Not all addicts will accept methadone as a substitute (just as for some others whose drug of choice is morphine, neither methadone nor heroin will do). In such cases we can leave the addict to fend for herself in the underworld jungle, or we can offer heroin or morphine unadulterated by who-knows-what impurities, to be self-injected in a clean environment with uncontaminated needles. We are neither condoning nor encouraging addiction: the addiction exists and will continue to savage that person’s life no matter what we believe. Our only choice is between compassion and indifference. By
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