New Haven Independent

Posted by: James | January 24, 2008 5:15 PM

OK, I'll bite. Why does somebody frequenting a methadone clinic have a $300 videogame console? Yeah, I'm making a value judgment here that methadone clinic = junkie/soon-to-be-ex-junkie = broke = I'm paying for their welfare check. So what's with the 360? And for that matter, why do so many of New Haven's urban poor drive luxury sedans?

Posted by: eli | January 24, 2008 10:57 PM

I'll say it, and YES i am not ethno-politcal-social-sensitive - she's a junkie and was going to sell the aformentioned high end videogame for drugs. Most likely herion, but seeing that i'm open minded, it may have been oxycontin, a number of opiates (vicodin, percocets, oxycodone).
In my earlier years I enjoyed my narcotics, and still enjoy my (not a gateway drug like alchol is) weed. My friends, some family members and hangers on also came along for the ride. She had only one intention for the game, and i'm going to leverage my house and car on the wager that she had no recipt for the game.
When the issue comes up, i'm looking forward to sharing my knowledge of "spitback" which i learned from a methadone drug buddy of mine from back when.
For what it's worth, my choice of drugs was coke, oxy 80's and any booze i could get my lips on.

Posted by: on whalley | January 25, 2008 7:49 AM

why do so many of New Haven's urban poor drive luxury sedans?

Shhhh... nobody's supposed to notice.

Not a day goes by (I make just as much if not more than and have far less debt than anyone on my block) that I don't wonder where all the Cadillacs, Navigators, and 2006/2007 model anythings are coming from and how the hell any of them are being paid for. I did see a guy at Shaws use EBT right in front of me then as I unchained my bicycle he proceeded to climb into a 2005 Impala. Certainly not a luxury car but absolutely beyond the means of the EBT lifestyle.

I think some of the package stores I see these cars parked in front of must have magic money trees in them and they're all part of some club that shares the green fruit among themselves.

It's either magic money fruit or they're getting a dozen relatives to all sign onto the lease and they trade who gets to use the cars not unlike all the "urban poor" kids riding around 3 and 4 to a bike.

Posted by: Ned | January 25, 2008 8:20 AM

Why do suburban junkies - according to the story, the woman is from BRANDFORD - have to come into New Haven for treatment? Why doesn't the state build some methadone clinics in Brandford, or Darien? If the state can bus criminals to New Haven, surely the state can bus a few junkies to the suburbs - dontcha think? Maybe some of the local cops can give "free rides", to the Guilford Green, to some of the junkies, drunks, thieves and sex offenders prowling around my neighborhood.

Posted by: James | January 25, 2008 9:05 AM

Ned, I thought it was accepted by New Haven that we are the state's dumping ground. I thought we LIKED it. No, oh, that's right, it's just the DeStefano administration that is so dependent on state and federal funds that they'll allow others to dump whatever garbage they can on New Haven. Maybe we should open up the Green as a landfill! Oh, but then the administration couldn't maintaining the illusion that we actually have a cohesive, functional community.

Posted by: In the Annex | January 25, 2008 11:48 AM

"methadone clinic = junkie/soon-to-be-ex-junkie = broke = I'm paying for their welfare check"

No. Plenty of people who come use the methadone clinic are "well off". Maybe they got hooked on pain pills or developed themselves a cocaine habit, but the clinic serves people from all walks of life. It's not just a haven for the homeless heroin junkies.. but they're there too.

Posted by: Ned | January 25, 2008 4:49 PM

``People falsely believe heroin abuse is just an inner-city problem,'' Grassley said after testimony from teen heroin addicts from middle-class suburbs in California, New York, New Hampshire and other states." ... ``We're talking about white-collar professionals from affluent suburbs and kids from small farm towns,'' Courant.com

Posted by: Edward_H | January 26, 2008 10:06 AM

Concerning the original story about the woman visiting the methadone clinic. This story sets off my B.S. detector. What woman in this day and age offers a rides to strangers, especially in New Haven? I would not be surprised if she or one of the other occupants in the car was trying to buy drugs or trying to find out where to buy drugs in New Haven and ended up getting robbed.

New Haven is stuck in a cycle

Non profit agencies that work with druggies, homeless ,ex-cons and such locate themselves in New Haven since a good number of potential clients live here.

The druggies, homeless,ex-cons and the like who seek out such services come to New Haven since there is a high concentration of such non-Profits in the city.

From a service standpoint it makes a lot of sense for these non-profit agencies to locate where there will be a large concetration of clients to serve.

why do so many of New Haven's urban poor drive luxury sedans?

(Please note the next paragraph is an attempt at satire. Don't take it seriously)

That is due to the predatory lending happening in the car industry. High pressure car salespeople are forcing the urban poor to take out loans on cars they cannot afford. Since the urban poor are often uneducated they do not realize complicated terms like "loan" means you have to pay back what you borrowed and that "due date" is not just a suggestion of when a payment should be made. Then these "urban poor" are having their cars repossessed by heartless financing companies when they do not pay their car notes or by the tax man who really should find kinder genterler ways of collecting past due taxes. Where is the BOA and city government? Don't they see the coming car credit crisis about to hit the urban poor who cannot pay the car notes on their brand new BMW's and Mercedes? Why aren't they doing something to bail these people out before it get really bad?

Posted by: Walt | January 26, 2008 4:12 PM

On Whalley

What is EBT?

Tks.

Posted by: Edward_H | January 27, 2008 8:26 AM

EBT = Electronic Benefit Transfer : more popularly known as Food Stamps. The govt switched to distributing Food Stamps electronically some time ago.

Posted by: on whalley | January 27, 2008 11:55 AM

EBT is Electronic Benefits Transfer. It's a little credit card you get rather than the old food stamp booklet.

They're supposed to reduce fraud. I guess I should have told that to the guy with the brand new Impala rather than just staring with my jaw dropped.

They also make it so the welfare crowd can get their "benefits" faster and without an address. No mailing anything out the 1st and the 15th anymore. "Benefits" are just added to the accounts connected to the cards.

But then how are they supposed to reduce fraud? The guy could just hand me his card and I could hand him his booze or crack. I just free groceries for a month in exchange for a $20 rock! I could probably keep using the card as long as the government kept adding benefits into the account. We all know how quick the government is to resolve matters like this. I could probably eat for 6 months on the taxpayer while the guy who just gave me his card for the rock goes down, claims loss or theft and gets a new one. I'm sure at that moment government would notice the unaccounted for EBT card in my hands. Right? After all they are government. All seeing, all powerful, the new god.

Posted by: robn | January 27, 2008 2:50 PM

Walt,

EBT is food stamps and other government assistance on a debit card. It stands for electronic something something.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | January 28, 2008 4:44 PM

First, I try not to pass judgment but I am only human.
How many people would give a ride to a stranger they met out side of a methadone clinic. Grant it, there may be some good people that got there live together and are on methadone. But how many people would give a ride to a stranger outside a methadone clinic? Unless that person offered them something for the ride.
How many people would go to a methadone clinic with an XBOX in plain view? This all just seems a bit strange to me.

EBT cards are traded for drugs I have seen it in the corner store of my old neighborhood years ago. They just give them the card and there pin number.

Posted by: James | February 11, 2008 2:50 PM

The car thing isnt really that hard, if you do some researching you can find some fairly new cars for cheap, don't be fooled into believing all those cars you see in our New Haven area are running well. You'd be surprised what car problems people are willing to deal with in order to not be in a rust bucket with dents. Believe it or not getting into a vehicle like that on a daily bases does a number on your mood. The lower income areas in New Haven continue to live because they actually know how to purchase without spending a lot of money. When people see my Galante they say who is this young kid with this car but what they dont realize is its cost ws dramatically reduced because of a minor overdrive problem that the dealer thought was a huge transmission job. In the end it only cost a couple hundred to repair and I walked away with a vehicle for way below a resonable price.