Government subsidises Drug Addiction

According to figures obtained by ONE News, the number of drug addicts on the sickness benefit has trebled in the last decade. The Ministry of Social Development can't explain the spike and the Minister admits the addicts can't be forced to seek help for their addictions to get them off welfare.

Christine Davey, Sensible Sentencing's Spokesperson on Drug issues asks: “So what happened to the P Plan, Mr Key?”

The bit where it says:

“But I am also making it clear to other government agencies that they have a role in helping P addicts get treatment.
If someone turns up at a Work and Income office for example with obvious signs of P addiction then I want the Work and Income officer to know what he or she can do to help them.”
Ms Davey hears from plenty of parents who are desperate for help to get their kids off P, and we're still being told that we have to wait until they WANT to stop using it -
this despite the Hon Peter Dunne saying that “People with addictions can become driven by disordered thinking that diminishes their normal ability to consciously plan and guide rational behaviour” .
So how can they be expected to come to a rational decision to get help?

Drug Users CAN be made to receive the help they need – the National Committee for Addiction Treatment (NCAT) says so. Their research shows that coerced treatment can be as effective as voluntary treatment.
This can be achieved by working with the families who know these people best.

Until this happens, NZ parents are left to watch their kids destroying themselves, while the tax payer picks up the bill.

The long awaited and much appreciated P Plan has become another broken promise by another weak, gutless Government.

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