They used to dispense sandwiches and candies but now these vending machines spit out crack pipes.

They’re found at two locations in the Downtown Eastside, at the Drug Users Resource Centre on East Cordova and Washington Market on East Hastings.

Much like the idea of giving out free needles, it’s hoped that by offering crack pipes for 25 cents apiece it will improve health and safety on the streets of the DTES.

“We’re not quite there yet with pipes, where we are with needles,” Kailin See, director of the DUR Centre said. “But to us, it’s all the same. We need to ensure people aren’t spreading diseases, and keeping people’s mouths and bodies as healthy as possible.”

Crack pipes can cost $5 or even more on the street, depending on availability and the desperation of the smoker.

That can put people, especially women, at risk, either trading sex or drugs for pipes or just generally putting them in harm’s way, See said.

Selling the Pyrex pipes, which are safer than regular glass, at cost serves another purpose: it saturates the market, therefore acting to drive down the price on the street.

“You can come in and get as many as you need,” See said. “For us, this is a health intervention and a safety intervention, through and through.”

Just as a kit is provided with clean needles, the crack pipes come with their own paraphernalia: Push sticks, Brillo, screen, mouthpiece and alcohol swabs.

The Centre has been distributing clean needles and crack pipes for ages, but the vending machine idea is six months old.

“There’s not a lot out there for smokers, and there needs to be,” See said. “I am not a health-care professional, but as I understand you can contract (Hepatitus, HIV, herpes) by sharing a pipe, especially if you have sores in your mouth or your pipe is chipped.

“So there’s blood, or there’s saliva, bodily fluids are exchanged, there’s risk. That’s primarily why we do this

“This is all about health care and keeping people safe.”

gordmcintyre@theprovince.com

twitter.com/gordmcintyre