Free booze makes Canada's homeless healthier-study

[Ambrosio Spinola]

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-01-03T220736Z_01_DIT379558_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-LIFE-CANADA-HOMELESS.XML&archived=False

TORONTO (Reuters) - Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behaviour, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said in a study published on Tuesday.

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.

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.

"Once we give a 'small amount' of alcohol and stabilise 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.

"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."

Three of the 17 participants died during the program, succumbing to alcohol-related illnesses that might have killed them anyway, the study said.

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.

The per capita cost of around C$771 (378 pounds) 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.

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.

"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."

[Petyr Baelish]

They should try treating them with ibogaine, ketamine or MDMA instead.

[Petyr Baelish]

Attenuation of alcohol consumption by MDMA (Ecstasy) in two strains of alcohol preferring rats (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1357675&dopt=Abstract)

'60's party drug Ibogaine might be effective in treating alcoholism, new study says (http://www.newstarget.com/003834.html)

Mechanisms of antiaddictive actions of ibogaine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9668680&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum)

Ketamine psychedelic therapy (KPT): a review of the results of ten years of research. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9250944&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum)

[Felix the Cat]

Actually, alcohol is a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant - an alcoholic is therefore less vulnerable to many of the infectious diseases which people who live on the streets are exposed to

[Petyr Baelish]

Actually, alcohol is a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant - an alcoholic is therefore less vulnerable to many of the infectious diseases which people who live on the streets are exposed to

LMAO!

filling in blank space

[Felix the Cat]

This has been known for centuries Methie

During epidemics of plague, cholera, flu etc, it was always the teetotallers who died first

It's only since the advent of antibiotics that it's been healthier to be sober than slightly drunk

But for folks who are too poor or too crazy to get regular medical attention, it still pays to be soused

[Ambrosio Spinola]

True, alcohol made live in big towns with not to healthy water supply possible at all. Diffrerent sorts of wine and beer heavily watered down were the normal drinks of the day.

[Niko Bellic]

Actually, alcohol is a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant - an alcoholic is therefore less vulnerable to many of the infectious diseases which people who live on the streets are exposed to

Hmmmm...
Maybe this explains it, or is a factor. I rarely get sick, and when I do, it's over fast. Last year, on a Thursday night before my girlfriend and I were going away to a fair for the weekend, I had the flu. When I get the flu, I go through the same progression of symptoms that most people endure for days, in the space of 16-20 hours. That night, my girlfriend came home from work and found me gasping for breath, near death, lying on the couch. She started changing plans for the weekend until I gasped out "No, I'll be fine in a few hours." By midnight that night, the flu had passed.

I've been like this since I got out of the army in 1991, and I always attributed it to the vaccinations. The army immunizes you against everything on the planet. Most of those diseases require a series of shots, taken over a few months. The idiot medics in my battalion kept losing my medical records. They just disappeared every few months. So without shot records, I had to restart every vaccine series over and over and over. I was shot up with all the worst viruses on the planet about ten times as much as anyone else. I think it turned me into a mutant with an immune system from hell.

Or I could just be drinking all the germs to death.:D

[Petyr Baelish]

This has been known for centuries Methie

During epidemics of plague, cholera, flu etc, it was always the teetotallers who died first

Proof?

It's only since the advent of antibiotics that it's been healthier to be sober than slightly drunk

Proof?

[Petyr Baelish]

Actually, alcohol is a powerful antiseptic and disinfectant - an alcoholic is therefore less vulnerable to many of the infectious diseases which people who live on the streets are exposed to

Iodine and hydrogen peroxide are also powerful anti-septics, but I wouldn't advice you to pour those down your gullet in hopes of staving off an infection.

[Felix the Cat]

Bugs don't like alcohol Methie. The higher your blood-alcohol level, the less likely they are to survive in your bloodstream. This is a no-brainer.

Incidentally, fire is also an excellent disinfectant, which explains why smoking was also so widespread before penicillin

It's only thanks to antibiotics that we fear alcoholism and cancer more than infectious disease

[Sinclair]

I don't know if alcohol would give you any immune system benefits, but it DEFINITELY would be safer to drink than water. For most of history, water in most places has been downright dangerous.

Apples were mostly used to make hard cider and applejack up until Temperance became a powerful movement, that's when the "An Apple A Day" campaign was unleashed, as the apple industry feared it would lose all its customers.

Even children were given alcohol, though usually watered down. It was simply safer than the water.

[Atlas]

50% of the calls you will respond to as a police officer have to do with the homeless. by creating initiatives like this, it helps to cut down on the number of incidents involving the homeless.

It is very time consuming, and if we can find ways to get these citizens off the streets and into some sort of controlled environment, it will cut back on response times to much more serious issues.

There is no reason why you shouldn't help the homeless.
I grew up having an uncle who was homeless, and let me tell you, it is a great burden on society, and especially on our family. But we didn't turn a blind eye to him because he was our family. Every christmas we would send him scarves and gloves and other articles of clothes because we cared about his well being.

Alot of you guys seem to think that the only things cops do is bust down doors and chase down crack heads. A police officer is no more than a social worker with a badge and gun. Their job is to protect the citizens, and believe it or not homeless people are citizens as well. Alcohol may have been what brought them to the streets, but it certainly isn't whats keeping them there.

Alot of these people are caught in a bottomless pit and have no chance. So what if we offer them a bottle of booze. At least they can drink it in peace and in a warm place.

It gives them a faint glimmer of hope in the shithole that has become their lives.

[Johnson]

And with that, Fade moves to Ottawa..

[Petyr Baelish]

Bugs don't like alcohol Methie. The higher your blood-alcohol level, the less likely they are to survive in your bloodstream. This is a no-brainer.

It's a 'no-brainer' for anyone with no brain (which I am beginning to suspect is your ailment). The alcohol concentration required for germicide is over 20% - anything above 0.5% in the bloodstream is lethal.

Incidentally, fire is also an excellent disinfectant, which explains why smoking was also so widespread before penicillin


You're either an idiot or a troll.

[Petyr Baelish]

There is no reason why you shouldn't help the homeless.

I think that a better way to help the homeless is to address the cause of their problems, such as alcoholism and schizophrenia, instead of supporting their addiction. However, since you're a member of the fanatical "Drugs are bad" crowd, I doubt you'd support addressing these problems with therapies like ibogaine, which incidentally has proven to be over three times more effective in treating alcoholism than traditional methods.

[Felix the Cat]

It's a 'no-brainer' for anyone with no brain (which I am beginning to suspect is your ailment). The alcohol concentration required for germicide is over 20% - anything above 0.5% in the bloodstream is lethal.
It's all good - even if it doesn't kill them, it will slow their reproduction

You're either an idiot or a troll.
Imagine you must share a room with a group of coughing, sneezing people with respiratory infections

Bearing in mind that heat also kills bugs, are you more likely to contract an infection if the room is smoke-filled or if it is smokeless?

[Starr]

Alcohol may have been what brought them to the streets, but it certainly isn't whats keeping them there

Feeding their addiction is certainly not helping them in the least. It may be extremely difficult for them to get out of the situation, but it is possible and it is never going to happen if they are provided with alcohol and therefore also given the idea that what they are doing is acceptable. It may make them happy for a short time, but it is certainly not a positive thing for them in the long run.

And everyone knows(contrary to what the article is trying to say) that a lot of people who drink or especially when drunk, tend to be violent or likely to cause problems. And I would assume this is probably even more likely to be the case when your life is in shambles.

[Niko Bellic]

50% of the calls you will respond to as a police officer have to do with the homeless. by creating initiatives like this, it helps to cut down on the number of incidents involving the homeless.

Locking them up, in hospitals if they are insane, or prisons if they don't have any other excuse besides being a worthless drunk shitbag, will also cut down on the number of incidents.

There is no reason why you shouldn't help the homeless.
I grew up having an uncle who was homeless, and let me tell you, it is a great burden on society, and especially on our family. But we didn't turn a blind eye to him because he was our family. Every christmas we would send him scarves and gloves and other articles of clothes because we cared about his well being.

His well being? "It's cold out there, here's some gloves, because we care about you."

This would be comedy material if it wasn't so sad and pathetic.

Here's an idea. Someone should have put him up in their home, since he's family. Maybe get him into an alcoholism treatment program, and help him find a job. Then, if you discover that he really is just a worthless shitbag, cut him loose.

Alot of you guys seem to think that the only things cops do is bust down doors and chase down crack heads. A police officer is no more than a social worker with a badge and gun. Their job is to protect the citizens, and believe it or not homeless people are citizens as well.

Police are after the fact type people. Their job isn't to protect, it's to enforce. They are not social workers. I hate to sling these kind of ad hominums around, but this is some of the worst liberal tripe I've ever seen.

Alcohol may have been what brought them to the streets, but it certainly isn't whats keeping them there.


This is a subtle point, but very important. Alcohol did NOT bring them to the streets, they went to the streets because they made the decision to drink the alcohol to the point that they didn't give a fuck about anything else. It's called personal responsibility. Their refusal to give a fuck about taking care of themselves is what keeps them on the street. It's not because nobody is there to help. It's not because there aren't enough charity groups for the homeless. It's not because the gubbamint won't spend the money to help. At some point, even the most bleeding heart liberal has to place the blame at its true source, the individual who would rather wallow in their own shit instead of getting out of it.

Alot of these people are caught in a bottomless pit and have no chance. So what if we offer them a bottle of booze. At least they can drink it in peace and in a warm place.

This bleeding heart bullshit is as much of a cause of the decline of the West as immigration is. We should offer them a kick in the ass. It would actually be more compassionate.

It gives them a faint glimmer of hope in the shithole that has become their lives.

....in the shithole THEY MADE THEIR LIVES BECOME!

The only possible excuse for it is if they are legitimately insane, in which case they should be locked up, for their own good as well as the public's, and treated with drugs to make them less insane, not a fucking bottle of booze.