I'm usually a big fan of the CBC. They provide accurate, unbiased and generally dispassionate news coverage that makes my scientific mind and liberal heart (note the small "L") very happy. Today, though, I am disappointed.
The CBC ran an article today titled "Study will give free heroin to some B.C. addicts." So far, so good. What irked me, though, was this:
Up to 470 Vancouver heroin addicts will take part in a North American first – a study that will give free heroin to junkies.
Why are drug addicts "junkies?" If drug dependency is, as all the evidence seems to suggest, a biological condition requiring clinical treatment, then why is it OK, in our PC society, to call someone a "junkie?" Imagine what would happen if the CBC ran a line like "giving retards a place in society" or "providing a home for senile citizens" or even "finally giving a real option to lardasses everywhere?" There would be outrage! Each of these examples is demeaning to people who have biological differences from the accepted norm.
Why should drug dependency be different?
good point. I feel the same way about 'white trash'. Why is it ok if you're poor and you're white - you're trash?
Posted by: Michael | February 07, 2005 at 03:21 PM