Vancouver Tries Free Heroin Program

[Gunslinger]

OK i'm kinda torn about this because I subscribe to the denis leary approach to drugs...."not less drugs...but more drugs and to the right people"

But seriously, does this actually work?  Trying to reduce crime by giving away free drugs and no encouragment to stop.  OR, is it give the refuse of society a safe place to kill themselves.  

Interestingly it is kinda like the gun control issues.  More guns equal less crime....more drugs equal less drug use??????  Plus you take the illegal thrill out of it if it's free.

Vancouver Tries Free Heroin Program

Monday, March 14, 2005



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 (search) 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 (search) 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.

“I’m not a medical expert, this is not my field. I'm an expert in public safety," Graham said. "And if this will help reduce the crime rate — I'm all for it."

In the program all addicts have to do to get their fix is show up three times a day seven days a week.

Junkies offered different views of the program to FOX News. Some think it's the government's way of killing them, while others say they can't wait for the free dope. But none of them thought it would eventually get them clean.

"I think it would lower the crime rate. Nobody's gonna be robbing each other. Nobody's going to be sick enough to rob each other. All be taken care of. Free dope, woo-hoo,” said heroin addict Olivia Edgars.

Recovered addict Chuck Swesey - who's been clean 20 years - says the program smacks of government drug pushing. He says he knows how he would've ended under a program like this: "I'd be dead ... or I'd be in a jail or an institution."

The $8 million Canadian program is patterned after similar efforts in Europe.

Click on the video box above to see a complete report by FOX News' Dan Springer.

[vorticon]

Originally posted by Gunslinger


But seriously, does this actually work?  Trying to reduce crime by giving away free drugs and no encouragment to stop.  OR, is it give the refuse of society a safe place to kill themselves.  
 

that doesnt make much sense...i would only give it any support, if at the same time the people getting it HAD to be in a rehab program thingy...

[Nash]

Originally posted by Gunslinger
"But seriously, does this actually work?  Trying to reduce crime by giving away free drugs and no encouragment to stop.  OR, is it give the refuse of society a safe place to kill themselves.

Yeah, of course it would work.

Junkies don't steal stuff for the thrill of it. They'd rather be smacked-out 24/7. Stealing is a pain in the arse. A complication. But a neccessary complication.

But then there's guys like me (and there are thousands of us) who just couldn't go to quite that extreme. It was a giant hassle. Every day was a giant hassle. Finally, enough becomes enough.

But if I were in that free drug giveaway program, you can bet yer arse I'd be on smack at this very moment. Like what... ya gonna refuse that? No fricken way.

It's ridiculous.

Junkies gotta hit a wall. One way or another. Be it death, be it jail, be it a way out. They all have to hit a wall.

Because living on heroin is already death. So ultimately, free drugs keep them in death, in order to save them from it?

No. This has probably got a lot more to do with property crime and property taxes than anything else. They're writing the junkies off.

Maybe, for society's sake, that's the way to go. I dunno. But thank god this program didn't happen when I was active. Missed it by just a year. Dodged a bullet there.

[lasersailor184]

Heroine was never banned because it was linked with crime.

[Cobra412]

Free supply of drugs to clean up their streets instead of making a real effort to rehab these people?  I hope it goes through.  Then hopefully the heroin addicts here in the US will travel north and stay in Canada.  One less drug addict running around the streets doing little to nothing.

It's amazing how many citizens live a productive life free of drugs but the government finds it necessary to give free hits to these people.  I'm just curious which drug will it be next?

What other "addictive" things that cause crime and/or the spreading of diseases will the government start handing out for free?  

Rapists commit crimes and have the ability to spread diseases so will this be the next step for them too?  Why bother trying to rehab them just give it to them for free.  I'm sure they can establish a free "red light" district right in the middle of your neighborhoods.

[Pongo]

Nash, what do you think of the movie "Ray"?

[EN4CER]

I don't think the crime rate would decline at all because the dealers and their crews are technically employed in this black market that our country tolerates. If the government starts distributing free drugs to users and takes away this market what are the dealers and the people that work for them going to do – get a job? I don’t think so. Also what are the users going to do that cannot get any more controlled substances free from the government – go back to the dealers? You might see a slight dip in the crime rate but not the dent that this theory suggests. The results most people want to see here I think are extremely long term – too long for the general public and the politicians to wait. The war on drugs to me is a stalemate – no side is winning and no side is losing (talking good guys vs. bad guys here). You take 12 dealers off of the street and here comes the second string - 12 replacement players. Broom them and here comes the third string. It never ends - dealers or users - it's a revolving door. It’s like a garbage can and every now and then a storm comes and the wind blows and the garbage can shakes and rolls around. All the cops can do is make sure the lid stays on. Figures that some Democrats like this idea - they just can't wait to tax it.

[Nash]

Originally posted by Pongo
Nash, what do you think of the movie "Ray"?

I liked it. Didn't really know squat about the guy before. But (and I think this is what you're asking) it portrayed his struggle with heroin addiction as so much easier than it undoubtedly went down in real life.

[Maverick]

Why anyone thinks addicts are going to get clean when they get drugs for free is beyond me. It flies in the face of human nature. If they give you the ***t for free why stop using it????

Are they going to provide just a maintenance dose or are they going to provide larger and larger doses on demend? Addiction is NOT static. If it's just a mantenance dose they will eventually start doing the stuff they need to do to get additional dope outside of that provided by the program.

I agree with Nash, they are writing off the addicts and just taking a different approach to lowering property crime.

[rpm]

Heroin is the ultimate paradox to consensual crime. Itr's outcome is undoubted by anyone. Prevention and intervention are the only defencenses in this case.

[Bodhi]

seems to me Nash is right.

They are writing the junkies off...

****ers... spend the money on treatment, not giving them more drugs...  

My bet is none of the bastards have a son / daughter, brother or sister who are strung out on heroin.

****ing pisses me off beyond comprehesion.

[Pongo]

I gather they are trying to save lives. Since we are talking about goverment there must be stats to back up such a seemingly stupid idea surely?

[Nash]

I don't think we really need to dig too deep into BC's governmental inneptitude.... Lets just call that one a gimme.

But yes, surely the whole thing is surrounded by a constellation of stats.

Besides the obvious epidemic, I don't know what the numbers are.

And I don't know what calculations these number crunching pinheaded geeks have landed on to come up with such a completely moronic solution as to just give drugs away were. But theys got computers to figure all that out I reckon.

Jesus christ.

There's one thing I like about all of it though.... and that it is... one way or another.... I guess we're all going to get to see how it plays out.

[Siaf__csf]

I'm all for a quick solution - take all that coke that was seized in columbian raids and customs around the world. Take an addict and put him in a room along with 100g of 100% pure dope.

Let him OD - problem solved.

Addicts are weak individuals who can't survive in a normal society without drugs. That's why they fail 90% of the time to get clean no matter how much time or money you use.

No junkies life is worth letting him murder someone else for $2.

[Toad]

Well, you can't help folks that don't want to be helped.

I'm not sure you want to accelerate their self-destruction either.

Obviously the government feels there is some benefit, either to the junkies or to the non-addicted part of society, possibly both.

It's hard to see where this is going to benefit the true junkie unless shortening his life is considered "better" for him.

I dunno. We'll all watch and see.