Pubdate: Sat, 04 Jun 2016
Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2016 Osprey Media
Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com/letters
Website: http://www.thesudburystar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608
Author: Dr. Gifford Jones
Page: C5

HOW TO CURE 42,000 DRUG ADDICTS QUICKLY

How could this medical and social disaster ever be allowed to happen?
If authorities had told me that Ontario, just one Canadian province,
was treating 400 addicts in methadone clinics, I'd believe them. But,
the actual number is 42,000. But how many of these addicts need
methadone? And what is the solution for this madness?

Dr. Theodore Dalrymple is not an arm-chair commentator on addiction.
Rather, he's an internationally renowned expert, a British
psychiatrist, and prison doctor who has treated thousands of addicts
over years.

In his book, "Romancing Opiates", he writes that heroin is not as
highly addictive as claimed and withdrawal not as difficult as
treating an alcoholic. He claims, "It's a myth that treating the
heroin addiction "cold turkey" causes withdrawal symptoms that are
virtually unbearable."

He adds that, after witnessing withdrawal symptoms in thousands of
patients, "they are hardly worse than the flu. Moreover, the sudden
withdrawal of heroin is not dangerous."

To prove his point Dalrymple reports that researchers examined the
records of thousands of addicts from 1875 to 1968 who had been taken
off heroin. They did not find a single death from withdrawal symptoms.

Dalrymple makes another poignant observation. He has observed addicts
laughing and having a great time in his waiting room. But once inside
his consulting office they acted as if they're "in extremis." And when
he points out this abrupt change in health, they have admitted they
were "blagging (being deceitful)."

He cites another experiment that shows how addiction is largely a
myth. Morphine addicts, who believed they were being given morphine,
but had only received water, reported their withdrawal symptoms had
disappeared.

Dalrymple claims that the use of methadone has had a low success rate.
The result is that addicts end up being treated indefinitely with
medication at great cost to society. And he says doctors have a long
history of treating trivial conditions dangerously with drugs such as
methadone.

This prison expert says there is nothing an addict likes more than to
continue his personal way of life and place the weight of
responsibility for his situation somewhere other than on his own decisions.

So, Dalrymple contends that a useless medical bureaucracy has been
established to deal with addicts. After all, why would doctors and
staff want this merry-go-round to end when it's become financially
lucrative? In effect, he says, doctors and administrators need the
addicts more than the addicts need them.

I couldn't agree more that North America has followed an asinine
approach to heroin addiction that's causing major public health
problems for this country. Years ago, I interviewed Singapore
authorities about how they had attacked the illegal use of drugs. They
accused North Americans of being "irresponsibly permissive." This
message was dispensed on my flight even before landing. A handout card
to passengers read, "Death to drug dealers."

Singapore authorities told me that the illegal use of heroin had been
rampart in the country, and destroying young lives. Prime Minister Lee
Kuan Yew decided to stop this trend. He realized you should never show
your teeth unless you're prepared to bite. Criminals quickly got his
message when drug dealers were hanged.

I recently read that Alberta has a rat patrol and has been rat-free
for 65 years. The Albertan policy is to take no prisoners. What a
shame North America doesn't use the same approach for humans. I'm
referring to human rats that pedal illegal drugs that trigger health
problems, misery and crime at a huge cost to society.

Congratulations to Dr. Dalrymple his research. So I believe he would
agree that the majority of addicts would be quickly cured by sending
them to northern Canada to chop wood. They would be happy to return
south without the methadone. As Aristotle remarked 2,000 years ago,
"punishment is a form of medicine".

I'm sure this column will be criticized by do-gooders that it's a
mortal sin to to deny methadone to addicts. But I believe health care
dollars could be better utilized. I appreciate hearing what you think
and will report comments in a future column.
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MAP posted-by: Matt