Forwarded Message:
From: ivan brown <[log in to unmask]>

Dear all,

My letter last week on drug testing has been making the "grand
rounds" all over Ontario if I can judge by the wide variety of
responses I have received from all kinds of people I don't
know.  Many have suggested additions to the points, such as:
If we think it is ok to test welfare recipients, shouldn't we
also be testing students who receive OSAP, a program that
comes from our taxes?  (It is possible a few of them might
smoke a joint from time to time...)  Shouldn't we be testing
those women on materity leave who are now entitled to 50 weeks
of EI?  After all, the contributions of hard-working people
pay for that program and we don't want women who use drugs
nursing their babies at home while WE foot the bill!!  I must
say, I have enjoyed these resonses and got many a chuckle out
of them.

As part of those rounds the letter has made, someone sent it
to Toronto Star columnist Jim Coyle who wrote a column on the
topic of drug testing in today's (Nov. 30) Toronto Star.  If
you have access to the Star, check out this great column.  I
don't know which section, as I only have a fax copy.  You can
also read it online at www.thestar.com and search
for Jim Coyle's column.  Jim has improved on my letter and
contrasted my views with Mrs. Malcolm, a grandmother, who
said, "Stop feeling sorry for these low-lifes."

Well, I guess the world would be a dull place if everyone
agreed with my views, but it seems obvious that Mrs. Malcolm
has never had to do without in her life.  I would very much
like to see her live for a year on only the amount welfare
provides (including payment of rent), then get back to us with
her reactions.  I am reminded of the saying
updated-for-gender-equality reasons): Never judge a person
until you have walked a mile in his or her shoes.  (I guess I
should update the mile to kilometers as well, but I will
indulge in my self-proclaimed right to be a little
old-fashioned...)  So, have I walked a mile in Mrs.
Malcolm's shoes?  No, I don't think so.  After all, I have
never been a grandmother or considered any of my fellow human
beings to be low-lifes -- my thinking is that people are who
they are, and that diversity is what makes human life so
interesting -- so I guess I have to admit that I have never
walked a mile in Mrs. Malcolm's shoes.  Perhaps I should
try.  Perhaps then I might have some inkling what on earth
would make a grandmother think this way.  In any case, I hope
those shoes are orthopedics, because the road she is walking
down in a rocky one indeed!

--
Ivan Brown
Director, Disability Support Unit
Centre for Health Promotion
University of Toronto
100 College Street, Suite 511
Toronto, Canada M5G 1L5

Telephone: 416-978-1101
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Associate Professor
Department of Public Health Sciences
Graduate Department of Community Health
University of Toronto
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