FREE BOOZE FOR THE HOMELESS
By Jeremy Reynalds (01/08/06)
Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, a recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal proclaims.
Nonsense! By giving them the alcohol, the study organizers think they're keeping them out of trouble, but what they're doing is prolonging the most important step in recovery. That's when an alcoholic bottoms out and realizes his or her life is a wreck.
A managed alcohol program, such as the one reported in the Canadian Medical Journal (www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/174/1/50), allows alcoholics to continue in their denial and negates their ability to turn to God.
It's ridiculous. Giving these individuals as many as 15 glasses of wine or sherry a day is the equivalent of as many as five bottles of booze. They end up being so "medicated" that they're obviously not going to get into any trouble!
According to a Reuters news service report about the study (http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/01/05/toronto.booze.reut), 17 homeless adults, all with long and serious histories of alcohol abuse, were allowed up to 15 glasses of wine or sherry a day - a glass an hour from 7a.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 per cent from the three years before they joined the program, and hospital emergency room visits were down 36 per cent.
Reuters reported that Dr. Jeff Turnbull, one of the authors of the report, said, "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. 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."
Please!
There is a good reason for both mine and Joy Junction's (the homeless shelter which I founded and continue to direct) firm stance against a managed alcohol program and a study such as this one.
Firstly. With such a small number of people, it is statistically impossible to infer anything from the results of this "study."
A commentary on the study did admittedly state (www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/174/1/50), "This study has several limitations that must be borne in mind. The sample was very small, and the lack of a control or comparison group precludes any firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the program. In addition, the accuracy of participants' estimated alcohol use is uncertain, and data on changes in health status are lacking."
Sadly, I think the fact of some news media jumping on this study and the subsequent attention it has received may have resulted – sadly – in the study being perceived as potentially significant.
Secondly. At Joy Junction we are not a social service agency that deals only with physical hunger and need. We are not attempting to help individuals "manage" their alcohol addiction. We are trying to assist our guests in seeing what made them turn to alcohol in the first place, and encouraging them that a relationship with Jesus Christ will help them deal with these issues.
We are a faith-based ministry, an umbrella term for a charitable group whose goal is to save souls as well as bodies. And as University of Texas Professor Marvin Olasky pointed out in his book "The Tragedy of American Compassion," as opposed to the typical governmental "anything goes," approach, faith- based ministries use a tough love that demands accountability, adherence to moral standards and changes in behavior.
It is this core set of beliefs that undergirds the success of every faith-based ministry in America. The needy men, women and families who crowd into rescue missions nationwide know that drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, lying and other life controlling behaviors have helped them become homeless."
What a difference from the commentary on the study I referred to earlier which reads in part, " This novel study is a tantalizing demonstration of the feasibility and potential value of a pioneering harm-reduction program for this difficult-to-serve population."
Not! After over 20 years of working with New Mexico's homeless, I can unequivocally say that the best "harm-reduction program" for the homeless is a relationship with Jesus Christ.
More information is available about the study at www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/174/1/50
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