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| The necessities for a Crack Addict |
Did you happen to see this headline in the Vancouver Province yesterday
(December 29, 2011)? Free
crack pipes now distributed in Vancouver as part of health strategy
The story began by saying:
… Crack addicts
in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside have started receiving free crack pipes as
part of a Vancouver Coastal Health Authority harm reduction strategy aimed at
curbing the spread of disease…
I’d
don’t know about you, but that immediately prompted me to ask, and wonder, about this:
Do
these addicts sign a waiver resolving the Health Authority for any
responsibility should they overdose using supplies provided by the Vancouver
Coastal Health Authority? I’m no lawyer, but it seems to me they have put
themselves in a VERY vulnerable position should a family member decide to sue
the health authority for having played a role in the death of a family member.
They
did of course wrap up the news story with what seemed to be an obligatory quote / question from the other side –
that was David Brener from the Drug Prevention Network. Here is what he had to say:
… the B.C.-based
director of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada offered a far less optimistic
opinion. “Programs like this ignore the
problems of addiction,” said David Brener. “All this does is aid and abet. What
we should do is put that same amount of money into treatment and prevention.
Because treatment and prevention work.”
I
will be blunt and direct; in my personal opinion there is NO SUCH THING AS HARM REDUCTION!
