Store Installs Special Lighting to Deter Drug Use
The post Store Installs Special Lighting to Deter Drug Use appeared first on High Times.
Have you heard about this special lighting to deter drug use? If not, check out this Sheetz! Or rather, take a look at this measure one Pennsylvania-based convenient store has taken to quell the trend of using their restrooms to get high.
Shooting Up At Sheetz
Drug addicts are apparently shooting up on the toilets of one Pennsylvania convenient store. And the store owners and employees have had enough. They are reportedly experimenting with a special lighting to deter drug use. What’s so special about this lighting? It’s tinted blue. And apparently, this lighting is designed to make it more difficult for intravenous drug users to locate their veins.
A recent report published by the Tribune-Review reveals how the Sheetz gas station in New Kensington, Pennsylvania has just installed some new lights in its restrooms—intended to deter drug use.
They’re not the fluorescent white or yellow lights typically found in public thrones all over the nation. Instead, the owners of Sheetz have gone with option number two. The convenient crappers are now equipped with a dark blue bulb. This is supposed to make the restroom walls a less-than-attractive environment for people looking to get high.
Company officials say they wanted to explore this atmospheric alteration to determine whether it could be a successful tool in the prevention of drug overdoses across the board.
Hampering Heroin
The local heroin problem has been a major pain in the ass, according to Sheetz spokesman Nick Ruffner.
“I think it’s safe to say that we, along with different operations such as ours, (have) definitely seen the impact of the heroin epidemic over the past several years,” he said. “The blue light system makes it so that somebody who is looking to inject heroin or an opioid can’t find their veins.”
We’ll be completely honest here. It doesn’t really sound like Sheetz management read the fine print on the box before installing the new lighting. If they had, they would have likely stumbled on to the words, “Warning: This light could make you want to party.”
Seriously. The new, blue dope-fiend deterrent makes this convenience store’s bathrooms look very similar to a room occupied by a teenage stoner. The Sheetz shitters are missing something though. Maybe some trippy black light posters on the walls to really accent the environment and enhance the overall mood.
Look, we’re not trying to poke fun at Sheetz. We totally understand the company’s motives. Of course they want to prevent their staff from discovering a corpse every time someone goes to clean the toilets. But it’s just a bit strange to us that this concept is now being used to discourage the use of psychoactive substances. Back in the day, everyone did the most drugs in spaces that looked just like these psychedelic potties.
Final Hit: Sheetz’ Special Lighting to Deter Drug Use
Although addiction experts would like to believe that by simply changing the lighting in public restrooms, communities all over the nation would experience fewer overdose deaths… they are less than optimistic.
When it comes to shooting up junk, hardcore drug addicts “could probably find a vein with their eyes closed,” said Dr. Neil Capretto, medical director at Gateway Rehab.
“I am not sure if it is going to have a significant impact, but it is probably worth a try,” he added.
Sheetz says it is too early to tell whether the blue lighting is actually keeping people from using drugs in their bathrooms. Maybe it should try replacing its soap dispensers with lava lamps and started piping in some Pink Floyd. That ought to stop them for sure!
The post Store Installs Special Lighting to Deter Drug Use appeared first on High Times.
