It is such a relief to see the discussion surrounding addiction shifting focus. Regardless of what you think about addicts and addiction it should be apparent to all that the current approach is not working. Prison doesn't help. In fact in many prisons it's easier to find the stuff than it is on the street. Prison does not help to rehabilitate a junky. Physical punishment DOES NOT and NEVER WILL solve what amounts to a medical problem. That is the problem with heroin and opiate addiction. After awhile it stops being a mental addiction, it stops being something you enjoy. It quickly shifts to being something you NEED, and instead of using to get high you are using to stay "well". Just to feel some semblance of normality, to not get sick. I don't think people realize that physical addiction is a very real thing and that withdrawal can literally kill you. I hope that they never have to see it in person, in someone that they love..but I do hope that they can open their hearts, and their eyes and realize it's not all black-and-white. I knew a guy who got into a lot of trouble after he called 911 when a guy he was using with OD'd. In saving that boy's life he almost ruined his own. I had a friend who died three years ago from complications that started with a blood infection from using dirty needles. Had he ha access to one of the needle-exchange programs he might still be alive today. This spring another friend of mine overdosed, had his partner had Narcan or Naloxone he may be alive today. Both of these guys were good people, among the best people I've ever met. They may have been drug addicts but their lives mattered. Jimmy was a husband, an uncle, a brother, a son. He was adored by everyone who ever met him, and would give you anything he could. Tugboat was beloved as well, and was a very talented, intelligent musician. Their lives MATTER. No one can help them now.
