FREEBIES ALONE WON'T HELP ADDICTS

If the goal is to end substance abuse, we shouldn't give up on
treatment programs

Vancouver already has a supervised injection site, where users can
shoot up in comfort and safety. It already gives heroin to addicts.
Now, the city's drug policy co-ordinator says Vancouver should provide
free alcohol to street-based alcoholics as well.

The alcohol would likely be red wine, and the idea is that it is
better than substitutes such as mouthwash, Lysol and cooking wine that
so many alcoholics use when they can't get their hands on the real
thing.

Other cities should pay attention to what Vancouver is doing. Programs
put in place there could end up as proposals for other major centres
facing similar problems. Victoria, for example, is already looking at
opening a safe injection site for the addicts here.

These ideas are not without controversy. It's difficult to argue,
after all, that making alcohol or illegal drugs cheaper and more
accessible will reduce their use, or make the problem of addiction go
away. And it doesn't help that the cost of the drugs and alcohol used
in these programs is being covered by taxpayers.

On the other hand, there are costs associated with addictions, costs
that we all have to pay in other ways. Every time an addict breaks
into a vehicle to steal a $30 item that might sell on the street for
$5, the vehicle's owner or an insurance company has to pay the bills
- -- and the value of the item stolen is rarely as high the as amount of
damage done to the vehicle.

In a way, then, the free-drug and free-alcohol programs are simply
ways to get right to the point. Rather than dealing with the hassle of
petty crime, we can just hand over a bit of cash. That improves the
odds of our homes, cars and family members staying safe.

If not for the government's endorsement, we'd call it
extortion.

Handing free drugs and alcohol to addicts might keep them out of other
trouble, and will almost certainly improve their overall health
because of the increased control over what they are putting into their
bodies.

But unless the freebie program is also designed to move the addicts
into a treatment program, they will be getting only part of what they
need. At the same time, society needs to determine the reasons why
some people sink into the depths of addiction and deal with the root
causes.

It would be a mistake to surrender in the fight against alcohol and
drug addiction.

It would be unfair to addicts -- and all taxpayers, for that matter --
if we settle for merely controlling problems rather than trying to fix
them.