http://www.theprovince.com/health/addiction+treatment+skewed/8113412/story.html

I appreciate Jon Ferry`s recent article in The Province, and his willingness to speak up addressing a very difficult topic, harm reduction. This is a topic Nanaimo knows all to well. Over a year ago, City Council  was voting to put through a Wet House in our neighborhood. This Wet House happened to be in very close proximity of an elementary school, not to mention residential homes. I attended many meetings voting against this zoning application. The experience was nerve wracking to say the very least. A council of people making decisions who never worked in, recovered from, or had degrees in, addiction. Yet they were making decisions effecting not only the lives of the homeless, but the lives of all those people and children living in the area. We were told things like “Don’t worry, your neighborhood will be safe. Your children will be safe.”

When asked who would patrol the school grounds to pick up the discarded needles each morning, we were berated. “What kind of people are we? How dare? Why didn’t we want to protect our most vulnerable citizens?” 

 Well I beg to differ! I believe and always will, our children are our most vulnerable citizens. It is never a good idea to be putting a wet house next an elementary school. .

For those of you who don’t know, a wet house is one in which the vulnerable individual is allowed to use narcotics, such as heroin or other drugs and/or alcohol in his, or her, own homes. The persons going into these homes are often homeless and suffer from mental health issues as well. On any street, or neighborhood, you most likely could find such a person, but housing them all together would be chaos.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m all for helping our homeless. Hell, I was almost there myself. Thank God nobody offered me subsidized housing, where it was OK for me to fill my lungs with crack all day long.

This kind of help would have killed me. There’s no doubt in my mind.

Why is it we would rather keep alcoholics and addicts suffering? Harm reduction can work if the goal is abstinence based. From what I’ve seen we put to much emphasis on allowing the addict to choose if and when he/she is willing to become well. Now I don’t want to rock the boat to badly but hello? If this individual had the ability to choose this, they wouldn’t be living like this in the first place. When we assign reasoning to folks who have clearly lost theirs, we have just become a bigger part of the problem.

Is it easier to hand out methadone prescriptions and crack kits? Perhaps more cost efficient? I doubt it. When you look at the long term forecast. Subsidized living and medical care. Hospital visits, not to mention our crowded prisons. The majority of criminals also have substance abuse issues.

Now lets talk about our own back yards. On every street across North America an alcoholic or addict lives. Police are called to domestic disputes, children grow up living in fear and become diagnosed with depression, anxiety or addiction disorders themselves, adding to future problems.

Work places report major safety hazards with employees who suffer from addiction.

Doctors, lawyers, pilots, teachers, judges, police officers, realtors, nurses, dentists, technicians, surgeons,students, construction workers, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, grandparents……..

I could go on but you get the point.

Why are we not doing what works? Why do we allow this?

Have we become so fearful of what someone might say about us as a society,  we’re no longer willing to speak our minds?

I refuse to be silenced any longer. To many people are dying.

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but our silence is deadly.

Treatment works. Yes, it’s costly in the short term. Then again so is subsidized housing, hospital visits, jails, police,

It’s like we all want this to go away, maybe somebody else can deal with it. Why don’t we put a bandage on it for now. Cover up the wound. Then we don’t have to look at it. After all it’s pretty disturbing to see.

Let’s give this wound a nice home, a crack kit and maybe even throw in a little counseling if and when they choose.

Problem solved. Right?

Wrong!

Like any wound wound with out proper care it just festers, growing more infected each and every day. But hey, maybe by then someone else will have to deal with it.

I’m a recovering addict. It’s been my experience abstinence based treatment is the way to go. I see it all the time. I invite City Council or any interested party to come and get an education. You’ve got treatment centers in your own back yard. Come and do a tour. Ask questions. Get involved. Check out our philosophy, wouldn’t you want a balanced approach? I assume you’ve checked out harm reduction?

You’ll see for your self. Abstinence works.

We have a training program for physicians. Maybe we need to implement a training program for politicians?

Spend the money now. You save money in the long run.  The people receiving  treatment rejoin the work force adding to the coffers of our badly needed tax dollars. They add to it – not take from it. Not to mention families who no longer suffer, and employers who have  productive and grateful employees.

Treatment is a win, win.

As a tax paying citizen, it is my wish you come and see for yourself. Insanity is doing the same thing – over and over – expecting a different result. It’s time we do something different, something that works.

Enough of the blind – leading the blind.