Only in Canada

I am back. Simple story I came across from right here in Toronto and Canada. I am so proud. A study, or is that experiment, was done in Ottawa, giving homeless alcoholics (they have it all, baby!) a reglular supply of booze and found that it MAY improve their health and behavior.

These lucky homeless alcoholics were given a drink an hour, up to 15 drinks, each day of wine or sherry. They did find that there were fewer emergency room visits and the participants seemed better. Of course, avoiding withdrawal is a pretty good way of maintaining a less anti-social behavior. Duh!!!!

It is all very interesting but what do you do with those results. What are the practical implications? Oh by the way, the per capita cost of this programme is $771 (Canadian Pesos, though much better since we got shit in the ground in this country, oil, gas, gold and nickel) per month. However, (you knew there was going to be a big old BUT in there somewhere) the per capita costs of doing nothing is $96 for monthly emergencey services, $150 in hospital care and $201 in police services. By my calculations, this experiment costs $424 per month extra.

I am waiting to see how somebody tries to justify the added expense, considering the money would come out of taxpayer earned funds. In fact, I am hard pressed to see the merit in this study, unless you are a homeless alcoholic, in which case it all makes perfect sense.

It would a homeless alcoholic paradise! Ciao!