SOBER LOOK AT ADDICTION

Addiction is a social and political issue, a leading expert in the field says.

Simon Fraser University Prof. Bruce Alexander addressed the City of
Vancouver's third "Creating a Culture of Prevention" workshop
yesterday and told the audience the medical definition of addiction -
"a brain disease" - is too narrow and has led to flawed drug
strategies the world over.

"It's not a very good doctrine. It rules out effective prevention and
it really rules out most of the addictions out there," he said. "The
ultimate problem is that there are a lot of people that just don't
have much to live for, so they latch onto things."

He cited the Aboriginal population in Canada as a prime example.

"Their culture was broken down by white guys and they went from
virtually no addiction to universal addition," he said. "Over and
over again, you'll find the proof [ in history]. When culture breaks
down, you'll find addictions."

What we need, he argued, is change on a political level.

But as with most things, money seems to get in the way of passionate
governance.

Look no further than the provincial government's decision to raise
the gambling limit on BCLC's PLayNow website from $120 to $9,999.

"I believe they've said, 'If they don't gamble it there, they'll
gamble it somewhere else.' We have to suck money out of the most
vulnerable of us so we can fund our megaprojects," Alexander said.

"And I don't mean any specific mega-project. Just think of your own.
perhaps one of Olympic proportions."