Free heroin for drug addicts plan ‘farcical’

SO the West Midlands Police Commissioner wants to provide free heroin to hardened drug addicts to deter them from committing crime to fund their drug habit (Feb 13). Basically, the liberal softly-softly approach to the problem of weaning addicts off hard drugs using heroin substitutes and the like has failed miserably. Hence we now have the farcical, ultra-liberal proposal of giving them free heroin. What happens when this also fails? Do we then start paying them to take the drugs and offer them free council houses, etc? Sometimes a little tough love needs to be applied. Some years ago the younger brother of a very good friend of mine sadly slipped off the tracks, got in with a bad crowd and got himself into a right mess using drugs and alcohol. At his lowest point I saw him in a Coventry pub, grossly under-weight and totally off his head on drugs, barely able to speak let alone know what day it was. Within six months he was in prison for a non-drug related offence. Whilst there he was not treated for his drug/ alcohol problems, but the fact that he was forced to go cold turkey combined with regular healthy meals, regular sleep and kept away from bad influences was enough to straighten him out. Within months he was back to a healthy state and drug-free, which he maintained after his release. Sometimes tough love is what is needed as the liberal approach is certainly not working. Brian Nathan-Partridge Stivichall