Former Police Commissioner Slams NYC’s Vending Machines for Drug Addicts

Instead of steering addicts away from drugs, the city is implementing measures that have the opposite effect, the former officer claims

The Adams administration health officials unveil a new vending machine that will disperse fentanyl test strips and naloxone as well as hygiene kits, maxi pads, vitamin C, and COVID-19 tests for free in New York City, in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 5, 2023. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton has criticized New York City’s decision to install vending machines that provide items for drug addicts such as crack pipes and fentanyl test strips, warning that the move encourages people to continue using drugs.

“The world has turned upside down,” Bratton said in an interview with 77 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable” with John Catsimatidis on June 18 while talking about the city’s drug situation. “Instead of trying to get people away from drugs, we have policies now where we have vending machines to encourage them to stay on drugs. We’re going to make it safer for you to use drugs so you can spend the rest of your life not trying to get off drugs but to stay on drugs.”

Bratton was referring to NYC’s first “public health vending machine,” unveiled earlier this month by public health officials. The vending machine offers crack pipes to facilitate drug use, fentanyl test strips to check whether drugs contain the dangerous opioid fentanyl, and Narcan kits to help revive users who overdose.

The machine has been set up in Brownsville, Brooklyn, with three more sets to be installed in other places.

Bratton warned that feeding people’s drug addiction is a bad idea.

“What happens when you stay on drugs? You want the next high. You want the next higher high. You graduate from marijuana, you graduate to heroin, and you graduate to the next thing. That’s the problem with addiction,” he said. “There’s never enough drugs.

“There’s never enough high. That’s effectively what we as a government are starting to support. City after city, state after state—this idea that we will sustain your drug habit rather than try to get you off your drug habit.”

Vending Machine Problem, Marijuana Issue

New York City’s (NYC) decision to install the vending machines has also attracted severe criticism online.

“NYC shouldn’t be commodifying addiction & anyone supporting these should be ashamed,” NYC Councilwoman Joann Ariola wrote on Twitter on June 6.

“The money spent on these machines—which are providing free crack pipes btw—should be spent on rehab services to actually help addicts, instead of fueling their addiction.”

In addition to the drug issue, Bratton highlighted the problem of cannabis while speaking to WABC radio.

“Kids now 12, 13, 14, 15 can get ahold of [marijuana]. It’s so readily available,” he said.

“If we’re selling it illegally in 1,200 shops around the city, do you think they care who’s coming in to buy it? They’re not checking for IDs. It’s a cash business. The city has totally lost control over it. The state has lost control over it.”

NYC Drug Overdose Deaths, Fentanyl Issue

According to a June 5 statement by NYC Health, overdose deaths in New York have hit “historically high levels.” In 2021, the city saw 2,668 overdose deaths, compared with 2,103 in 2020.

Eighty-four percent of the overdose deaths in 2021 involved an opioid, with fentanyl identified as having been involved in 80 percent of overdose deaths. Officials insist that the plan to install vending machines will aid in combating the drug crisis facing the city.

“Public health vending machines are an innovative way to meet people where they are and to put life-saving tools like naloxone (Narcan) in their hands. We’ll leave no stone unturned until we reverse the trends in opioid-related deaths in our city,” NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan said.

Perry Perlmutter, interim president and CEO of Services for the UnderServed, called the vending machines “a game-changer for this part of East Brooklyn.”

“By installing machines like this one in strategic locations, we are fulfilling our commitment to reducing harm, promoting wellness, and supporting recovery for our most vulnerable communities,” he said.

Since 2019, fentanyl has been a leading cause of death among Americans aged 19–45, surpassing car accidents, cancer, suicide, and COVID-19. Out of the more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2021, illicit fentanyl accounted for more than 64,000.

Most of that fentanyl is mass-produced in Mexico using chemicals bought from China. In a Dec. 13, 2022, statement, Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) said that “99 percent of the fentanyl is coming from precursor drugs from China.”

“And then it’s manufactured by two cartels [Jalisco and Sinaloa], and they’re the ones that are bringing it across the border,” he said.