >

Kinda like the worms under your skin >

Used to do security for a library in my old town and the amount of used needles and ODs I found during a shift was staggering. One of our conference rooms was infested with bed bugs and was shut down for quite some time. Cops were constantly on patrol there. I only lasted about 30 days in that job >

A lot of people don’t realize how many dirty needles end up in the creeks and waterways here in Boulder. Not to mentioned the homeless people pooping in the creek. 
Still all the college kids love to go tubing and parents bring their kids to splash around in the water. >

Funny you mention boulder and sadly I’m not surprised. The library I worked at was in Fort Collins. >

Damn, even libraries can’t get uncontaminated meth these days? >

Get these libraries the meth they deserve! >

Reading Rainbow told me I could get twice as high, and I’m holding libraries to that. >

Just take a look, it's time to cook.... >

A meth-laced rainbow! >

I work in public libraries. People do drugs in the bathroom all the time. I didn’t know someone was supposed to be testing anything. I don’t think we even thought it. We’re just like, “ughh… smells like drugs again”. Even for bed bugs we just close certain sections of the library. >

Wait- the library gets bedbugs? >

All the time. Homeless people spend all day, every day hanging out on our furniture (and we really love being a safe, warm place for them be). Do not sit on anything fabric in the library. >

Someone's reading ALL THE BOOKS >

It’s a shame. We used to frequent our local library, attend events with our kid, and donate. We stopped going because we noticed that it became a daily hangout for heroin/meth heads to get out of the cold and sleep.
Edit: while I believe a public library should be fair use for anyone…I also believe it should provide for a stress free / safe environment. Seeing people shooting up heroin in the stalls or tweaking out is not ideal >

When I lived in SoCal I rode down to a library about an hour away. There was one a mile down the road but holy shit it might as well have been a methadone clinic. >

The downtown library doubles as a shelter now, there was even an uproar lately because it was pouring rain and storming and the cops showed up to clear everyone out so the mayor city could do a presser on how they're "helping" the homeless during these critical times.
Also when the wind blows really hard from the right direction, there's a steel art structure that covers the top of the library and it wails like one million demons in unison. You can hear it from a mile away >

Oooh, resonance frequency. >

/r/evilbuildings >

Surprised at how active it is, guess people really love evil buildings. Trains too apparently. >

Why would trains love evil buildings? >

"They also pointed out that standards for how much meth contamination is acceptable"
I really had no idea that there was an acceptable level of meth contamination. >

According to this article from the Atlantic, there are apparently substantial differences in the effects of meth use based on what else is in it (with potentially more dangerous neurological symptoms). >

The standards the original article refers to are not about meth being contaminated with additives, but buildings being contaminated with meth >

I went to Denver, Colo springs, Ft Carson, Aurora and the various burbs of colorado about 10 years ago for work and it was a fucking utopia, EXTREMELY nice areas, clean cities, beautiful parks downtown.
Went back in 2019 and 2021 and uhhhhhh.... WTF happened? did a cargo plane airdrop bums and junkies onto all the overpasses? >

Meths purity has increased dramatically, the potency has derailed many lives, this is just one of the issues but a big part of it. >

Yup. The increased potency also means the negative psychological effects set in in only a fraction of the time. People are hitting levels of drug induced psychosis in months of use that one used to only see in lifelong addicts. >

I'm not sure it's the purity. I kindle if doubt pharmaceutical grade meth (brand name Desoxyn) has this problem. The problem is the contaminants from the substrates now used to synthesize meth, which includes cyanide, acetone, racing fuel, et al. It's causing brain damage resulting in symptoms of psychosis that don't respond to antipsychotics and which don't always resolve when someone stops using meth. >

Yep, this is it. And it’s only getting worse. I see and work with them daily and have for almost 13 years professionally and another decade off and on prior. The homeless crisis is mostly worsening due to meth, folks using for any real length of time may be so permanently damaged that stopping use will still leave a human that can’t function in any capacity that leaves them able to care for themselves. 
I have gone from hopeful to hopeless with this community of people and have no fucking clue past locking them all up how to make it better. They honestly have no desire to change and blame all the people trying to help them for everything they are doing. We have a dental clinic, I had one of them tell me he’s starting to have problems with his teeth because of our dental clinic. I asked him to remind me what his drug of choice is and he said meth. I asked what does meth do to your teeth and he shut down. >

Very interesting to hear your perspective.
People act like locking up hard drug users is cruel or something.. it’s very arguably cruel NOT to lock them up. Talking to an addict’s young son, all he wanted was for his mom to be locked up so that she could break her addiction. They never did (this was in San Francisco) and she overdosed once, causing brain damage, and finally died on her next major overdose. >

I’m not for locking up all drug users. (If they’re harming others through burglary, vandalism, assaults, absolutely lock them up) Meth today is just different, it’s not the old ephedrine based meth that was bad enough. It’s causing, very likely, brain damage that could be irreversible. The increase in paranoia, schizophrenic symptoms, etc is pronounced and troubling. The violent behavior is also increased. We used to be able to temporarily hotel homeless clients while we worked to find an affordable option, none of the hotels will work with us any longer because so often the rooms were trashed.And I don’t mean just messy, I mean destroyed. We don’t even offer that option any longer. 
Frankly, most are so paranoid they don’t want to be housed anyway. >

You said that you don’t know how to treat them short of locking them up. So what else do you think should happen?
That hotel program sounds like a recipe for disaster from the beginning. 
I think forced rehab is the best option, if a town can afford it. It’s incredibly resource-intensive to provide.
Edit: also that’s really sad about the brain damage. Imo, that’s why a hard line has to be taken here. It’s really sad to see families being destroyed this way. I was assaulted by a drug-crazed woman on the street, and i found out later she was the mother of a very young child. Horrible to imagine how that kid is being treated due to these drugs. >

The hotel thing used to be a really great program. Before meth became the chemical disaster it’s evolved to. It’s meth, not other substances, that’s the root of the disaster we are faced with. I absolutely advocate for locking meth users up. I never felt that way about addiction to any other substance use. For all other addiction, treatment, including forced treatment, is what the data supports. Medical and psychological treatment. For meth, nothing seems to work for long term users. I’m fine with locking them up. I hate it, but it’s becoming the only logical and reasonable option. I could see testing for permanent psychological issues, maybe even having wards just for them but they are causing far too much damage in society and something has to give. It’s not sustainable as it is. >

That’s interesting. What about heroin users? That was the drug of choice of the woman I mentioned earlier. People dying of heroin overdose in hotel rooms seems like that would also not work in that program.
That’s sad that nothing works for long-term meth users. I knew someone who got into meth, and he was a brilliant guy, perfect SAT scores even. Very sad. >

We used the conference room at the Boulder library on canyon. Someone was passed out in one of the bathroom stalls while another was vomiting everywhere. A lot of homeless people outside on the Boulder creek trail some definitely violent. The city keeps spending money on new medians for the road and doesn’t address this at all. The libraries aren’t the only area with this issue. The bus stops are bad, the paved trails are bad, the sidewalks are bad… >

Speaking of, is there still the strip club in North Boulder right across from the shelter unironically named the Bustop? I never went in but man Boulder did have some wild transients back in the day. >

No, it’s gone. Shelter is next to apartments called the bus stop, where the strip club Bustop used to be, and is where the SKIP bus ends it’s north route. >


Officials in the Denver suburb of Englewood shut down the city library last week within a couple of hours of getting test results Wednesday showing that the contamination in the facility’s restrooms exceeded state thresholds, city spokesman Chris Harguth said.

TIL there are state thresholds for meth contamination. >

Normally after epidemics of a “downer” the next epidemic is an “upper” >

Is this true? Interesting. >

Yeah that’s why opioids followed the crack epidemic >

"So far ... limited to Colorado".  Yeah, no shit, that's because other jurisdictions aren't testing for it..  yet. 
You will start seeing "concerned" representatives, with fresh donations in their coffers, start proposing these tests in all public facilities.  And it will all be a money grab from the companies selling the test kits. >

Been riding the bus for almost 10 years and I've had almost no problems (moreso because of what route I'm on), but a couple months someone was smoking crack in the back (I didn't know at the time, thought it was weed until the smell hit me and I started getting a headache).
Pretty sure they're smoking crack in the skyway public restroom too. I live in the Twin Cities FWIW. >

Libraries are one of the few truly free places for people to spend time. And junkees are ruining that. What's wrong with people? >


What's wrong with people?

Treating drug use/misuse/abuse as a moral failing and a crime instead of a medical problem and a public health issue has never worked, but voters keep voting for that "tough on crime" horseshit anyway. >

Meth is a completely different beast than addiction to anything else. I agree that people addicted to most other drugs/alcohol need medical intervention. I’m no longer sure meth affords that as a realistic option. >

Yeah, my wife did some IQ and motivational research with recovering meth addicts back when she was getting her PhD. She said from what she saw and from what the people told her, meth addiction is not like any other. She relayed a story from one of them that told her, the only way they were able to get 100% clean was to go to prison for an extended period of time. The lady had tried numerous recovery and rehab programs, and said she would back on crystal before a month or so of leaving the programs. She said the biggest trigger was her former life. Just being in or seeing the same house or same neighborhood as when she was using was enough to make her seek out the old connections again. >

Most people in my field just refuse to admit the reality of this too. It’s disappointing that professionals are choosing to live in the land of denial. It’s only making the problem worse not to see the big picture. Addiction is such a crazy and difficult issue with the traditional substances but this beast is one that, like it or not, we have got to admit what’s happening. I really believe our back is against the wall. >

Denver libraries have to have lots of Narcan on hand too for overdoses. It's pretty crazy but it's a free place homeless people can go (for now) >

No more speed reading >

I'm sympathetic of the perspective of addicts and the homeless and giving them a safe space for what they need, but I dont think thats mutually exclusive to the perspective of other community members wanting safe spaces like libraries and parks to remain safe for them as well.
Community members pay the local taxes that help fund these public work areas so I dont think it's unreasonable or heartless for them to feel resentful about the homeless crisis taking these spaces. I think we all have a common enemy which is local politicians who press for legislation that does nothing to help either side of the community members, and waste taxpayer money on things like military arming local police. 
it is so frustrating. I'd rather know my money is going to help other people by funding necessary resource centers while then allowing libraries and phblic spaces to be safe but thats not what's happening. I'm sorry to make this political but what do you expect when conservative turnout is typically higher in local elections and conservative politicians are the ones wasting taxpayer money on stupid shit like "CRT" in the schools and punishment programs instead of resource centers, education, public works, etc? >

Libraries should be a place of learning, not a place to get high on potenuse! >

I wish I was high on potenuse. >

I have some pot 'n use >

That's the homeless problem in Colorado at work! We live just west of here. The Colfax problems are slowly moving around the city. >

"Other spaces such as countertops also tested positive for lower levels of the drug and will require specialized cleaning, he said. The larger-scale remediation work will include removing tainted surfaces, walls, ductwork and exhaust fan equipment. '
What? Why would you need to remediate the building? >

I had a rental house test positive for meth once, the testing company said they test a such low levels for government standards that if someone smoked meth even once anywhere in the building it would hit positive.  So if somebody who had recently smoked came in and touched some surfaces this would likely be enough for them to test positive and have to remediate the entire building. >

A friend of mine had a rental where the tenants were busted for meth possession and without any testing at all the city condemned the house so that it cost him half the value of the house to remediate. >

Remediation is a joke, I wasn't even around when this happened in my rental house but I just had my bro swing by and wipe down all the surfaces with Clorox wipes (including inside of bathroom vents and kitchen vent hoods because that is where they test) and had them come back and retest everything and it was zero across the board.  Professional remediation is a fucking scam unless you're talking about a full on meth lab. >

Here, if required, it requires replacing the sheet rock, doors and all flooring, as well as cabinets etc. It was like that for sellers or a pseudofed lab. >

Where is here?  Boulder county? >

Tn, every city and county is different. I believe that these laws were originally intended to target weekly rate motels where the Cooks and dealers set up. >

The library I go to is the wild west on Saturdays, the only day security isn't there >

This is why we all piss in the history section.. >

Animal. 
Civilized people piss in the circulation section. >

This really is a ridiculous over reaction. They are replacing ducting and walls. I work with w/dangerous chemicals, this is so over blown and some contractor is blinking the city.
Simple green and a rag, what an absolute joke of a response >

This is exactly what is going on here. So ridiculous. Apparently the standards they chose as for what is considered a safe threshold of exposure and what is unsafe were just directly copied from residential thresholds from some contractor/industry funded research study. >

Had to fly out to Colorado for work twice, and the company's office was downtown. Both times, it felt like I was in a zombie horror movie... >

I hate when my meth is cut with books. >

The despair is nationwide. People can’t afford housing, food, healthcare, education. Deaths of despair (suicide/homicide/overdose) are at unprecedented highs. Happy people with opportunities don’t choose to live like this. When the Soviet Union collapsed the same thing happened-widespread poverty, drug addiction, despair, broken families, shattered dreams. If this only affected a few people you might get someone to listen to how it’s their fault and whatnot but it’s not just a few people. The problem is systemic. >

Indeed, the American Dream is gone, young people no longer look forward to a lifelong career, marriage, and the purchase of a home at an early age. The 1% are taking everything, and they still want your last dollar. Corporate greed is the new reality. Billionaires are gaining rapidly as the majority of humanity despair. >

I agree. I hate this reality. Sometimes I wish I was a narcissistic fool who only cares about vapid stuff but that would just be supporting the system. It’s hard being aware. >

because homeless people and drug addicts invade them. Look if someone wants to use the library as intended, great, I don't care if you're addicted or homeless. But when you're using it as a toilet and place to do drugs and attack children during reading hour, you lose all sympathy from me >

Libraries should do some kind of reverse “adult swim”. Basically for, like, two hours a day a couple times a week, only children and their accompanying parents can use the library. Anyone age 18 or up gets the boot and can’t come back until the children’s time is over. 
I also have no problem with libraries enforcing usage rules. If you’re laying on a couch sleeping, or jerking off while watching the computer, or have been doing nothing but sitting in the reading area talking for the last hour, then you can be asked to leave. 
Just because libraries should be available for all to use does that mean that use has to be an uninhibited free-for-all. >

Oh they ask, and the addicts and homeless tell the librarians to go fuck themselves. Many libraries have security but even they can't do much and the cops don't respond. It is a mess! >

"Aye man you goin to work today?"
"Nah god damn meth contamination again."
"Ah shit really? That's the 3rd time this week." >

Having worked in a public library- there really should be standards for entering a public library. Like the kind they have at courthouses. >

How does “meth contamination” happen? Is it chemicals from the cooking process making it into the library or are people just leaving meth everywhere? >

Likely just meth dust from handling the crystals and materials needed for smoking. People using the bathroom who are coated in it will leave a bit behind. >

If they closed our library for meth contamination, it would never open. >

The real reason the GOP is burning books, they laced with Meth! >

WTF is going on in Colorado with your unhinged cops and meth schools? >

I breathed in second hand meth for years and I turned out fine.
It's true I lived next to a meth house for two years before the three people who lived there got caught selling meth. They were making it in the basement. Realized that's why there were always empty battery cells littering the street in retrospect.
I'm not sure if I turned out fine though. Mental health is pretty shit, but idk I have a job, car, wife, dog, and house so things worked out. 
Don't do meth kids. >

Giving addicts safe spaces to use their drugs in a safe manner as well as providing them help to try and turn there lives around with counselling and support groups is the answer but I don’t think the USA is ready to accept that. >

no? I don’t think you’re ready to accept that a lot of these junkies don’t want help. They want to be fucking high out of their minds even if it means they’re sleeping in the streets >

Ok and you want them to do this at the library...? >

what? i don’t think we should be enabling methheads at all. i don’t care where it’s at, nobody should be fueling a junkie’s addiction >

what’s the deal with all these junkies just overtaking the most beautiful parts of the nation? >

Keep in mind the rich do drugs as well. They can afford it. A lot of kids of rich parents are junkies. I work on the north shore of long island. The younger homeless junkies are the kids of the rich parents in the mansions. >

that’s interesting, I appreciate the insight. i’ve been driving back and forth through the west coast from California to Washington over this past summer, and it’s just crazy seeing the most rural, beautiful places filled to the brim with drugs.
i’m sure the rich have their vices, but it’s really sad to see people with nothing to their name trying to find their next hit on the streets they sleep on. drugs don’t discriminate, that’s for sure >

I knew there was a reason I had bees in my teeth after drinking from the water fountain /s >

Is this where that boebert lady lives >

I guess I’m out of the loop. I’ve never heard the words Meth and Contamination together. >

People are smoking foil all over the place in Denver. The police can't / won't do anything most of the time, and when they do something, the criminal is out of jail in hours due to our new social equality bond program. A lot of these meth heads are also homeless, so they end up going to the library to wash up, stay warm and inevitably smoke more meth in or near the bathrooms. 
Homeless meth addicts are the problem. Previously our city would sweep these homeless camps and run off the homeless people but now the left leaning politicians have deemed that as being harsh treatment. In the mean time we (the Denver and Colorado tax payers) now have been denied access to resources that we pay for. I'm not even going to discuss the number of non-meth addicts that may have been exposed to these airborne chemicals or might now have heath complications from them.