Drug addiction is evil: Pope

#921 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 6 Jul 2014.

The so-called “war on drugs” may never be finally won, but there are small wins on supply and demand from time to time, and health professionals are better skilled than ever at addressing addiction.

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has opposed the legalisation of recreational drugs since such actions “fail to produce the desired effects.”

Speaking at a drug enforcement conference in Rome, he said drug addiction was “an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise.”

“To think that harm can be reduced by permitting drug addicts to use narcotics in no way resolves the problem,” he said.

“One has to say yes to life, yes to love, yes to others, yes to education, yes to greater job opportunities. If we say yes to all these things, there will be no room for illicit drugs, for alcohol abuse, for other forms of addiction.”

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.