A hostile climate for people who use drugs hurts everyone
“For over a hundred years, people who use drugs have been driven into the shadows, into prisons, driven out of jobs, have been driven out of families, driven out of communities,” said Donald MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. “It’s a big hole we’ve dug for ourselves.”
“There hasn’t been a human rights component discussion around people who use drugs, whereas with disability or developmental disabilities, there has been a much greater understanding.” But not everyone who uses drugs is addicted. Dr. Hakique Virani, a public health and addictions specialist in Edmonton, Alberta said that we can’t just talk about reducing stigma around drug use due to the connection addiction can have to trauma or other mental health conditions … (and) “sometimes it’s just that some people do drugs,” he told VICE. “There’s this idea that if you have difficulty identifying with somebody, you don’t advocate for them—that’s really, really sad.”
Original Article (Vice):
A Hostile Climate for People Who Use Drugs Hurts Everyone
Artwork Fair Use: Tichnor Brothers, Publisher
