Re: letters to the editor in the Jan. 10 edition of The NEWS (‘One Time Only’ and ‘Who Decides Who Deserves The Help’).
I agree wholeheartedly with Anthonie Den Boef’s and Vivian Field’s view that offering addicts a “one-time only” chance to rehabilitate themselves and their lifestyle should be the limit. After that, their continued poor choices should be their responsibility and their’s alone. As a law-abiding tax payer, I too believe my tax dollars could be put to far better use, and quite frankly, I am fed-up with supporting programs that allows addicts to continue their lifestyles.
In a subsequent edition of The NEWS, letter writer Kevin Monahan asks the question: who decides who deserves the help? He goes on to write that we need to deal with the causes of drug addiction. There seems to be a belief among many sociologists, psychologists, counsellors, professionals and bleeding-hearts in general, that if you can just figure out the causes of addiction, the why, then somehow we could miraculously fix the problem. I believe folks with this belief are the largest and most dangerous source of enablers out there.
How about fixing the problem first and figuring out the endless reasons why later? The reasons why are as numerous as there are humans on the planet, ranging from childhood abuse and trauma to ‘I didn’t get to have the latest iPhone’.
Even if the so-called experts could definitively sum up the exact reasons and the exact solutions for society’s ills, it wouldn’t stop anyone from doing the things they choose to do, and it won’t make the addict quit. Addicts, just by the very nature of their addiction, will always find another reason. The addict needs to quit first. As long as their brains are influenced and addled by drugs, they will never get a handle on anything in life.
So, who gets to decide who deserves help? It’s pretty simple really; if there were a “one strike and you’re out” policy in place, then it would be the addict who makes the decision. If they know there is no second chance, perhaps they will make the right decision. And if they don’t, well, on them be it.
Lesley Winter
Qualicum Beach
