Ottawa program offers drinks to homeless alcoholics
Posted on January 3, 2006
Filed Under News, Something to Think about |
CBC News: Ottawa program offers drinks to homeless alcoholics
Critics of this programme have no clue in reality. If you think that someone which very little to “live” for will willfully stop reaching for the one escape from the oppression of a material and consumption oriented society, it is time to take a walk in reality instead of the hypothetical worlds created to be analysed in place of the real world.
One such criticism, that there was not a “control group” that took part in an abstinance programme. This may be a good comparison when studying the effects of alcoholism with 40-something middle-class professional, but not for the homeless.
The realistic goal of this program is to moderate the alcohol consumption and (very) slowly allow the individual to change themselves and make the decision to stop drinking on their own. In the meantime, they are down to at most 16 drinks a day (most are about 8) from an astonishing 40+. Crime is down because they don’t have to steal, alcohol-related injuries are down because the degree of drunkeness is low.
Programmes such as these help people help themselves on their own terms, in safe way that improves all of our society. (Same goes for safe injections sites)
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