Pubdate: Tue, 07 Jun 2016
Source: Prince Albert Daily Herald (CN SN)
Page: 12
Copyright: 2016 Prince Albert Daily Herald
Contact:  http://www.paherald.sk.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1918
Author: Dr. Gifford Jones

HOW TO CURE 42,000 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 between 1875 and 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."

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 which 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 two thousand 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 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: Jay Bergstrom