Monday, April 7, 2008

Not My Hero


It is very possible that Samantha Mohan is a lovely person.


But does she deserve a "Heroes" award for 15 years of handing out clean needles to addicts?


That is exactly what will happen next week thanks to the BC Persons with AIDS Society.


All of the evidence is that the clean needle programs have NOT scotched or reduced the spread of HIV and other diseases. That, in fact, the numbers continue to rise geometrically.


What Mohan has been doing for 15 years is sad, ineffective and an atrocity.


She has been helping addicts to stay stupid.


There are many people here in BC who have been quietly helping addicts to get clean and walk away from needles and bottles and pipes and they are unsung heroes.


Mohan is herself a kind of addict. She NEEDS those grateful, grasping hands reaching out to her so that she can feel wanted. But at what a cheap price!




1 comment:

David in North Burnaby BC said...

"She NEEDS those grateful, grasping hands reaching out to her so that she can feel wanted. "

Bingo! A large entrenched "harm reduction" industry has been established by years of this horribly misguided approach and it lobbies of course for its own perpetuation and expansion. That's just how any vested interest is.
I have occasion to go the DTES quite often and have since I was a child going to Woodwards with my parents long ago. When I consider the army of addicts wandering the streets down there, like a scene from Dante, I can't help but think change is going to be a long time coming. :-(