this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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The Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia is one of the most brutally obvious signs of America’s public health crisis. The so-called “open air drug market” in the middle of the country’s sixth most populous city is where hundreds of people use drugs, some of whom are unhoused, usually without being arrested by the police. It is a failure of our health care system, our cities, and our drug enforcement policies on public display.

For some, it’s also a content farm, where they turn other people’s misery into engagement and profit.

As I am writing this, 675 people are watching a YouTube livestream from a channel called USALIVESTREAM of a camera that is panning back and forth over the corner of Kensington Avenue and East Allegheny, where there’s a SEPTA train station that people congregate around. As is normal on YouTube, to the right of the video is a chat where viewers can talk to each other, and pay to post stickers and “super chats,” highlighted messages that cost as much as $500. The revenue generated from this chat is split between YouTube and the YouTube channel owner. YouTube and the channel owner also make money via pre-roll ads viewers have to watch before the video starts. It is a live version of a growing trend, mostly on YouTube and TikTok, where people make videos of people in distress, specifically in Kensington.

The dire situation at Kensington is such that the live feed is always capturing multiple people who are clearly in distress, slumped over while they’re standing, asleep in camping chairs, or using drugs. None appear to be aware they are being filmed and exploited as a form of entertainment.

read more: https://www.404media.co/youtube-is-monetizing-the-suffering-of-an-open-air-drug-market/

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[–] [email protected] 67 points 1 year ago (1 children)

usually without being arrested by the police

That's the good part, though. Problematic drug use is a health problem and should be treated as such rather than a criminal and moral one.

And that's not even mentioning what often happens when cops interact with members of any marginalized group..

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I agree that the use of drugs should be decriminalized, but it should also come with other responsibilities. For example, a government organized intervention and mandatory rehabilitation. Depending on how much money the person has, they should be required to pay for it. Or they should be expected to pay it back over time.

We should have a welfare state. It should also come with responsibilities.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

use of drugs should be decriminalized, but it should also come with other responsibilities

Do you want to do that with alcohol and tobacco too, or just the ones that the rich and powerful consider taboo?

For example, a government organized intervention and mandatory rehabilitation.

One size fits all mandates are a recipe for disaster. Depending on the individual case, you end up either violating the patient's right to bodily autonomy, refusing needed help because the mandate says it's not time yet or both.

Better to leave the medical decisions to medical professionals. They're much better at it than even the best politicians and/or parliamentarians.

Depending on how much money the person has, they should be required to pay for it

Absolutely not. Means testing like that breeds resentment and often leads people between a rock and a hard place where they're too wealthy to get it for free but not wealthy enough that they won't have make sacrifices they might not think to be worth it.

Rich or poor, cost should never be a determining factor in whether or not to seek needed healthcare.

We should have a welfare state. It should also come with responsibilities.

People have enough responsibilities already without the government making demands in order to give them healthcare that they need.

When someone needs help battling addiction, the caring thing isn't to check whether they've worked hard enough to be allowed to work hard.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Means testing doesn't work.