In an effort to curb HIV infections in San Francisco, members of local HIV prevention groups are cooking up a new plan to distribute pipes to crack users who they say are at high risk for the disease. Although similar to needle exchange programs for heroin users, the recommendation from the HIV Prevention Planning Council has made city officials twitchy at the thought of handing out illegal drug paraphernalia.

Unlike sharing needles, sharing pipes is much less likely to transmit HIV, but as HPPC member and Glide Foundation's HIV services programs manager Paul Harkin explained at a meeting earlier this month, "We do it with syringes, and we should be doing it with pipes." According to Alli Kraus, a syringe access coordinator at Glide Health Services, crack use is a big driver of HIV infections because smoking crack leads to a lot of unprotected sex, particularly the kind that involves sex for money. People who smoke crack are twice as likely contract HIV as non-crack smokers, Kraus explained, although that seems to be more of a function of the crack smoker's lifestyle than the crack use itself.

So how would handing out more pipes curb either crack cocaine use or HIV infection rates? Through outreach, obviously. By giving out the free pipes, public health organizations have an opportunity to interact with one of the most at-risk groups for infection. “It may seem counter intuitive, but it’s a great program,” HPPC member and Deputy State Director of the Drug Police Alliance Laura Thomas said of a similar program in Toronto. “Once you can bring people into your program, make them feel respected, taken care of, then they’re more likely to come back and get on HIV meds and want to be engaged and taking care of their health.”

Of course, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford himself admitted to smoking crack last year, so the opposition is naturally skeptical of the plan. The chair of the San Francisco Republican Party called the proposal, "the utmost of San Francisco absurdity" and "another pathetic idea to entertain viewers of 'The Daily Show.'"

Assuming Jon Stewart and company take the bait, expect The Daily Show's response in 1-2 weeks. In the meantime, the HPPC is putting together a study to consider all the issues with starting such a program in San Francisco, including the fact that possession of crack pipes would be a violation of state law. Barbara Garcia, director of San Francisco's Department of Public Health, on the other hand unequivocally ruled out the idea, saying: "That recommendation has not come to me. And I’m telling you that if it did, I would say ‘absolutely no, we are not going to distribute crack pipes.’ We have a lot of things to consider for those who are using crack for improving their health. And the distribution of crack pipes is not something I’m going to consider.”

Update, January 28: Drug advocates will hand out free crack pipes, whether the city likes it or not.

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[CBS5]

Today in useless law enforcement news: The City Attorney's office has reached a settlement with five smoke shops around town which it sued for selling illegal drug paraphernalia, namely crack pipes. An injunction begins today requiring these shops to stop selling crack pipes, and to keep 80% of their front windows clear so that passing police officers can see what they're selling inside.

The SFPD will now begin their crackdown, but the weird part is that this injunction only applies to these five smoke shops, and is intended as a "signal" to all the others to stop their dirty crack-pipe selling. But as the owner of one of the targeted shops in Ingleside tells KTVU, "Everybody got, I mean, what we got."

So yeah, you hear that smokeshops across the Mission/Tenderloin/everywhere else!? Watch out! The city just might single you out one day, or not. And you hear that crack smokers?! You might have to glue that broken pipe you found in the gutter back together, or else walk a few extra blocks to buy a new one.

Just when you thought the Tenderloin was a drug free-for-all that law enforcement had given up on... Nine defendants ranging in age from 25 to 63 have been brought up on federal charges for selling crack, coke, and methamphetamine based on purchases made by undercover federal agents between December 2009 and August 2010. The indictments were issued over the last few months, and represent a collaborative undercover operation by the San Francisco Police Department, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Special Service Unit. The charges carry possible sentences of five to forty years.

This was one of Gascon's big initiatives while he was Chief of Police, you see. Cleaning up the Tenderloin. One presumes that the nine people indicted represent kingpins of some kind? Some of the larger drug operations in the neighborhood, and not just random assholes who work the corners? All of the busts involved quantities over five grams, that's all we know. But then this just makes us think about The Wire, and how futile this all seems -- a hugely expensive, time-consuming, and bureaucratic effort to prosecute a handful of people when another handful have probably already moved in to replace them. (As Dina Hilliard of the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District says to the Ex, "You could definitely see an improvement on the ground at the time [of the busts], but that’s not what we see now.") But anyway! That's the day's big drug bust news.

PREVIOUSLY: Video: Man Smoking Crack On The N Judah

The folks at Uptown Almanac bring our attention to a video of a gentlemen taking candid pulls from his crack (presumably it's crack, since marijuana emits a stench that, by comparison, lingers in the air) pipe. Really, it's an astounding, not to mention ballsy, thing to do while riding a seemingly crowded N Judah train. Addiction will do remarkable things to a person, we guess. Alas.

The film was shot yesterday by YouTube user sizlinseagulsoup. Check it out below.

Workers worked all night on the San Mateo Bridge to fix a crack found in a steel beam, a repair job that affected westbound traffic. "One of three westbound lanes was closed and was expected to remain coned-off for 24-to-48 hours." [KTVU]

Via D.P. in the Tenderloin: "I saw this written on a wall on my way home tonight, 'I will do whatever to whoever for however long for one hit of crack'."

After an inspector discovered a crack in the eastern span of the Bay Bridge over the weekend, crews plan to hysterically work overnight in an effort to reopen the Bay Bridge on Tuesday morning during the early AM commute. According to CBS 5, "the damaged link — part of a network of eight similar pieces — is about 2 inches thick and was cracked halfway through." And, at a news conference on the Bay Bridge this morning, reports SF Appeal, California Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Ney said, "It is a monumental challenge to make it by 5 a.m." Which means Ney is saying that the bridge will be closed tomorrow, or he's positioning the workers to lauded as heroes if it opens at the scheduled 5 a.m. time. Either way, we'll let you know what the plans it when it's officially announced. But still, you should probably plan on finding another way across the bay for tomorrow morning.

After this morning's FBI raids in San Francisco and Oakland, a total of five people were arrested. For what, you ask? Well, not human trafficking. Not treason. Not even hardcore gang activity. The five people (four men and one with-child lady) were hit with charges of selling or conspiring to sell crack cocaine. The charges against five retailers -- businesspeople, if you will, who are just trying to give you a lift -- carry mandatory minimum sentences of five or 10 years. Sorry to ruin your weekend plans.

SFist James caught a crack smoking couple over on Stevenson Street (near Market) this morning. Aw.

Gay men and uppers go together like peanut butter and chocolate. It's just the way God wanted it. But that hasn't stopped Joel Schumacher's "I Lost Me to Meth" campaign from saturating San Francisco, even though meth use is down as of last year, before the campaign began.

Addendums to the anti-drug campaign posters have reflected all kinds of sentiments to the most recent effort to get the homosexuals off the crazy crack. Here are just a few.

(Oh, and if you have any shots of altered Lost/Meth posters? Don't hesitate to send them our way. We'll add them to the pile.)

Update: Thanks for sending in more pics to the collection we've started. And keep 'em coming, dear readers. You all rock.

Speaking of methamphetamines, the above campaign unleashed the typical brouhaha in the bent community: to chastise or not to chastise speed users? This most recent ad campaign--a four-month media blitz produced by the California Methamphetamine Initiative called "Me, Not Meth"--can been seen throughout the city, mainly in the queer-ish Castro and SOMA neighborhoods. And those ads you've seen on TV? Featuring men sitting at their desks, talking into webcams? Part of the same ad campaign, directed by Hollywood notable Joel Schumacher. How fancy. And expensive. (SF Aids Foundation has more info here.)

While we're not exactly elated about yet another attempt to get the boys off the crack, the latest ad campaign begs the question: will 'Me, Not Meth' make a gram of difference with SF meth use?

Obligatory get-help mention: visit Tweaker.org if you haven't slept in several days, can quit the junk, or need serious help. They have loads of resources if you need it.