Pubdate: Fri, 24 Apr 2015
Source: Guardian, The (CN PI)
Copyright: 2015 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Incorporated
Contact:  http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/174
Author: Desmond Colohan
Page: A11

ADDICTION NOT A MORAL FAILING

Major societal problem will always be with us

It would appear that the author of a recent letter to the editor "Safe
injection sites or safe streets" does not understand that addiction,
like diabetes, chronic lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis and many
other health problems is a chronic brain disease, not a moral failing.

Until we are exorcized of our long-standing puritanical notion that
"they" are addicted because they lack self-control, we will never be
able to help addicted persons regain control of their lives, return to
sobriety, minimize their relapses into active addiction and get back
their selfesteem.

At the present time addiction is a health issue which we don't know
how to cure. Unfortunately, given our current limited and not highly
successful treatment options, we must do the best we can. Many people
with addictions can and do maintain their sobriety on their own, or
with the help of friends and families, or with professional help. Many
of them still fall off the wagon occasionally but, for whatever
reason, are able to regain their sobriety quickly, often through
participation in 12-step programs and other social supports.

Unfortunately a small percentage of people with addictions is
incapable of maintaining sobriety and seems doomed to a lifelong
spiral of addictive behaviour with its concomitant physical,
emotional, social and, unfortunately, justice system
consequences.

These are the people who can benefit from a treatment strategy called
harm reduction, e.g. methadone maintenance programs.

This unfortunate cadre includes intravenous drug users, for whom safe
injection sites have been demonstrated over and over again to reduce
their personal risk of overdose and death, encourage their entry into
treatment programs, decrease the risk of blood-borne disease
transmission, such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C and lower the
risk to the rest of society of accidental contact with contaminated
needles and other injection paraphernalia. Injection site
neighbourhood crime rates actually go down.

Contrary to popular myth, persons addicted to illegal drugs who break
the law are not usually convicted of crimes of violence.

That honour goes to alcohol, one of our two legally addictive drugs,
the other of which is nicotine. There is no evidence that
incarcerating people for non-violent crimes related to their
addiction, e.g. break-and-enter theft and simple drug possession, does
anything to discourage addiction or diminish recidivism.

At best, it takes addicted persons off the street for a while, at
great cost to the taxpayer, I might add, and puts them in a milieu in
which they are exposed daily to other social miscreants, from whom
they learn more effective but illegal ways to support their habit when
they get out. Other than meeting our need as a society to exact
revenge on our less fortunate brethren, what have we
accomplished?

Addiction is a major societal problem which will, unfortunately,
always be with us. At the very least, we need to understand it better
and to treat its sufferers with the same respect we afford our friends
and neighbours who develop diabetes, COPD, arthritis and other chronic
diseases.
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MAP posted-by: Matt