The harm reduction losers have launched another “winner”:
Started in July, Eastside Illicit Drinkers Group for Education has landed $52,000 in a research grant, with aims to gather clinical evidence across B.C. on the benefits of alcohol maintenance programs.
Within the next year, they hope to produce research in order to help land a partner in the health-care sector to fund a Downtown Eastside drinker’s lounge stocked with vodka, sherry and high-alcohol beer.
Advocates say at a cost of about $350 per month per drinker, alcohol maintenance programs can reduce policing costs and medical fees associated with frequent emergency room visits for illicit booze drinkers.
I wish I had an extra $350/month allowance just for booze. Would I ever have a well-stocked liquor cabinet in no time.
Money just be growin’ on trees out here! Free* needles, crack pipes, and now free* booze! Shouldn’t be long now until they announce the free* hookers and smokes.
And hey, what about sex addicts? Don’t they deserve free* porn?
Man, Vancouver’s east side sounds like the place to go if you like free* shit.
UPDATE: My favorite quote is the last line… “It would be members only because once word gets out it is free alcohol, everyone that just wants a free drink would show up,” he said. Ya think?
*Taxpayer funded (naturally) – where do you think the grant money comes from?
{ 8 comments }
Hey, if the breweries and wineries want to fund it let them, I say. Just so long as it’s not me.
Well, they did get a research grant to study this. Where did that money come from? Perhaps the breweries are funding the study in hopes of actually selling lots of booze down the road.
And this group hopes to land a “partner in the health-care sector” to fund the program. Private or government-run health care? I’m sure the breweries would be happy to have the government buy booze for this program.
I’m betting if we haven’t already we will be funding this eventually too.
BTW, did you read the last sentence in that story — it’s a hoot!
Ya know, this parallels s movie plot. I just finished watching season one of Boardwalk Empire by HBO. It tells the tale of Enoch Johnston an Atlantic City political “boss” and racketeer in the 20s. When you see crap like these ridiculous handouts happening at municipal or provincial level you KNOW there’s a political machine in place that greases the wheels of its supporters and punishes its enemies – hell, Chretien ran one and every Quebec premier ran one. I’m convinced McGuinty runs a “Tammany Hall” Librano machine and it appears you got ‘em in BC too.
These things only thrive in an atmosphere of deep corruption and voter/citizen apathy. I never thought BC was that politically lethargic.
I think there’s a lot of voter apathy here. That’s the only way I can explain Vancouver’s mayor being re-elected.
$350 a month in free booze! Now that’s the kind of liberal social engineering I could support! Except it’s not for everyone, is it? What this efectively does is reward people for having addictions problems. I know there’s some evidence in ‘harm reduction” that being provided with booze in safe environments, it may reduce hard core alkies using Lysol or whatever. But the problem is that these are people whose difficulties are in large measure cuased by their dependency on alcohol and providing it to them in a sanctioned environment rather than forcing them to get off the stuff just sanitizes and perpetuates the problem rather than solving it.
A by product of a mind-set where everyone’s personal failings are rewarded with government grants.
I love that last line that you have to be a “member” of their private little club of derelicts, otherwise everyone will show up for the free* booze.
Yes! Not to mention the free STDs, lice, and general snot…
Ewww…
Comments on this entry are closed.