Sterilization for addicts.

Selling sterilisation to addicts

By Clare Murphy
BBC News Online

To its critics, Project Prevention or Crack - an American organisation which pays drug addicts and alcoholics to be sterilised - is a terrifying throwback to the neutering of "defectives" during the 20th Century.
But the woman who runs this not-for-profit programme believes she is offering a service to everyone: the drug addict, the taxpayer, the child who has not yet been born, and if she has her way - will never be born.

news.bbc.co.uk...

and:

www.cashforbirthcontrol.com...

What I think frightening is this is a United States program, but I couldn't find any mention of it in the United States media.

Well.
Sterilization is legal,
and how many times have we seen a tweaker on jerry springer and looked horrified to find that they've reproduced?

I think as long as nothing is mandatory and run by the government, It should be ok.

It would just be some guys getting the snip. and thank god they did.

I don't see the problem either.

1. It's their choice to have it done.

2. They can only do it once, so it's not like they can keep getting money for it.

3. Some people actually pay to have it done.

I bet I have some friend that would have never been born if this would have been offered to their parents I am sure. I suppose its a good idea, I don't need anymore money taken out my check for taxes. I would think rehab would've been a better choice, but then again most addicts go back to dope anyways. Good Read.

Sterilization for addicts? How about lobotomies for the group of idiot savants who came up with this concept!

I can understand the frustration that many people have regarding drug addiction. In many neighborhoods in the United States and other developed countries, addiction has reduced once quaint communities into armed enclaves. Drive by shootings are common and the genereal citizenry fear for their lives. A gang culture has arisen and it threatens general culture. People can no longer live their lives without fear, much less peace. The necessary structures of society and culture have been distrupted. What's to blame for this? Well I am certain that there are all sorts of reasons and one of them are illegal drugs and, of course, addiction.

I won't get into the entire illegal drug arguments here, though personally I am in favor of decriminalization. It is generally accepted that addiction is more than a social deviancy, it is a disease! Again, I won't get into a discussion of this here either. What I will say however is that before one sperm or one ovum is tampered or interfered with in the hope of stopping drug addiction, how about trying to cure drug addiction instead?

There is a substance, an alkaloid, that is obtained from the iboga plant -- a shrub. This alkaloid has been successfully used to treat addiciton to heroin, methadone, amphetamines nad crack coc aine! Use of this hallucinogenic has enabled the addict to enter into an altered state where the addict's past life flashes before their mind's eye. Of course, it's probably a lot more in depth and complicated than this, after all it's an hallucination and, like dreams, they are difficult if ot impossible to describe. Nevertheless, this "enhanced" psychic state allows the addict, it has been reported, to identify and reconcile issues in their life that has led them to use drugs. Furthermore, it enables them to see clearly, the cause and effect that their drug usage will lead to. After the altered state, which lasts from several hours to several days, the addict no longer experiences cravings.

This drug, ibogaine, has had remarkable results on drug addiction. There have been some lapses by "recovered" addicts but these have been short-lived and, for the most part, the addict returns to abstinence.

Don't take my word for it. Look up IBOGAINE or IBOGA on the net! More information on Ibogaine can be found via www.cannabisculture.com. This is a web site for a magazine called Cannabis Culture. As the name will imply, the magazine supports the legalization of Cannabis/Marijuana. The editor of the magazine, Marc Emery, has led a life long crusade to change the drug laws in Canada. In this particular endeavor he has been very successful. The laws governing the use of Marijuana have been shown to be unconstitutional in the province of Ontario, Canada. Marc Emery has supported legalization efforts in Canada and in the United States. He runs a lucrative mail order cannabis seed buisness and is the founder of the BC Marijuana Party -- a registered political party. Aside from all of this activism, however, Marc Emery has been treating addicts with Ibogaine free of charge! So far he has either cured or enabled 23 addicts to regain control over their habits. He announced his results at a creative ideas symposium in Toronto on August 30 , 2003. The symposium, hosted by electronic media magnate, Moses Znaimer, also featured invited speakers from every walk of life and profession from politicians, religious figures, scientist, musicians and Marijuana Legalization activists! Check it out, its' interesting.....just look up Marc Emery , ibogaine, pot tv and/or the date in google and you should get some additional information.

Anyway......let's not start snipping away at anyones' genitalia before we check out some other options. By any stretch of the imagination, sterilization can easily be considered to be "cruel and unusual" punishment or, in this case, treatment.

EDison Eclectic

not to be a buzzkill, but there's already a topic on this subject here: www.abovetopsecret.com...

I disagree for a couple reasons.

Most Addicts are not accepting help for thier drug problem.

If the procedure is voluntary and benificial, i think it would be a great way to eliminate birth defects and prenatal addiction.

Originally posted by TheReflectingGod
I bet I have some friend that would have never been born if this would have been offered to their parents I am sure. I suppose its a good idea, I don't need anymore money taken out my check for taxes. I would think rehab would've been a better choice, but then again most addicts go back to dope anyways. Good Read.

Your friend represents the fortunate minority percentage here though. For every one of your friends there are handfulls of neglected, socially rejected, abused, and/or vilolently disturbed offspring who are also within our society as well. Sure there are a few crack babies or junk babies who actually make it to adulthood and are productive people, but honestly compare those numbers with the ones that don't.

EDison,
You have some good points. Although I think the platform of where these people are coming from is B.S. No matter what they say I don't really think it's about treatment of addiction. It's simply about keeping these irrisponsible people from breeding. The decrimialization of Drugs and Ending the War against them in effort of true Treatment programs is the way to go. Since that isn't happening in any way, this lady came up with this idea. While it's certainly not the best way to handle the situation, at least it is not hurting anyone except those who BY CHOICE are already hurting themselves anyway.

Asking an addict to go through with such a procedure is basically asking them to admit that they are an alcoholic/addict, which can be very difficult. The American Medical Association recognises alcoholism as a disease and most who know enough about it will say that the main symptom is denial. There is no known cure apart from total abstinence. I just don't think this will reach enough people to make much of a difference, unless it is enforced.

This does sound like a good idea though for those who are aware of and concerned about the dangers of birth defects like Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.