Harm Reduction or enablement ? Free Crack pipes for addicts – on YOUR tax dollar

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/01/03/bc-crackpipemouthpieces.html

Headlined on the front page of the Province newspaper, and talked about everywhere, the BC Government has once again taken a controversial – and I say downright stupid- move on the platform of the Harm -Reduction Strategy. The Ministry of Health will soon be distributing free crack pipes to addicts through outreach workers, needle exchanges and other avenues, in an effort to slow the spread of hepatitis C,  HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and syphilis, that can be spread by smokers sharing glass crack pipes. Crack smokers often have sores and burns on their lips which can spread these diseases when they share pipes- the theory is that by providing every addict their own pipe, it will prevent this sharing and slow the spread of these diseases. 

In addition, there will be NO age limit to prevent minors from accessing these free pipes, since young drug users are more likely to contract a disease this way.

Ahem. Let me collect myself a moment, because there are so many things wrong with this whole train of thought that amounts to nothing more than the common term called” enabling “.

The BC Government is one hell of an enabler – and on your tax dollar. Currently, the Ministry of Health gives away(unlimited) free condoms to prostitites, free needles to addicts, free tubing for the arm, and now, free crack pipes.

Whats next, free crack? The government will also pay for methadone ,the substance used to get heroin addicts off heroin, but funny enough, it is just as highly addictive. It’s only advantage over heroin, is that its cheaper, and  doesnt have to be injected ,so for those addicts” in treatment” that are not covered through some welfare program, they can buy it, and then sell it on the street for enough to buy their dope of choice.  Yes, that’s quite a success , isnt it ? And again, all on our tax dollar.

An enabler is someone who allows an addict, through their actions, words or support, to continue their bad behavior- whether it be drugs, alcoholism, gambling etc. The mother who bemoans her sons gambling habit , but lends him money to cover the rent when he’s spent it all – so he doesnt get kicked out. The husband who turns a blind eye and cleans up AGAIN after his drunk of a wife screws up for the umpteenth time. These individuals prevent the addict from experiencing the reality and true consequences of their actions, without which, the addict may never have a catalyst for change.

Yep, sounds like the BC government. not only are they enabling addiction to continue, they are completely contradictory about it, as its the police and other citizens who are continually having to deal with the problems associated with these addicts. I can just hear the conversation now, ” Lets give money to cops to handle the problems associated with addicts etc, but then lets give the addicts more tools to continue their habit,and make more problems for us all.” Doesnt make sense, does it? – But that IS what the government is doing.  And arent they trying to clean up the downtown east side? Sure, giving away crack pipes really going to help.

The business- and yes its a business in this city- of enabling addiction is huge and very profitable. Having worked for a non-profit agency that was small ,and unfortunately in the end, didnt kiss enough government ass to get continued funding , I know what kind of money is out there for agencies that is provided by different ministries of the government. AND I know what kind of games these agencies play to get that money. Agencies have to provide stats to support their funding requests, and many many agencies ”pad” their stats – well known within the field. How many people did the agency help? Maybe  in a month , 500 people walked into that agency, or they made contact with 1000, but they may have only actually helped 200. But I can guarantee you that is NOT going to be the number reported on funding requests, and theres no way to disprove it- many homeless or addicts dont have ID or SIN cards. Its all very airy-airy fairy.  And the real joke is , that very little of the money thats handed out to some agencies , actually goes to the front line- it covers high overhead, big wages and salaries for managers and administrators, and the art on the wall in some agencies I’ve seen. You get the idea. they have to justify the number of employees they have somehow.

But many of these agencies do get their money – and it isnt because the government really thinks all these homeless and addicted people need help – its because all those employees of all those agencies would be out of work, and that is the TRUE bottom line. Its an industry just like any other. Go help us all of we had a bunch of high level managers and adminstrators out of work- what would the world come to?

I’ve worked with addicts,on the front lines, and I say lets take a realistic , hard-nosed approach to this. An addict will only get clean when THEY want to get clean. There has to be a catalyst within their life that will make them CHOOSE to do it- and it wont happen until it does.You can force someone into rehab, but statistics show it isnt going to last if it wasnt their choice.

I had one client who kept getting placed in housing, would piss off the landlord with his drug habit, and get kicked out. He showed up one too many times in my office looking for a new place to rent , and I finally told him NO. No more. He wasn’t fit to send to any landlord, and he was wasting my time,and the landlords.

He was shocked. He didnt want to be on the street, he said. He begged, he cried, got angry and threatened me, and I kicked him out of the office. I realised that by helping him , I wasnt actually helping him.

I didnt see him for months, and he had been a regular in our non-profit agency, even before I started. One day, many months later, he showed up again- with clean eyes,  freshly washed clothes, and a smile I had never seen. He sat before my desk, I offered him a coffee, and he began to talk.

His eyes took on a haunted look I will never forget as he told me the story of how he got clean, and what it took for that to happen. After he had left my office the day I kicked him out and left him homeless,  he went on a downward spiral. Lived on the street, got into drugs harder than ever before. One morning, he woke up on a bed, in a cesspool downtown eastside hotel, naked. As he groggily looked around, he noticed another guy on the bed, also naked. He was sore. He looked down and saw a used condom- they had obviously had sex together.

My client wasn’t gay. In a drug induced haze, he had somehow ended up having sex with a male stranger. That was the day he asked for help, signed himself into rehab, and got his life together.

And I cried when he thanked me for kicking him out, as I cry now writing this.

Addicts need to both feel and experience the hard reality of their choices. I dont believe addiction is an illness, its a choice, and the longer the goverment, non-profits etc, keep coddling these people, the longer the habit will continue.

Let them get diseases and die, let them be homeless, let them sit in an alley in feces without any winter clothing and wonder where their life went. Take away the free condoms, the free pipes, the free tubing, the meth programs, the unlimited needles, the absolutely sickening baby like kid glove treatment that they get in so many outreach programs that get large wages and funding to do just that. THAT just may be the day that they decide to get clean.

And if they don’t? Thats their choice, not your, our mine, or the governments. The time for assistance is when that addict makes an effort to seek out help on their own, not before.

I’m Laila Yuile and this is how I see it.