Free Booze Helps Homeless Addicts, Study Says

BDx13 - 1-6-2006 at 01:08 PM

By Stefanie Kranjec
Reuters

TORONTO (Jan. 3) - Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior, 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 stabilize 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 $771 Canadian dollars ($660 U.S.) 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."

BDx13 - 1-6-2006 at 01:09 PM

where do i sign up?!

Discipline - 1-6-2006 at 03:34 PM

They give them wine and smokes. Fuckin bullshit. This is why we spend about 100 million a year in Toronto on the homeless problem. A lot of homeless people migrate here for all the perks. Pisses me off.

moron - 1-6-2006 at 04:59 PM

That sounds like it's based loosely on a newer model of intervention called "Harm Reduction". An addict will do anything to get a fix which includes neglecting their family, children and their own health. The idea is to acknowledge this and allow the person to maintain that addiction to a degree but helping them with the rest of their lives. I probably didnt do the model justice with my description, but that's sort of the jist of it.

Discipline - 1-6-2006 at 06:04 PM

The city desperately needs the money for other things, yet because of the bleeding hearts we waste over 100 million a year on this shit. Fuck the homeless. That money could be better spent on good things like the school system and health care, both of which are a problem in Toronto.

JawnDiablo - 1-7-2006 at 12:15 AM

in UD /Philly it is easy to bum the $3 necessary for a bottle of IDES in eeither the terminal or around it.....a amtter of minutes........seriously

Voodoobillyman - 1-7-2006 at 12:24 PM

Bullets are much cheaper.

Killthehumans - 1-7-2006 at 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Discipline
The city desperately needs the money for other things, yet because of the bleeding hearts we waste over 100 million a year on this shit. Fuck the homeless. That money could be better spent on good things like the school system and health care, both of which are a problem in Toronto.

i dont tottally agree, however if you make a better school system and health care system, there will probally be less homeless people so it makes sense.

Discipline - 1-7-2006 at 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Killthehumans

Quote:

i dont tottally agree, however if you make a better school system and health care system, there will probally be less homeless people so it makes sense.

But the problem is that homeless people migrate here from other parts of the province and the country because they have it so good. Should let them freeze in the cold while they go withdrawl.

Six66Mike - 1-9-2006 at 06:04 PM

Haha this made the paper down here too. But really thogh, 3 of 17 people died so how damn good can it be!! Plus crime and stuff was down because they were all fuckin wasted & passed out in the alley they were drinking in. Dumbest study I've ever read.