The first good idea from the Canuckistanis since Rush.

Screw you guys, I'm headed north.

What kind of wine? Are we talking about 15 glasses of Thunderbird a day?

Road Trip!!!

Heck, the Russkis did it to their people for years.

What if they had jobs and then went to a bar? Is that asking too much?

Ahh, welfare....

This "Allah" guy should just start a blog or something.

And they're all hanging around the Toronto theaters to get a hand-out and maybe some sex from some of the cast afterwards.

However, I hear the bums will be contributing to Paul Martin's 'Cornerstone of Cowards'. So, that's a plus.

This is state sanctioned euthanasia.

These people are drinking more than the state is giving them, but the states liquor will put them in a condition where death is more likely.

Ace,

A "small amount" of wine.

15 glasses per day.

That's three bottles of wine per day.

Now, I have taken care of many many hundreds of alcoholics in my career.

To suggest that by giving an alcoholic with known alcohol-related medical complications, three bottles of wine per day, and further say that as evidence of their benefitting from this that said individual stays out of the emergency department is well...

Just.Plain.Fucking.Nuts.

Try reproducing this study in the US. Try presenting this to your hospital or institution's investigational review board (IRB).

Go on.

Try it.

...

Now to be fair, I have not read this study, so the above should not be taken as a criticism of the study per se. Rather, I am only saying that the notion to do such a thing is F*in crazy.

Just sayin' sayin'.

The story does have a happy ending for those who care about the environmnent. When they die, participants in the program are recycled, their bodies dumped in the wilderness to support those timber wolves who are too weak to hunt on their own.

PETA released a statement complaining that the bodies were starting to go bad before the wolves could get to them, and asking "Couldn't we give the wolves a few of the really sick ones once in a while?"

One program consultant, who asked not to be identified, saw some merit in the PETA proposal, noting that "the more people we 'graduate,' the more homeless alcoholics we can serve within the budget of our program."

In the US, if serious alcoholics are hospitalized, they're usually given some alcohol in their IV so that they don't have withdrawl symptoms (DTs and all that). Giving alcohol to alcoholics isn't always as stupid as it sounds. But this case seems like it probably is as stupid as it sounds. Oh, Canada.

Or maybe I'm just jealous.

Do they have something similar for sex addicts?

A wee nip before bed i guess that what its suppost to be i guess its what they would call their night cap wheres the MADD and SADD when you need them?

Three of seventeen. Wow. Were they trying to reduce the surplus population, or is that just a side effect of the program?

I'd be more supportive of this if it was heroin. There are few things less dangerous than a junkie who knows where his next fix is coming from.

Giving homeless alcoholics a regular supply of booze may improve their health and their behavior

When, in the history of man, has someone's behavior been improved by booze?

Duh. Canada gives heroin to addicts. I find that much more shocking than giving away Night Train to hobos.

I was discussing communism with the kids today. They asked "what could people afford if they were given such crappy wages by the government?"

Well, I thought for a moment. My relatives in the ex-eastern bloc could buy a pound of flour or a sack of potatoes for a week's pay. Not really worth it.

But vodka is plentyful, and cheap too!

Then it occured to me that the Russkies practically gave the shit away. If you think about it... it's a really great way to lower the expected lifespan so workers didn't retire, but just croaked.

Shit, I hope the DNC doesn't get any bright ideas on how to fix social security by including vodka with the free guvment cheez. What if they allow Val-u-rite to be bought with food stamps? It could shave a few years off the retirees. Added bonus, everyone would be too bombed to even notice if they missed a few monthly checks.

Money in the bank.

Anyone else read that headline the first time as meaning Rummie gives Canada the "shocker"?

Maybe it's just me.

sandy burger,

In my twenty years (or so) of seeing patients, I have never once seen a patient suffering from alcohol withdrawal receive IV alcohol, and I have taken care of plenty of patients with severe withdrawal.

Delerium tremens is the most severe form of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and thankfully, it is uncommon in this day and age. Sure it happens, and patients can die from it, but even still I have no personal knowledge of a patient getting IV alcohol.

I think it is mostly apocryphal.

I dunno', maybe your experience is different.

Could be.

Like I said, don't know.

I still think the study as described is incredible.

Don't expect it anytime soon at a hospital near you (as long as you are in the USA).

Whatta they got for compulsive bank robbers?

Dennis,

LOL.

How about compulsive masturbators?

I think it is mostly apocryphal.

Well, you might be right. I do remember the source I thought I remembered hearing this from, so hopefully I'll remember to double-check. And if I do, maybe I'll remember to post an update somewhere on this blog. Because I'm pretty sure I'm remembering something real. But I'll have to get back to you. Hopefully. If I remember.

Sandy:

I can assure you with 100% certainty that alcoholics under the age of 65 are usually given IV or oral Valium and alcoholics over 65 are given IV or oral Ativan.

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, so when its depressing effects are removed, the body goes into freak-out mode (sweats, high BP, hallucinations, seizures) and the way to quell the freak-out is with frequent dosing of the above-mentioned depressant meds for a few days until the body reacclimates. In the case of severe DTs with life-threatening seizures, extreme unrelenting agitation and/or life-threateningly high blood pressure, the person will sometimes be intubated and placed in a barbiturate coma or else they die.

Oh, the things you learn on the streets....

Well, what I'm remembering (or misremembering) being told would have been from the 1960's, so maybe things have changed since then, or else maybe I'm remembering alcohol when in fact it was valium, ativan, barbiturates, or whatever. Hopefully I'll remember to ask.

Ask who? Trust me, you're barkin' up the right tree when you ask me, which you didn't, but whatever.

The hospitals each may have slightly different protocols, but benzodiazepines (Valium and Ativan) are the drug-of-choice for alcohol withdrawal.

If you're getting your medical info from "the 60s", you'll need to do a lot of asking around for updates. ;-)

Sorry, I'm totally wasted on government-issue wine right now, so I'm not making much sense. I think I remember hearing about this from a doctor I know telling me stories about being a doctor during the sixties in a big city. But maybe I'm remembering wrong. I need to ask. If I remember.

And... oh, taxpayer? Another glass of wine, please. Thanks.

I have personally witnessed the use of IVs containing high levels of alcohol during surgery. When I asked the anesthesiologist, what it was about, I was told that the patient was an alcoholic, the surgery was long, and they didn't want him going into DTs. I have never seen it used outside of surgery.

Maybe the next breakthrough will be treating domestic abuse victims with heavy blows to the gut:

Battered Wife: uhhhh….huuhhhh….
Government Intervention Specialist: Please stop whimpering ma’m, now I’m supposed to say – Cuz you deserve it bitch!
Battered Wife: I’m spitting blood…on the…floor.
Government Intervention Specialist: And you’ll be cleaning that up to before dinner, too!

You know. Because it improves their overall behavior.

SIGMUND FREUD was a cocane adict