RIGHTS OF ADDICTS AND RIGHTS OF CANCER PATIENTS

Should the injection site for addicts in Vancouver be closed?

Proponents argue that one million injections in Vancouver have saved lives
and decreased the risk of HIV infection. Others contend injection sites
send the wrong message and should be closed. But in this heated debate,
why don't both sides and our government attack the root cause of this
cancerous problem?

First, how sick are these heroin addicts? I've no idea, as I've never
treated addicts. But Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, a British prison doctor and
psychiatrist, has treated addicts for years. In his book "Romancing
Opiates," he writes that heroin is not as highly addictive as is claimed
and withdrawal is not medically serious. He contends that a useless
medical bureaucracy has been established to deal with addicts.

Dalrymple has observed addicts laughing in his waiting room. But once
inside his consultation room they appear to be "in extremis." And when
taken to task for this change of demeanour they admit they were
"blagging."

What Dalrymple says makes some sense. I have seen cancer patients in
London, England, being prescribed huge doses of heroin for pain. They
could be weaned off these massive doses in a few weeks once their pain
subsided. But let's assume Dalrymple is wrong and addicts need continued
help.

Those in favour of the Vancouver site argue that the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms guarantees treatment for addicts. I'm not a legal
expert. But surely, if addicts have this right, what about other patients?

Today, many rights are not be being addressed by the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. Years ago this columnist fought for the legalization of heroin
to ease the suffering of terminal cancer patients. I was labelled "a
headline seeking journalist" and criticized by the cancer society, the
RCMP and hospital pharmacists who claimed morphine is just as effective.
This is a lie and hypocrisy at its worst.

It's ludicrous that year after year thousands of people still see loved
ones dying in agony from cancer without the benefit of heroin as a
painkiller. Yet for heroin addicts, it is imported and readily available
in Vancouver. There's something terribly wrong with this discrepancy.

Contacts tell me that many residents of halfway houses routinely spend
their monthly government cheques on crack cocaine. Some also become
pregnant and deliver children with brain damage from drugs that cannot be
repaired. Surely the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should also protect
children from this lifelong misfortune.

What about those who through no fault of their own suffer from
debilitating arthritis or Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the bowel?

Both require drugs that cost thousands of dollars to decrease the risk of
recurrence. Yet all too often patients cannot afford the cost, and help
from provincial health plans is denied or inadequate.

Now there's talk that Toronto intends to study the feasibility of a safe
injection site for heroin addicts. But another safe site will not solve
the medical, social and economic problems resulting from the use of
illegal drugs.

Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore, knew the answer to this
cancerous problem. He saw his country being torn apart by the heroin trade
and decided that stringent measures were required to stop it. I received
his blunt, clear message on a plane before landing in Singapore. A card,
government issued, was handed to me that read, "Death for drug traffickers
under Singapore law." This greeting gets your attention.

Lee Kuan Yew also knew that if you show your teeth you must be prepared to
bite. If not, the law is ineffective. And since 1991 it's reported that
420 people have been executed, mostly due to drug trafficking.

I'm sure many people find this law repulsive. But if we were not required
to spend so much money on addicts and crime associated with illegal drugs,
patients with other diseases could be protected by the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms. What do you think?

[sidebar]

The hypocrisy surrounding the medical use of heroin is depicted in my
memoir, "You're Going To Do What?" It can be purchased by sending $19.95
to ECW Press, 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario M4E 1E2.
See my web site www.mydoctor.ca/gifford-jones.