Canada and government subsidized heroin?

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It appears that Vancouver, BC, Canada is now giving people free heroin in an attempt to “fix” their addiction issue? Um?

Haven’t we already been there with “methadone clinics” that basically created junkies hooked on methadone instead of whatever other opioid they were on?
 
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Sounds like a harm reduction program as opposed to a ‘curing addicts’ program. The reason so many OD on heroin as opposed to say, meth or coke, is because it’s much harder to guage the purity of the drug and/or the strength of it without proper scientic tools. You’d also have to be trying to kill yourself with cocaine to snort enough to die; stimulants do not work on the body the way opiates do.

The quality/degree of opium in each batch ranges wildly, and as a tolerance builds up in a user, the more they are willing to take a risk and use waaay more. A common reason for OD is batch A was not as powerful as batch B, even though they were purchased from the same dealer, so user takes as much of batch B as they did of A and boom! OD.

Other lab made opiate derivatives, such as fentanyl and other extremely potent drugs, are cheaper and easier to smuggle, but are much, much much more deadly than heroin. Users will often try to use these as substitutes for heroin, and not knowing what they are dealing with, with OD. Additionally, a lot of these opiates are not technically illegal either, as their creation outpaces drug law. Below is a link that goes into more detail.


So it seems that Canada’s new program is aimed at providing addicts with relatively ‘safe’ heroin so that they do not resort to using heroin of unknown quality or super deadly lab opium.
 
The simple fact is what we have isn’t working. What we’re getting is cycling addicts in and out of treatment programs where they’re going right back to committing crimes on the street. So there’s a couple main benefits here I can see:

(1) Like @CoffeeAndDonuts mentioned, it provides people with an option that’s safer. They’re getting a stable dose with no unknown ingredients delivered by a clean needle, which greatly reduces the risk of both disease and overdoses.

(2) They’re not committing crimes. That at least reduces the ultimate burden on other people from trying to deal with them. In fact they have a better opportunity to go to school, get jobs, and otherwise be productive members of society.

(3) It gives them a chance to put their lives back together. This is good in and of itself, but it’s also good because people have much, much better odds of getting off of drugs when they have stability. Someone who has a job, friends, and an apartment is more likely to ultimately stop using than someone who’s living in a shelter thinking about their fix.
 
DarkLight said:
Someone who has a job, friends, and an apartment is more likely to ultimately stop using than someone who’s living in a shelter thinking about their fix.
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Very much this as well. Addiction is psychological as much as it is psychical, and having a stable life can go a long way in sticking to a treatment program. I’ve known several recovering addicts, and power of just getting back into a normal life is half the battle.

If this program can remove the motive to engage in criminal activity and/or homelessness, it will help recovery rates significantly.
 
Seeksadvice said:
It appears that Vancouver, BC, Canada is now giving people free heroin…
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You did not link to a news article, so I don’t know which program you are talking about. Vancouver has been trying different programs for at least a few years now. Exactly which one do you mean now?
 
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Seeksadvice said:
It appears that Vancouver, BC, Canada is now giving people free heroin in an attempt to “fix” their addiction issue? Um?
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Not surprised, they couldn’t be any more dumb.

People pushed the idea here in Australia, to have drug testing facilities because they think people are going to do it anyway so may as well try and help them do it safely, little do they realize such nonsense thinking can be applied to any other crime.

When the government thinks that the union of the same sex is equal to that of a marriage, then they will fall for all other kinds of harmful nonsense like this.

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
 
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Bruised_Reed said:
Is there a problem if it works?
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Define ‘works’. May it help with those overdosing? maybe. My guess is no. It will be just like contraceptives, create the illusion of ‘safe’

Will it help with those introduced and addicted to drugs? no, the exact opposite, why not do drugs if now it’s apparently ‘safe’? Hence becoming more available and widely used and wrecking more havoc on society.

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
 
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As a former heroin addict and practicing Catholic who is clean and sober thanks to the God given medication Methadone, I think you need to seriously do some research into MAT - Medication Assisted Treatment.

Methadone is the gold standard in treating opioid addiction - and the CDC, WHO, SAMHSA, APA, NIDA, and about a thousand other organizations of medical professionals would STRONGLY disagree with your characterizing it as “addiction replacement”. Such a stance betrays a stunning level of ignorance on the topic.

I also support HAT - Heroin Assisted Treatment. For people who have failed at both rehab and methadone, HAT is a legitimate harm reduction option that should be available.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but do you have any idea how many people who have died in the past decade would still be alive had they had access to pharmaceutical Diacetylmorphine?

Honestly, if you oppose HAT, you have no business claiming to be pro life. How could you be pro life if you oppose something that could save thousands of lives annually?

Here’s a good, authoritative place to start educating yourself: Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) | SAMHSA
 
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Spyridon said:
As a former heroin addict and practicing Catholic who is clean and sober thanks to the God given medication Methadone
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That’s good, if I thought their goal was to get people off the drugs, I would be okay, but more often in recent years it’s simply about doing it ‘safely’ whatever that means.

God Bless

Thank you for reading.
 
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It’s called harm reduction.

The idea is people are going to have these vices, so the charitable thing to do is help them do it as safely as possible.

It’s why needles are available without a prescription - to stem the flow of HIV, Hepatitis C and other communicable diseases.

The teetotalers who would due away with such things out of a misplaced sense of justice would do irreparable harm to Gods Creation.
 
@Bruised_Reed and @CoffeeAndDonuts and @DarkLight get it.

Wisdom.

Let us attend.
 
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Spyridon said:
It’s called harm reduction.
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It should be called rehab.
Spyridon said:
The idea is people are going to have these vices, so the charitable thing to do is help them do it as safely as possible.
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I was with you at the start, but you let the cat out of the bag here though.

That’s like saying people are going to sin, so the charitable thing to do is accept it and help them not feel guilty. No, Christ is merciful, but the goal is sainthood.

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”_
 
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Spyridon said:
The teetotalers who would due away with such things out of a misplaced sense of justice would do irreparable harm to Gods Creation.
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Yea, they say the same thing over the Churches teachings on contraception.

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
 
Here’s a good link showing the efficacy of HAT.

5 decades and countless billions of dollars spent on the “war on drugs” and the drug problem in the US is worse than ever.

What more proof do you need that a “militant” attitude toward drugs is not the solution?

We need to get out of the “war on drugs” mentality and evolve to a “hospitality and healthcare for drug addicts” mentality.

Until we do that on a national level, the drug epidemic will continue to rise exponentially.

I pray you never lose a child to addiction.

Findings show such programs are feasible and are associated with a number of positive outcomes,12 including:

"Health benefits:

• helping people to stop or reduce their illegal drug use;13
• avoiding illness and death as a result of overdose by ensuring access to a drug of known quality and strength;14
• retention in medical care;15
• facilitating a gradual change from heroin to opioid substitution therapy;16
• reducing the risk of HIV and hepatitis resulting from unsafe injection practices;17 and
• promoting general health and well-being.18

"Social benefits:
• reducing crime related to the acquisition of drugs;19
• reducing the number or visibility of drug markets and public drug use;

• lowering costs associated with health care, social welfare, criminal justice and prisons;20 and

• promoting social integration, including with respect to employment, accommodation and family life.21"

Read more: Heroin-Assisted Treatment | Drug Policy Facts
 
You’re ignorant on the subject, you should stop talking and start reading.

If you call my sobriety into question because I use a prescribed medication, I in turn will call your knowledge and charity into question.

We’re done here.
 
Spyridon said:
5 decades and countless billions of dollars spent on the “war on drugs” and the drug problem in the US is worse than ever.
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That’s because your war on drugs ended under Obama, and you had free flow of drugs over the border and no doubt other means which thankfully Trump wants to stop and secure.
Spyridon said:
We need to get out of the “war on drugs” mentality and evolve to a “hospitality and healthcare for drug addicts” mentality.
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You do realize the drug trade is a business don’t you? and as such you can’t focus just on ‘healing’ people when there are those producing harm and making unabated profits out of it.
Spyridon said:
Until we do that on a national level, the drug epidemic will continue to rise exponentially.
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The drug epidemic has risen exponentially under Obama and all other stupid like minded politicians.
Spyridon said:
I pray you never lose a child to addiction.
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I pray they will never be introduced to it to get addicted. Makes things a lot harder when it’s widely available and apparently ‘safe’ to do so.

“For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
 
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Have you had experience with addiction yourself?

Are any of your immediate family members addicts?

Are you an addiction specialist/medical professional?

I need to know the answer to those three questions so I can understand something.
 
Spyridon said:
I need to know the answer to those three questions so I can understand something.
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You don’t need an answer to those questions to know common sense. Only to character assassinate. The answer is no for all three, go nuts.
 
So you’re not an addict, you have no addict family, and you’re not an addiction specialist…

So that means you have ZERO firsthand knowledge or expertise regarding addiction.

Yet you come here and act like you know whats best in how to treat addiction?

My friend, are you familiar with the word hubris?
 
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