Written by -- Jeannette Paterson
Prince George
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008 |
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BRUCE STRACHAN
I, like so many others, have witnessed and written about the downtown drug scene and the harm it does to our city.
Therefore, I was glad to read Bruce Strachan's column in the July 17 Citizen calling for a concrete commitment by our politicians to seek tough solutions to the never-ending problem of George Street and environs.
The current issue of the B.C. Medical Journal features an article by a Dr. David J. Brant, at one time the clinical director of the Narcotic Addiction Foundation. This article is aimed at the Insite project in Vancouver, but applies just as easily to our harm reduction approach.
Medically speaking, Dr. Brant's opinion is that all drug-abusing persons, regardless of what drug, demonstrate a personality disorder. Heroin addicts are regarded as having a sociopathic personality disorder. It is his opinion that there is no easy treatment, but "behavioral modification" can produce results, although it is always "intense, protracted, and one-on-one". And it is his opinion that very few addiction-treatment personnel understand that methadone is meant solely to take the edge off withdrawal symptoms, as opposed to replacing the drug of choice.
Finally, Dr. Brant quotes one of his mentors, a medical director at the psychiatric hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, who observed that all personality disorders are characterized by a failure to mature, or " grow up."
I have no doubt that there are many arguments, pro and con, to Dr. Brant's opinion, and not being a medical person, I cannot speak with any authority. But common sense tells me that a needle exchange, which allows addicts to continue to shoot up their drug of choice has no element of demanding personal responsibility. Rather, it falls upon all the non-addicted population of Prince George to assume responsibility, be it financial or otherwise, for the sake of harm reduction.
Unfortunately, harm reduction only applies to those who are not expected to assume responsibility, but does not apply to the community as a whole. There is something inherently wrong with this equation.
-- Jeannette Paterson
Prince George
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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Surely Ms. Paterson would not be in favour of increasing the incidence of HIV/AIDS in Prince George, would she? Providing clean, sterile needles ensures that those at risk of contracting this disease through shared needles are kept safe from it, and at minimal cost, too.
Society does have a duty to do what it can to keep at-risk populations safe, that is why we have maternity programs, child vaccination programs, stop smoking programs, alcohol recovery programs etc, all at public expense. It is in societies self-interest to take care of these things at public expense in order to increase the protection and safety of society at large. Thus we have a needle exchange. How does it differ from those other things in intent and consequence. We are all a little safer because of it.