Need some quick pointers on how to smoke meth, fentanyl or crack? Those glass pipes can be tricky, you know, so you might appreciate a few helpful hints for getting a better buzz.

Or, maybe you need your fix even faster and want to shoot addictive, deadly drugs straight into your veins — but you’ve run out of syringes.

Don’t worry, you won’t have to meet some street dealer in a seedy alley for any of that. You can get everything you need just by walking into the front door of your local “harm reduction” center.

It’s perfectly legit — sanctioned by local authorities — and its mission is to make sure you do drugs right. The centers can’t by law provide you the drugs. But they also won’t try to get you to quit. (That would be judgmental.)

We’re not making up any of this. Such madness really does exist in a number of communities right here in Colorado. There are nine of the centers in Colorado, including in Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Grand Junction and Fort Collins.

Some are even funded by your tax dollars; Denver’s City Council recently agreed to pump another $3 million into the dubious endeavor.

Often called “needle exchanges,” the centers are typically run by nonprofits under contract with public agencies to dispense drug paraphernalia and advice. The preposterous premise is the extra support will save drug addicts and casual users from hepatitis or maybe an overdose.

The perverse upshot, of course, is to encourage continued drug use and addiction. In other words — a life of misery punctuated by a premature death. That epic backfire was illustrated vividly in an enlightening Gazette news report this week.

As noted in The Gazette’s report, a flyer distributed to walk-ins at Denver’s Access Point needle exchange advises drug smokers, “Inhale slow and exhale fast — holding your breath won’t get you higher, but it will damage your lungs.” An Access Point Denver staffer told The Gazette the flyer is part of an HIV and Hepatitis C prevention program kit distributed to users.

“It’s written to resonate with people who use drugs,” Access Point Denver Prevention Services Manager Kristin Doneski said. “While the language may be alarming to others in our community, it’s directed at folks who are opting for a less harmful mode of drug use – smoking versus injecting.”

To call that naive is beside the point. Indeed, the people in the harm reduction movement seem to know exactly what the result of their services will be — and are perfectly OK with it. All the more’s the pity.

They are undermining the lives they purportedly are trying to save. Instead of sparing users from the ravages of addiction, the exchanges are aiding and abetting it — so addicts can keep stumbling along in a self-destructive stupor, unable to lead productive lives or even stay housed.

Meanwhile, the centers are magnets for crime and chaos in the neighborhoods where they operate. That’s probably one reason Mayor Mike Johnston vetoed a bill by the Denver council this year to expand the number of needle exchanges allowed in the city.

Kudos to Johnston — it’s somewhat reassuring to know harm reduction has its limits in the eyes of some elected leaders — but it’s absurd there are any such centers.

We’ll say it again: The harm reduction movement has done almost as much as the drug cartels to hook addicts. And the cartels, at least, don’t seek public funding.

Read The Gazette’s full, in-depth report at https://tinyurl.com/ykntvb8d

And here’s a shout-out to @DoBetterDenver on Instagram for posting Access Point Denver’s handout and bringing it to the public’s attention in the first place.

The Gazette Editorial Board