Junkies

Take a look at the following press release by the UK Drug Policy Commission.

Don't label heroin users as 'junkies' - Drug Commission

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People should stop calling heroin users "junkies" or "addicts", an influential think tank on drugs has said.

The UK Drug Policy Commission said such names stigmatised users and made it more difficult to get off drugs.

A report suggested that the policing of drugs on the streets and methadone programmes forcing users to go to chemists were "publicly humiliating".

Instead, the report said that British society needed to show more compassion towards drug users.

Authors of the six-month study said the terms "junkie" and "addict" were distrustful and judgmental and led to feelings of low self-worth among drug users.

You may have your own opinion about hard drug users, and you may sympathise with the commission's approach in not wanting them to feel low self esteem, but I don't share it. A junkie got there by choice. Maybe he or she was misled and gave in to peer pressure, but it was a choice. Once the choice has been made, they are going down a spiral into the gutter. Please don't tell me they didn't understand the risks. Of course they did. Maybe they didn't believe the risks were real, but that was another choice. There are many young people faced with peer pressure to do drugs, but they 'just say no'.

Why the sudden rush to feel sorry for the people in our society who steal from their family to support their addiction? These same people are at the Primary School gates looking for a buyer, who may just be your son, daughter, or grandchild. They are also at High Schools and Colleges and Universities. They are on the dole queue, waiting to collect their benefit. They will injure and kill if the conditions are right for them. The news is full of cases of murder in local communities, because of junkies. Weapons like knives, swords, pistols and rifles are weapons of choice where junkies try to protect their income and addiction. They overload our court systems and prisons. The give the police service a headache as they try to deal with them, and they appear at the Hospital Emergency Rooms having been in fights, maybe even with other junkie friends.

So lets not stigmatise them? Lets try to protect their low self worth? Lets stop embarrassing them by making them stand in a chemist shop waiting for their methodone, which by the way is also provided free for them, by the state (that's you and me)? It took six months of study for this think tank to come up with these recommendations. It would have served them better to have spent the time with the victims of the junkie's many crimes. Let's start to recognise and protect the victims, and not the junkies. After all they gave the name to themselves, by choice.

What happens to those many people who, through no fault of their own, and not through choice, have life threatening diseases like cancer, heart disease, kidney failure, etc etc? If the junkies feel stigmatised by their treatment, the solution is easy. Remove all the money they get on services, benefits and treatment, including these so called 'think tanks', and divert it to those areas of medical need just mentioned. After all, they really do need it more, and would certainly appreciate it more! When it comes down to who deserves the help, it certainly isn't the junkie!

Wishes and Angels.

I have come across a website, called www.wishesandangels.com which seems to operate against the usual 'gimme' culture of our modern society. We are so used to looking after number one, that we sometimes forget that there are many, many people in much worse situations than ourselves.


This website is quite revolutionary, because it gives the ordinary man or woman a chance to make a difference in someone's life by donating as an 'angel' to other folks 'wishes'. And here's the good bit, you can look through the 'wishes' and decide which one or ones you want to help! If you take a look, you can see real need, and help, or decide it's not for you. It's totally voluntary.


I like the thinking behind the operation. Many people can give a little to build up the fund to provide something which is needed, or maybe even just wanted. The real benefit in the process, to me, is the chance to give, and not just look for something to get. Oh, by the way, you can even ask for something yourself as a wisher, and if enough people sympathise with that wish, it can be granted by other angels too. It's effectively a two way street. It deserves to succeed.


The cost to join is nothing. The price of helping to grant a wish as an angel is a mere £4. Yes, that's right, £4. Now you tell me what £4 can buy you? Not a lot, but it might just be enough to buy someone less fortunate some happiness, and make them smile. It might just bring a smile to your face too. Go on, you know you want to! Log on to www.wishesandangels.com and take a look. The most it could cost is £4, but it could change a life for ever, maybe even your own.   

Life Isn't Fair

The 20th of August is important for two similar, but also very different reasons. My wife, a very special lady, lost her life to cancer almost three years ago. She would have been a very young, sprightly and active wife, mum and gran had she survived that terrible disease. This date will always be remembered for the great loss of a lovely, kind and warm person.


A year ago on the same date, the Locherbie bomber, Abdel Baset Ali Al Megrahi was granted compassionate release from his life sentence for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103, taking hundreds of lives with it. He was found guilty of the crime. I have made no secret of my opinion that the decision to release him to go back to his own country was wrong. He was given 3 months to live, and now a year later he is still alive. That is where life isn't fair. Compare the life of my wife, who only did good, to the bomber who blew a plane and it's passengers out of the sky, in an act of terrorism, and got a hero's welcome when he arrived home in Libya.


The debate and argument rages again, one year on from his release. I have even heard people say they wish him to be dead, and the sooner the better. He has lived too long! At the moment he has lived 4 times longer than the doctors thought. No, life is not fair, and I don't agree with his release, but I do not wish him dead for the convenience of some politicians who are being questioned on the basis for the release decision.


It has often been repeated that compassion is a part of the Scottish judicial system, and that is good and right, even when some decisions may be open to question, but please let's not wish anyone dead. That wish and desire is held and used in the countries like the USA who still use capital punishment. They wish the criminal dead, and they pass that judgement. With the faults we have in Scotland, let's not be tempted to change it for the barbarism of wishing someone dead, and let's keep that compassion alive.


And whoever said that life was fair anyway? Certainly not in this life. One thing is for sure, after death, the real reward or judgement is passed out by a higher court than any on this earth. My wife has her reward now, and Megrahi will also be given his 'reward'. Then life will be fair!!

Dogs and Dog Owners

The following article doesn't need anything else added.... Dog owners take note.......

A little girl could lose her eye because of an infection contracted from dog mess left in a playground.

Amiee Langdon with her mother, Suzanne. (Photo: MEN Syndication)

Toddler Amiee Langdon, who will be two years old next week, put her hand in faeces when she fell over in a park.

Before her mother Suzanne could react, the little girl wiped her left eye with the same hand.

Ms Langdon, a 29-year-old nurse from Fallowfield, Manchester, rushed to clean the eye and rinsed it with warm water once they returned home.

Amiee's condition is the consequence of some thoughtless dog owner.

Suzanne Langdon

But it was too late to stop Amiee contracting an infection calledtoxocariasis, which is caused by parasitic worms in dog mess.

The toddler's eye subsequently swelled up, becoming purple and inflamed.

Amiee was admitted to hospital where she was immediately put on antibiotics.

But, if they do not work, she will need surgery to remove the eye so the infection does not spread to her brain, which - in extreme cases - could lead to death.

I hope this makes irresponsible dog owners understand the very real consequences of failing to pick up after their dogs.

Paul Andrews, Manchester City Council

Amiee was playing in a gated children's area of Platt Fields Park, Fallowfield, when she fell over.

Ms Langdon said: "Amiee's condition is the consequence of some thoughtless dog owner.

"It's awful. There is a sign saying 'No dogs' near the entrance to the play area, but it seems people are ignoring it. Councils must get tough."

Paul Andrews, of neighbourhood services at Manchester City Council, said: "I hope this extremely upsetting incident makes irresponsible dog owners understand the very real consequences of failing to pick up after their dogs.

"We are thinking about this little girl and her family and we hope she makes a speedy recovery."

Good Children Make Good Parents

I used to question the validity of that statement, which was made to us about our own children many years ago now. It was made by a respected friend who had been getting to know us while we were all living in America. At first I put it down to one of those sayings which had no real depth or meaning, but now I think differently. I believe it to be true.


Yes, at first the tables are turned. Your children are young, and you try to be good parents, so you try to make good children. You do your best to give values, manners, and just good common sense into their young lives, and that works for a while. But years pass, and your values, may not become your children's values. Your ideals may not be shared by your children as they find their own way in life, and that is normal, and to be expected. I have seen parents change their values because of their children, but I have been fortunate. That is where the change over happens.


I now see in my own children, the same interest and drive, to instil values and manners and good common sense into their own children, and once again I feel proud. The cycle continues. But it's more than that, I feel privileged to be the Dad whose children now, perhaps unknowingly, give me the honour of making me a 'good parent'. That honour is not mine alone. It also belongs to another, and more so, but she is not here to see the benefit or feel the pride, but I know she would approve and also feel that pride too. Thanks Margaret, you did a great job, and without you, who knows how things would have turned out. You have earned your reward!!   

Legalise Drugs?

We are being asked to consider the legalisation of drugs in Scotland, yet again. Not just the so called soft drugs like cannabis, but hard drugs like heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine! Not surprisingly there is a wide difference of opinion among the 'experts', and their views are expressed so strongly. The arguments for legalising drugs stretch from the revenue they would raise for the tax man, to the cost change to the NHS. Many people are in the debate, each with their own slant on what to do.

The one point which I have not heard expressed by any of these experts is the issue of whether drug use is right or wrong! We seem to have lost the ability of saying, you don't do this 'because it is wrong'! I believe we are scared that someone will think we are too religious, or too moral, and this is not the case. Why do we shy away from saying something is wrong or immoral, especially when drug use causes so much harm and damage to the user, the family, and the wider community? I am not aware of any benefits from using heroin, cocaine or crack cocaine, by any member of society, so why should it be legalised? Some folks don't want us to criminalise the poor pushers! Why not?? Just because the problem is getting out of hand? Or because the police and courts can't keep up with the problem?

The one thing most experts agree on is that hard drug use is a bad thing. Thank goodness for that. Do we really want to start down the slippery slope of legalising drugs for any reason at all? Cost should not be an argument. This is a simple right or wrong issue, and we shouldn't be sand dancing around excuses for legalising a destructive element in our society. Our drug users will still use it. The pushers will still be in business, and anyone who thinks differently is living on another planet. Our already big drugs problem in Scotland, will become an even bigger problem, and we would have no one to blame but ourselves.

Drug use is such a blight on our society, that we should be increasing the penalty for pushing to a real life sentence. Any crime caused by drug users stems from the dealers, so they must shoulder a very high responsibility. A life sentence is only reasonable, and I don't mean a tariff which means the perpretator could be out in 18 months! If we need more prisons, then build them. As for the users, anyone who commits crime because of drugs should get 5 years minimum, with no remission for good behaviour. If pushers, dealers and users are in prison, they are certainly not causing society a problem. No bail should be allowed, which only lets them out to do it again. The nice social service people who think these folks have a bad deal, should be locked up with them, until their 'patients' have come off their drug of choice. That's right their drug use is by choice. We are on the way to making irresponsible drinking, and drink driving an anti social thing, so we can and should do the same thing with the more devastating problem of drug use. 


Did you also know that the social services can now provide a drug to family in the event that someone they know overdoses and stops breathing? The rep talking about it on TV says it will bring a dying junkie back to life, 'just like Lazarus- Instantly'! I just hope that the money to provide this drug does not deny any kind of drugs for kids with leukaemia, or cancer, or heart disease! We keep being told that the NHS must make difficult choices. Well here's an easy one. Divert the 'Lazarus drug' money from the junkie to the person who has not chosen their disease as a lifestyle add-on!  

Lets not pussyfoot round the issue. Lets face it down, and head on. It will not happen overnight, but see the problem for what it is. Self inflicted and wrong!! Mind you we need strong politicians to make it happen, and that's the weak link in the chain. They talk it up, but play it down, and we, the ordinary person in the street, have to live with their inaction in our communities. The longer we leave it, the harder it will become to rid the streets of a menace to our children and grand children.

Is That Really It??

One of the great freedoms we have, in every walk of life, is our freedom to choose our religion, faith, or perhaps to decide that there is no supreme being, and what we have in this world is all there will ever be. Many very learned and scholarly people have spent untold hours, and written books on whether there is a God or not. I am not a scholar in the same way these people are, and there are differing views even amongst the scientific community. There are many scientists who are convinced that there is a God, and similarly, many who think there is not. I could not enter a scientific debate with these scholars and philosophers, so I won't.


We are entitled to differ in this very basic question, and we do. Therefore I do not want to question how those who come to the conclusion that there is no God, got there. At least everyone knows where they stand. There are those too, perhaps like me, who are very sure of their belief in God, and have the faith to support it. In my limited way, I have read books, questioned myself, and spoken to others, to come to my own conclusion that there is a God, and that He is not far from any of us. I also believe the Bible is given to help us find the way. 


So we have two opposing camps. Those who accept there is a God, and those who don't, but in each case the decision was made after due thought and consideration at our own level. We are entitled to that basic freedom. However, there is a group in the middle. People who have not really given it a lot of thought, and who certainly don't live one way or the other, but who call themselves by a vague name. A name like, Catholic, or Protestant, or C of S, or C of E, or Baptist, and the list could go on. They will take their children to church to get baptised, get married, or be buried with a church's blessing. They might even go to church on a special occasion like Christmas, but have not committed to any real or life changing faith.


At the end of our time here on this earth, I find myself asking the question again, 'is this really all there is to my life'?  It's the same question those scholars can't agree on. We get side tracked by questions like, 'why all the suffering', and fail to ask 'why am I here'? So as my life draws to a close someday (and it certainly will!), I will not be asking myself 'is that really it'? My faith allows me to believe in life after death, and the chance to see a God who loves me, and loved ones who have died before me. It's my basic freedom, and based on many of life's choices and circumstances. The great thing is, I can live and die with confidence, and that gives me comfort right here, right now. I like that.   

Some Day You Will!

Maybe not now, but at some time in the future, you will. And you will mean it. Deep down, I think we all have a need that only this will satisfy, and we may not even understand why at the time! During times of stress, or anxiety, or loss, or happiness, or sadness, or guilt, we will find our minds turning to this, and it works for all. Old and young, male and female, rich and poor. We are all equal when big things happen in our lives, and that's because we are all human. Not only that, but people of ALL faiths, and even NO faith will do it!


When you go through a tough time especially, you don't want to sound like a complainer, so you may not even tell anyone about your real deep, heartfelt sorrows, so you harbour them, and that doesn't help either. When we don't know which way to turn, we will then do it. We will all utter a prayer. Maybe a very short one, and maybe even to a 'God' you don't understand too well, or even know at all, but if the internal struggle is bad enough, you will pray. Silently, or out loud, it doesn't matter, and when we do pray, it is heard, even if we don't think it is! This is more, so much more than the 'omg' we hear so often, and so glibly. For that reason, I do not like to see it in print, or hear it in conversation.


Sometimes an occasion will arise when you don't want to share your thoughts and fears with people who will just talk about you, and your problem, but you want to tell some folks who you know will pray, and take it to a higher place! I feel privileged and blessed to have such friends, and when the need comes up, I know they will pray for me, my family, and our situation. This sounds crazy to anyone who is not a 'prayer' normally, but believe me, it does make a difference to the person (or people) who need that prayer. So, to those who read this, who know, and who pray, I say thank you, and God Bless you. What about the answers, I hear you ask? Let me finish with this thought. "The prayer is more important than the answer".       

Alcohol - Minimum Pricing (again)

It is being raised again, but this time by the Prime Minister. He was responding to the challenge we all face, up and down the UK, to clean up the streets of under age binge drinking, which affects us all, and especially the responsible city centre party goers. I don't agree with all that the SNP stand for, but they have got it spot on when they called for minimum pricing in Scotland, where the problem is huge, and more so at weekends.

Of course, as expected, the other opponents of this idea, come out of the woodwork to tell us it won't make any difference. We have to find another way, they say. One of these apologists was on the news today. He was a spokesman for the supermarket chain, Morrisons, and talked an awful lot, but didn't actually say anything. He defended the cheap booze on sale in their aisles, and said it was to compliment their food sales! Oh brother! Don't let anyone fool you. Supermarkets don't lose money on the so called, 'lost leaders' where they undercut the price of alcohol. They have the nerve to say that the price and availability is not a part of the problem. When will they wake up and smell the roses, or should I say, the vomit!

You don't have to be very smart or clever to see why they like to sell cheap booze. It's good for income. If it really was a money loser, do you think they would be doing it? They must think Joe Public's head buttons up the back. I wish they would treat us as grown up, and accept the link between the price of alcohol, and violence at all levels in our community.

I am glad the question has been brought into the open again, and maybe since the Prime Minister is sympathetic to the problem and solution, we might get somewhere. The supermarkets are behaving exactly like the tobacco companies who said there was no link between smoking and ill health. It didn't take long to see the results, and I suspect it will be the same with minimum pricing. As I have said before, we just need some politicians with bottle to lead the way.

Compassion and Justice

It was a year ago that the Scottish government released the Lockerbie Bomber, Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, on compassionate grounds to die in his home country, Libya. He had three months or so to live we were told. A passionate debate erupted on the streets and in the media, of the rights and wrongs of the decision, and that debate has never really gone away.


He has outlived his original estimate by a factor of four, and although in ill health, he is with his family, in his home country, and treated as a hero in the fight against 'the western culture and religion'. Kenny McAskill saw fit to release him, because he felt 'compassion' for him. Compassion is good and right, but I am not sure we have struck the right balance of justice and compassion here.


Given that this terrorist was released on compassionate grounds, I can only assume that there will be other prisoners who merit that same compassion. Maybe they are terminally ill. Maybe they are gravely ill. Maybe it is a young mother who desperately needs to be with her children. Where do we draw the line of who should benefit from our compassion, and who should not. Strangely, I have not heard of any other prisoners who have been released for the same reason. That alone makes me question the kind of compassion Kenny McAskill used in his decision.


We do not want to drop to the level of vengeance which Cardinal Keith O'Brien accuses the USA of adopting in its justice system, but neither should we free mass murderers because they are very ill. Also, since we don't like it when the USA meddles in our justice system, we should not meddle in theirs. I think the Cardinal stepped outside his bounds with his comments. Since our lifespan is not determined by a doctor, but by that higher power which Mr McAskill talked about, we cannot afford to use compassion as a reason for freedom. If that was truly the case, there would have been many others who would benefit from freedom from prison.


If a terrorist is given compassion, what then do we give to the families of the 270 people who died at his hands? It must be more than compassion, but what is it? A pat on the back, and a 'there there, you will feel better soon' platitude? Because that is what it is, just words, and that same compassion is missing. So what do I think? I reckon Al Megrahi should have lived out the rest of his natural life in prison, or in a prison hospital, no matter the cost. That's not because I do not have compassion, but that justice means I also have compassion for the other innocents who are still living with this terrorists actions, and I have more of it for them.