Pubdate: Wed, 20 Aug 2008
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/InSite

BEING RIGHT CAN BE ALL WRONG

Though on the surface they may not appear to have much in common, the 
issues of global warming and safe-injection drug sites are two of the 
most hotly debated topics of the day.

Both seem to provoke a seemingly endless supply of strong, polarizing 
opinions. Both involve calls for strong government action. And both 
have been turned into a fertile field for taxpayer-funded studies.

Both involve a supposed "consensus" of scientific opinion -- 
challenged, of course, by a strongly dissenting minority. And both 
have become intensely divisive, with little room for compromise.

Both sides in each debate seem convinced not only that they are 
right, but that the other side combines the IQ of a lemming with the 
morals of a snake. Both, in other words, exhibit high levels of 
self-righteousness.

In that respect, Health Minister Tony Clement's recent comments 
questioning the ethics of health professionals who support 
Vancouver's publicly funded injection site for drug addicts were 
grist for the mill.

They were intended to stir up a pre-election political hornet's nest. 
And they achieved that purpose.

"Is it ethical for health-care professionals to support the 
distribution of drugs that are of unknown substance or purity or 
potency -- drugs that cannot be legally prescribed? If this were done 
in a doctor's office, the college [of physicians] would rightly be 
investigating," Clement stated.

Predictably, this drew a sharp reaction from Carolyn Bennett, the 
federal Liberal public-health critic, who questioned the minister's 
audacity in scolding health professionals "about their perceived 
ethical failings." But the fact remains that the professionals who 
support Insite, Vancouver's safe-injection site, have been equally 
quick to chastise those with whom they disagree.

Indeed, those researching the issue tend to sound more like zealous 
advocates for a pre-ordained position than disinterested pursuers of 
scientific truth. So do many of the researchers into global warming.

In an ideal world, of course, those leading either side of the debate 
over "harm reduction" or "climate change" would work together to find 
common ground.

At the moment, though, being perceived to be intellectually and 
morally superior seems far more important to these higher-purpose people.

Which is why drug addiction remains B.C.'s biggest scourge -- and 
environmental pollution continues to run rampant in many parts of the world.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom