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LadyEllen -> RE: Shooping vouchers for addicts (1/26/2007 5:26:42 AM)
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Personally, I've nothing against it - though I do wonder how it will help people to keep off drugs, and I would be concerned that as currency, a food voucher is exchangeable for money for the drugs they need. The decision on whether to eat or obtain a fix is not one over which any addict will worry overmuch.
There is this major misundertanding I feel, as to why people become addicts in the first place. Of course, some people use drugs recreationally and dont necessarily become addicts, but most people it seems to me use drugs to escape something in their lives which they cannot resolve - this could be psychological or environmental. Since the problem is insurmountable, they keep using drugs to escape it and so become addicted. The "popular" view however, is one relying on 60s stereotypes of the drug user as a drop out hippy, who deserves nothing since he/she became addicted by wilful criminality.
What I see here in this initiative is yet more evidence of government inaction on the provision of proper drug treatment (including for alcohol addiction), by way of this being next to nothing. It is far more electorally popular in middle England to regard addicts as scum and lock them up, than to provide what is needed in terms of facilities. Until proper clinics in enough numbers and of sufficient quality are provided, food vouchers are of no value whatever.
Ultimately though, we must also devote resources towards resolving the psychological and environmental problems which cause drug use and addiction in the first place. Again though, this is unpopular electorally, in a country in which the general feeling is winner takes all and the devil take the hindmost. We must have a sea change in our country to promote the oft used notion of respect throughout society - including at the uppermost levels, where the power to make things happen exists, as well as at the lower levels at which the respect agenda is directed. At the uppermost levels, there must be an understanding that it is people who make our nation, not profit and loss accounts. At the lowermost levels, there must be an appreciation of what is being offered in terms of education etc to improve one's lot and for this to be valued. Most importantly, throughout society there must be an understanding that no one becomes an addict by choice and that we are all responsible for making this country a better place to live.
E
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