George Soros' Shocking 'Methadone Man' Comic Book Touts Virtues of Drug

Just when you thought the campaigns coming out of George Soros' Open Society Institute couldn't push the envelope any further, the Soros backed institute topped itself. OSI reportedly just released a new comic book titled Methadone Man and Buprenorphine Babe -- which encourages drug addicts to use Methadone and Buprenorphine to combat heroin and other opioid drug withdrawals and even to fight HIV.

The drugs Methadone and Buprenorphine are of course used to treat addictions to heroin and other opioids, however, the two drugs are also highly addictive and bring with them a laundry list of side effects. Many people who go on Methadone maintenance to treat their heroin addiction merely end up substituting one addiction for another.  This is why the use of Methadone and Buprenorphine are hotly contested by both anti-drug advocates and members of the medical community.

Soros' OSI — which runs an international "Harm Reduction and Drug Use" initiative as part of its health program — has just published the 24-page, glossy comic book to promote OSI's theory that Methadone and Buprenorphine maintenance programs drastically reduce the rate of HIV infection in countries with high-risk populations.

Methadone Man, the superhero, reportedly crusades against the "War on Drugs," while promoting the use Methadone as a tool to treat addiction and to stop the spread of  HIV. “Methadone stops HIV in its tracks!” declares Methadone Man. “Buprenorphine each day keeps injection away!” adds his attractive sidekick, "Bupe Babe."

The Fix adds:

The Open Society’s program is part of a larger effort to lower HIV infection rates among injection drug users. The recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna declared that the War on Drugs is helping to spread AIDS and called for a policy overhaul. The Vienna Declaration was signed by thousands of people worldwide, including the Nobel-laureate co-discoverer of the HIV virus and other prominent health-policy figures. President Obama’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief also reportedly endorses MAT and harm-reduction strategies. A raft of methadone treatment programs were recently initiated in countries including Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Morocco, Cambodia and Bangladesh. In countries that already have MAT programs, like Georgia, Kyrgyszstan and Indonesia, IV addicts face prohibitively long waiting lists. The Open Society’s five-point harm reduction approach to reducing HIV infection also includes increasing needle exchanges, legal reform to end the focus on criminalizing addicts, increasing the availability of antiretroviral treatment, and teaching addicts to take care of their sexual health.

Touting the virtues of two highly addictive drugs, without even mentioning that each carry their own inherent risk of addiction and side effects seems irresponsible. If the welfare of drug addicts and those infected with HIV are truly a concern to Soros and OSI, then why aren't other options, such as abstaining from intravenous drug use even explored by Methadone Man and "Bupe?"