Hi Everyone,
If you think that the opioid crisis has not affected you than great. But it has affected a lot of people, including me. This is what I mean.
The first thing I would like to say I haven’t so much as smoked a joint in over 26 possibly 27 years and I took, “dropped” acid because it is, or at least was, non-addictive. I see people who I am pretty sure take drugs. It’s not like I hang out with people who do, I just see them around whether I know them or not.
It is pretty hard not to see, notice people on drugs. You can tell from their body language. It was the first thing I noticed of this guy as he walked toward me. It was about 3:30 pm on a Friday and I was waiting for the walk signal. This guy was about 6’4 and he was walking very aggressively, almost storming. Even though it was -14 out his coat was wide open. With his fist shoved in his pockets his elbows were out and he was pissed off. As he approached the corner he yelled, “And may the Gods spit at your feet,” and then he spat. Without missing a beat, I crossed the street on the red, with the hand up and flashing. Even if I didn’t know how to jay-walk, which I do, I felt safer taking my chances getting hit by a car then having this guy any closer to me. And that’s the thing. I don’t feel safe anymore. There are certain days of the month that I stay close to home.
Would you want someone on drugs near you? Living in your building? Probably not. They are scary, aggressive, and unpredictable.
I know that everyone has a story, a past. I get that. But if someone on drugs physically hurts me, steals from me or someone I love, I am not sure how sympathetic I would be towards them. It is hard to feel for people and their pain when they are scaring the daylights out of you in broad daylight! At a busy intersection. But they don’t care. They can’t.
When people are fixated on their next fix, or on every cloud multiplied by nine, people are not themselves and they will never be who they were. Their brain changes forever and the lives around them change too.
Instead of finding ways to solve, stop the opioid crisis, drug users are given kits to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV and Hepatitis C. Naloxone kits are available every where for free. SIS , or Safe Injection Sites, are popping up all over Toronto. So are needles. They are all over the city including school yards and playgrounds. Children should not be seeing them, or the people who use drugs, yet they are. I bet their parents question their safety. I know I would and do.
If you haven’t seen any of what I have written about consider yourself lucky. You live a sheltered life. Everyone has rights. I would like the right to feel safe. Maybe you do too. If nothing is done to stop people from using drugs, to get them the help they need no one is safe. Every one is affected.
Thank you for reading, A. Rebel’s Rant! ;D
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