16 March 2010

Taxpayer-funded junkie starter kit

Yeah, sure... just send your kids on down... we'll show them how to bang smack...
The scenes of addled, self-destructive addicts are depressingly familiar. The scenes of social agencies eager to supply a homeless person's every need suggest that more social workers are not the answer to Vancouver's homeless problem.

Midway through his experiment, Mr. Kleider “realized that if I wanted to understand the street, I had to do drugs myself.” He tries crack cocaine. Then someone gives him heroin. He has no idea how to use it, so he decides to go to Insite. “Are you fucking stupid?” yells his brother (who's also one of the directors).

When the nurse asks him why he's using, he mumbles: “Experimentation, I suppose.” She doesn't ask if he's injected drugs before. She simply mixes up the stuff, ties off his unmarked arm and shows him how to find a good vein.

Mr. Kleider did not set out to do an exposé of Insite. In fact, he's a strong supporter. But many people who've seen the video interpret that scene as a scathing critique.

Why didn't the nurse try to talk him out of it when it was clear he was no addict? What happened to the idea of diversion? To them, it doesn't look like harm reduction. It looks like enabling.
Let me reiterate... you're paying for this... right out of your weekly paycheque.

And maybe some day your child will pay for it too.

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RELATED: Drugs... the victimless crime
-- AGASSIZ, B.C. -- Toronto cop-killer Craig Munro lost another bid for day parole Tuesday but was granted a limited number of unescorted absences.
Trust me... this story isn't gonna have a happy ending.