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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Free booze makes homeless healthier? |
| 2006-01-05 |
| Wow. They're soooooo much smarter then us up there... TORONTO (Reuters) - Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said in a study published on Tuesday. ...and the Wino-Canadian Association for Homeless Alcoholic Rights wholeheartedly concurs! Seventeen homeless adults, all with long and chronic histories of alcohol abuse, were allowed up to 15 glasses of wine or sherry a day -- a glass an hour from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. -- in the Ottawa-based program, which started in 2002 and is continuing. On the Canadian taxpayers dime, no doubt... After an average of 16 months, the number of times participants got in trouble with the law had fallen 51 percent from the three years before they joined the program, and hospital emergency room visits were down 36 percent. It's a miracle, eh? "Once we give a 'small amount' of alcohol and stabilize the addiction, we are able to provide health services that lead to a reduction in the unnecessary health services they were getting before," said Dr. Jeff Turnbull, one of the authors of the report. Like whether or not they need clean syringes and free heroin... "The alcohol gets them in, builds the trust and then we have the opportunity to treat other medical diseases... It's about improving the quality of life." Keep 'em shitfaced, eh? So what if regular people gotta trip over them all day, eh? We're talking wino self esteem issues here, eh? Three of the 17 participants died during the program, succumbing to alcohol-related illnesses that might have killed them anyway, the study said. Yeah, they probably woulda died anyways, eh? But we creamated them quick, just in case... The report showed that participants in the program drank less than they did before signing up, and their sleep, hygiene, nutrition and health levels all improved. Sounds like they're about ready to run for prime minister up there... The per capita cost of around C$771 ($660) a month was partially offset by monthly savings of C$96 a month in emergency services, C$150 in hospital care and C$201 in police services per person. ...and whatever they picked up shaking empty Tim Horton coffee cups for change. Turnbull said some of the people enrolled in the program had stopped drinking altogether, although that was not an option for many of the participants. Wouldn't want to force our social morays on them, eh? It's not aboot that, eh? "We agree 100 percent that abstinence is the most appropriate route," he said. "But in this subset of people where abstinence has failed, there is still a need to provide care." So drink up, eh? Our government funding depends on you. Even if it is in Canadian money... |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 .com: well said. I long suspected that there are a large number of people with a "suicide" switch in their heads. They are bound and determined to self-destruct, and if denied their preferred means, will then choose alternate ones. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-01-05 21:40 |
| #4 They should now begin distributing rigs, clean needles, and smack. Oh, a bent spoon, some surgical tubing to tie off with, and a big box of kitchen matches, too. Hell, I'd throw in a toe tag they can fill out in advance. Everything will progress more rapidly toward the desired conclusion, thereafter. If people want to drop out of society, you can't stop them. If they want to poison themselves, you can't stop them. If they want to die, you can't stop them. Facilitate them, keep them out of the jails and ERs - those are needed for real people, not the self-made ex-people, whatever suicide route they've chosen. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-01-05 18:20 |
| #3 I am sure there will be plenty of volunteers for the required confirmatory studies. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-01-05 18:12 |
| #2 There may be some logic to this. First of all, alcohol is dirt cheap. Second, if left to their own devices, alkies can be very, very expensive to both jails and the health care system. If you can put them in a semi-institutional setting, you might end up saving a lot of money. No illusions about curing their addiction, just getting them off the street, and out of the ERs and jails. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-01-05 18:08 |
| #1 Like Joe Walsh used to say "The best hangover cure is to stay drunk." |
| Posted by: eLarson 2006-01-05 16:12 |