Pubdate: Tue, 22 Mar 2016
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 Postmedia Network
Contact:  http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Page: A7

ADDICTS DESERVE BETTER

There's increasing talk of other Canadian cities copying Vancouver's 
supervised drug injection site, which allows people to use substances 
such as heroin, cocaine and meth.

The argument is that it's better for people to use drugs under the 
supervision of a health-care professional, rather than doing it on 
the street or in some alley. Staff can step in if something goes 
amiss and they can ensure safe practices, such as the use of clean 
syringes and disinfectant, which reduce the spread of disease.

"They were working hard to show there are no disposable people. 
That's what motivates them day to day," said Jennifer Vishloff, a 
registered clinical counsellor who had access to Vancouver's Insite 
clinic as part of her master's thesis.

Vishloff has it wrong. Encouraging drug addicts to continue their 
habit is admitting failure and declaring they are disposable. Sure, 
the clinic's visitors may live to see another day, but creating a 
welcoming environment for addicts does nothing to halt the inexorable 
march to death or decay if the drug use continues.

You can have all the disinfectant in the world, but that doesn't 
sanitize the devastating toll of drug use.

Instead of facilitating destructive behaviour under the guise of harm 
reduction, what's needed are professionals who act in the addicts' 
long-term prospects, not people who turn a blind eye to their 
troubles - foibles that are all too common among us, no matter our 
stature, education or upbringing.

This isn't to say drug users should be rounded up and locked away in 
prison; far from it. These are individuals who deserve the best 
efforts of health-care practitioners, not well-meaning indifference. 
When society resigns itself to the belief that some people are 
condemned to destructive behaviour for the rest of their troubled 
lives, we fail them. Put simply, we have stopped trying.

These centres don't provide the drugs - just a safe place in which to 
use them, including, in Vancouver's case, a so-called chill lounge, 
where clients can enjoy a coffee or juice before leaving. But if harm 
reduction is the goal, surely it would make sense to provide the 
drugs, too, rather than compel people to engage in dodgy negotiations 
with dealers and make tough decisions - sometimes risky ones - to 
finance their addiction.

Giving illicit drugs to Canadians is not something the government is 
likely to encourage, of course. That's why they're called illegal 
substances. And why supervised drug injection sites are a mistake.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom