Durka-Durka-Muhammed-Jihad!!
Um.....yeah - here's a monumentally bad idea:
Vancouver Tries Free Heroin ProgramThis is a bad move on so many different levels.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Just over the United States northwest border, addicts will soon be able to get their fix from the Canadian government in the form of free heroin administered by nurses and doctors on the taxpayer's dime.
"They're using heroin. They'll continue to use heroin. What we're trying to do is prevent them from getting something irreversible like HIV, hep [hepatitis] C and overdose death,” said Dr. Martin Schechter, the director of the heroin program.
Vancouver is the first city to take part in the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, which plans to enroll 470 participants at three sites in Canada. The Toronto and Montreal sites are expected to begin recruiting candidates this spring.
Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham is among supporters who say the heroin giveaway will let junkies shoot up without having to resort to theft or prostitution to buy their drugs. Breaking that cycle of crime, they argue, is the first step toward turning an addict's life around.
Actually, Tim, once upon a time Heroin was legal.. you could buy it out of the Sears catalog. The
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
Tim said:
If drugs such as heroin were legalized, you would reap all the positive things this program will
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
Robert said:
The concept is somewhat flawed. Theoretically it should hurt drug dealers by stealing their cust
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
AWolf said:
scroff is right. Also even with the inefficiencies of a government program, this is cheaper than
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
scroff said:
You're absolutely right, it is just addressing the symptoms. An addict can't get clean, obviously
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
Mad Mikey said:
You've got some good points there, but IMO this is just addressing the symptoms of the pro
Read more in Say What? Bonehead Manuever
Comments on Say What? Bonehead Manuever
I think this is a great idea. Actually, it's much better then Methadone maintenance...methadone is worse for you. This program would keep users safer..I'm for that. Don't know, Mikey...it makes sense to me. We should have that here too.
|| Posted by ruthie, March 12, 2005 12:48 PM ||It might 'look good' on paper, but IMHO it's bad.
And you know that the first person to die from the continued use of smack would be the focal point of people wondering 'why' it happened.....
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, March 12, 2005 06:21 PM ||People OD everyday, whether it be from shooting too much, or the heroin being purer then they thought it was. This would make it safer. You aren't going to suddenly have all addicts stop getting high...you are just ensuring it is safer for everyone.
|| Posted by ruthie, March 12, 2005 08:19 PM ||It's enabling in my opinion and it's just transferring the responsibility for these addict's problems from random people to the government (Canadian in this case) and we all know how well government programs run.....
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, March 13, 2005 10:33 AM ||This is better than a methadone program. Pharmeceutical heroin is much cleaner than methadone and has far fewer negative side effects. The purpose of methadone was to wean people through the withdrawels of heroin, which, although not deadly, can be horrible and a very good reason to use again. It was originally intended to be used over a short period of time, but has come to be used for weeks, months and even years. The advantages are that the junkies won't have to rob or steal to buy questionable product on the street, cut with anything from milk sugar to battery acid; "society" will have some control over the junkie in that every morning he'll be waiting for his juice at the same place, thus he can't travel too far; they'll be registered with the facility; it's medically monitored, so a doctor can work with the junkie to reduce his dose, with the ultimate goal of abstinence; and like the article says, they have a reduced chance of getting some terminal illness, abcesses and infections; they will be able to live otherwise normal lives if they're not out looking for the cop man everyday.
Sure it can be abused. Some people sell their methadone and buy heroin or cocaine or whatever. Some people don't want to get clean. Any program can be abused, from Halliburton overcharging for gas to methadone.
Many things are enabling. It depends on what is being enabled. I hope this program doesn't just dispense drugs. Without reading the article I would hope they offer job counseling, abstinence counseling, personal counseling etc. The junk is a way to get them in for it. I seriously doubt that they are just giving out heroin to anyone that wants it. It can enable these people to get some help and a better life.
As far as it being on the taxpayers dime, there are lots of medications dispensed on the taxpayers dime. Cigarettes are dispensed on the taxpayers dime if you consider tobacco subsidies as the taxpayers dime. Everthing that isn't paid for directly by the consumer is on the taxpayers dime.
I don't know of anyone who chooses to be a junkie. They may have chosen to try heroin, but no one chooses to be an addict or an alcoholic. No one wakes up one morning and decides "Hey! I'm going to totally fuck up my life from here on out!" But this gets into the whole addiction thing, which I won't get into here... but addiction is a fascinating thing...
Well, that's my two dollars
|| Posted by scroff, March 13, 2005 11:35 AM ||Oh, heroin use won't kill you. It's the shit the street dealers put in it that will kill you. Overdoses occur because a junkie gets used to one dose, buys a bag from a new batch which is more potent, uses the same amount and, viola! overdose. This is medically monitored, pharmeceutical heroin, same dose every time.
Alcohol does much more damage to the body than heroin.
|| Posted by scroff, March 13, 2005 11:44 AM ||You've got some good points there, but IMO this is just addressing the symptoms of the problem and not the direct cause - the addiction.
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, March 13, 2005 12:05 PM ||You're absolutely right, it is just addressing the symptoms. An addict can't get clean, obviously, if he keeps getting high, and it's much more difficult to address the addiction when someone is using.
In the US we have 'Harm Reduction' programs where needles and condoms and bleach kits are handed out on the street. The idea is to keep someone alive long enough to get clean.
|| Posted by scroff, March 13, 2005 12:10 PM ||scroff is right. Also even with the inefficiencies of a government program, this is cheaper than perusing it through law enforcement. Without having to live for the fix, they can start living more or less normally and should have the side effect of putting the dealers out of business (or most of them anyway). This is a good plan on many levels, it attacks the cause of a lot street crime, reduces demand in the illegal market, and is cheaper to the taxpayer.
|| Posted by AWolf, March 15, 2005 03:53 PM ||The concept is somewhat flawed. Theoretically it should hurt drug dealers by stealing their customers; and it should help users by supplying them with quality, presumably safe, drugs. Unfortunately for the part of Vancouver that doesn't use drugs, it's going to draw addicts like flies to manure.
|| Posted by Robert, March 16, 2005 08:15 PM ||If drugs such as heroin were legalized, you would reap all the positive things this program will do, except it would be on a very large, national scale. Taxpayers wouldn't need to pay a dime. If anything, the sales taxes generated from legalized drugs would take this country out of national debt, and into a new, crime-reduced, disease-lowered, more people in the work-force, more peaceful era.
But what do i know. This is just my opinion.
|| Posted by Tim, March 19, 2005 12:26 AM ||Actually, Tim, once upon a time Heroin was legal.. you could buy it out of the Sears catalog. The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 made it illegal... call it a different prohibition. The history of the Harrison Act is pretty interesting, too.
|| Posted by scroff, March 20, 2005 11:44 PM ||