Pubdate: Thu, 21 Aug 2008
Source: Vue Weekly (CN AB)
Copyright: 2008, Vue Weekly.
Contact:  http://www.vueweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2918
Author: David Berry
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/insite
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites)

BLINDED BY THE RIGHT

Tony Clement's recent comments questioning the ethics of doctors who 
support drug-harm-reduction initiatives like Vancouver's Insite is 
yet another example of a disturbing aspect of the Conservative 
(though not necessarily conservative) ideology. I mean, besides the 
aspect that has them picking on some of Canadian society's weakest 
members for political gain.

No, the specific aspect I'm referring to is the Tories' 
neoconservative tendency to ignore things like experts and 
statistical evidence that disagree with their misguidedly moralistic 
ideology. In Conservative minds, the fact that 79 per cent of 
Canadian physicians support harm-reduction measures is not an 
indication of their efficacy or importance, but that four-fifths of 
Canada's MDs are morally bankrupt.

This opinion, of course, stems from the fact the Conservatives 
consider drug use a moral evil. Leaving aside the actual ethics of 
drug use-not to mention the fact most of the "drug crime" 
Conservatives are currently railing against exists solely because 
drugs are illegal and therefore hard to obtain-Tory morals are all 
well and good in the halls of power, but in the alleys and gutters of 
the city, they do little but enhance misery and suffering. 
Harm-reduction initiatives exist precisely because there are people 
who, regardless of the moral implications, cannot quit drugs; rather 
than let these people die wholesale, some have accepted reality and 
are attempting to make sure they do nothing worse to themselves than 
that thing they literally cannot quit doing. The immoral, pragmatic bastards.

And the Tory shell game on rehab and prison time is just as misguided 
as Clement's moralizing. A quick glance at the American prison 
system-one in 100 Americans incarcerated!-should put the lie to jail 
time, and rehab, while it works for some, simply cannot entirely 
remove the problem. Never mind, of course, the fact that rehab and 
legal initiatives are already funded at a level many times higher 
than even the most prominent of harm-reduction programs.

The Conservative resistance to harm reduction is nothing but 
practiced ignorance: exactly the kind of thing we can expect from moral idiots.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom