Clean crack pipes become available in 2 repurposed vending machines on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside - to reduce HIV, Hep C transmission. BUt social conservatives are not happy. After an article I wrote appeared in VICE in early February 2014, right wing pundits and politicians began trying to manufacture outrage over two crack pipe vending machines in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Yet, giving clean crack pipes to drug users has been legal and publically subsidized in Vancouver for years. The idea is to stem the spread of Hep C and HIV among crack cocaine users who share pipes.. It’s the same, evidence-based, pragmatic approach that’s behind needle distribution: harm reduction.