On the surface it would seem that giving free needles to drug addicts is like giving in to the fight against drug abuse. The public frequently gets emotional about the whole issue of drugs and condoms for addicts and misses the point. Few issues to consider here:

Addicts are members of our society as well. They are brothers, sisters, sons, daughters or parents of someone in the community. Their life is still worth something to someone else. Yes, often crime and violence are mixed up in the pursuit of money for the drugs. But these people are still worth saving.

Drug addiction is a complex medical, social and personal problem all mixed in one. Many of these people suffer from mental health problems eg, depression and schizophrenia. Many of these people have difficulty managing simple problems that you and I solve easily.

This may have arisen because of deficiency in their upbringing. Many do not have the social support structures that many of us take for granted - friends and family. By the time they have become addicts, they would have alienated many in their family as well as their friends.

Many an addict would be on the run from the law as well for obvious reasons. Society despises them and they know it. They don't feel good about themselves and they know it.

Supplying them with clean needles or condoms is what is commonly accepted as harm minimisation. Someday (or one day) these people will kick the habit and re-join our society. We don't want them riddled with diseases that are incurable (HIV, Hepatitis B or C etc) when they get their life back together.

Before we can save these people, we must stop them from further harming their body. Then we need to solve each one of their social, financial, legal and chemical problems.

Only by understanding these people and having empathy for our fellow human beings can we elevate ourselves to become part of a mature society. Depriving them these basic needs because they are deemed outcasts is like burying our heads in the sand.

Further, making a judgment about these people without understanding their predicament or knowing how they ended up where they are is sad. We all have a past that we didn't always have full control of.

Don't get me wrong, I don't condone drug abuse. But I don't have the wisdom to judge these people. Only God can judge.