Planned Parenthood gives out free condoms rather than address the human cost of casual sex, so I suppose it's only natural that it would give out mouthpieces for crack pipes and syringe bleach kits rather than address the human cost of drug addiction.

KFOX El Paso reports:

Safety Counts is a new program at Planned Parenthood aimed at helping injecting drug users who might not be ready to quit, but would like to practice safer drug use and make changes to their habits. Participants can be active drug users. Every participant is using or has used heroine and/or crack cocaine.

Bleach kits with sterile water and cotton pellets to clean off syringes, and mouth pieces for pipes are offered free-of-charge.

"What we're trying to do is teach them the stages of change, and how to make changes in their lives. We teach them how to stay clean. How to not contract or transmit HIV and Hepatitis C," said Mary Atilano the program coordinator. ...

... "Let's be realistic if you don't want to stop, if you can't stop what's the best thing? Prevention. Being safe," said Atilano. ...

... "A change means step by step, baby steps. I'm not talking about making a change from using everyday then all of a sudden not using," said Atilano

The group focuses on setting goals. It can include cutting down on drug use, or using new syringes.

Safety Counts meets every Tuesday and Thursday at noon. The program is free and that includes lunch.

Eric Thornhill, a Preventive Case Manager, works in several low-income Brooklyn neighborhoods and runs Safety Counts, a seven-session group, out of Street Beat’s Bed-Stuy office. “We get people together to identify risky behaviors, whether it is IV drug use or not using condoms,” he says.

He rattles off a list of stages his clients go through. “There is pre-contemplation: we find a person who has been out in the streets as a commercial sex worker and does not use condoms. It may be in the back of her mind, ‘I need to use condoms,’ but it is a thought, not an action.”

In the group, Thornhill works to change this. “We hope to get her to practice safe sex on a consistent basis, moving her from contemplation—having the need to use condoms in her mind—to walking with them in her pocket and always using them,” he says.

He teaches group members to protect themselves, demonstrating how to use prophylactics and showing them how quickly an adept practitioner can do this. “We hope this moves her to the ‘action stage,’ where out of five guys she’s with, she uses condoms with two.”

A similar trajectory plays out regarding shared needles. “A person may shoot up six times a day,” says Peterkin. “We try to get them from needles to sniffing. If they sniff twice a day, we try to get them down to once. We give people incentives, grocery vouchers, movie tickets, snacks and metro cards. They see that we are taking care of them and are encouraged.” ...

... “Self esteem and partner communication are stressed,” adds Natasha Abney, another Street Beat advocate. “We do activities. How long does it take to put on a condom? Seconds—even when it pops and they have to start over. We do an exercise where we have a bag filled with panties and each girl picks one. We teach them that the satin ones may cause infection because they do not let the vulva breathe. We encourage communication between the woman and her partners and with her parents. We talk about condom negotiation, how to be assertive. Most of the girls say they’ve had Sex Ed in school, but they’re only told ‘Don’t have sex,’ and ‘Don’t get pregnant.’ We do much more than that.” ...

... The mix of judgment-free programs—street work, counseling, educating teens—keeps Street Beat staff more than busy. Yet despite this monumental task, they remain upbeat, taking pleasure in small victories. “I love the job,” says a smiling Peterkin. “It’s great to touch people in a positive way.”