NYPD officials have ordered patrol and beat officers to stop rolling up suspects who are seen shooting drugs on the streets after legislation in the state legislature passed decriminalizing the purchase and sale of hypodermic needles commonly used to inject heroin and other hard drugs.

“Effective immediately, members of the service should not take any enforcement action against any individual who possesses a hypodermic needle, even when it contains residue of a controlled substance,” says a directive to New York Police Department commanders issued last Friday and obtained by the New York Post.

“This law says stick a needle in your arm, pump your body with poison and lose your life,” noted state Sen. Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican and one of a handful of New York City lawmakers who opposed the legislation. “This law says to people suffering addiction that New York has given up on you, that New York doesn’t care about you.”