FREE DRUGS TURN SOCIETY INTO ENABLERS

There are three reasons to reject the call for society to provide drug
addicts with free drugs manufactured under government control.

First, doing so would turn society into a co-dependent (more than it
already is) with a dysfunctional, one-sided relationship with
self-destructive partners; both the addicts the government programs
and jobs they create are trapped in a vicious cycle with one feeding
off the other.

Second, providing free drugs to addicts turns society, i.e. all of us,
into enablers who perpetuate self-destructive behaviours that have
been made "safe." In effect, society, or the government, has become
the pusher. This does not help addicts overcome their problems.

Third, as parents and teachers know, people only become responsible
when we require them to act responsibly - or face the consequences of
their actions.

There is no reason for those who choose to use drugs to become a
privileged class who do not have to face the consequences of their
actions. That is unjust to the vast majority of responsible citizens.

Advocates of the "society as pusher" theory cite harm reduction. The
harm reduction is only of immediate benefit to the addicts, but they
are harmed by the long-term results of not dealing with their
difficulties.

Society, too, is harmed by being turned into an enabler and by
encouraging self-destructive behaviours. Moreover, where will we draw
the line? Will society distribute drugs like crystal-meth, crack,
ecstasy? If we do not, then crime moves in - and the cycle of problems
starts again.

Ian Kluge

Prince George