Drug stigma is interesting.
Nobody deserves addiction for sure for sure, it's a nightmare and killed one of my favourite people. But like, I do drugs. I do NSAIDs and Ondansetron and caffeine to alleviate migraine effects. I do antihistamines to address allergies and avoid sinus infections. Too many addicts I've known were self medicating for living with neurodivergence, usually ADHD.
I live in the USA and I think the way we demonize illegal drug use and the war on drugs is a problem created by a desire to control and imprison people, disproportionately Black and Native American and Latino people. We have way too many people in prison, it's really alarming. See also "Prison Song" by System of a Down.
The worst addiction symptoms are far worse when supply is inconsistent - whether that's quality or schedule. An addict who has a regular, clean supply is a way better situation than an addict cornered into poverty and crime to try to get that next fix.
So it seems ridiculous to me that we don't make more of these drugs legal and regulate their potency and ingredients. It would reduce fentanyl-laced and other dirty drugs that take an addiction nightmare and make it a million times worse.
It's always been the compassionate option.
Coffee, tobacco, and alcohol all create addiction and are legal for adults. It's kind of funny to me that we don't have an age restriction on coffee but whatever.
The point though is, we already have legal, regulated addictive substances with educational campaigns about the harms they cause and because these are legal addictions and because there are also legal avenues for disrupting those addictions like rehab or nicotine patches etc. there's also less stigma. Obviously if you've cared about an alcoholic, you know how frustrating and awful the impacts are, but many alcoholics are able to live semi functional lives because the alcohol is consistent and accessible.
Spoken with great love for someone I lost. Drug legalization is genuinely an ND issue in so many ways. Not only because many of us are prescription dependent to manage various body challenges that come with being ND, but also self-medication is a big component of ADHD who are essentially prescribed speed when they seek ways to engage in the work-to-live culture. We've gotta look out for our ADHD sibs as best we can.
