Thread by @momsstoptheharm

Thread on the role of families in #DrugPolicy :
A broad coalition takes differing perspectives, lead by PWUD and includes families/friends, health professionals, researchers and other allies.
We don't speak for PWUD, we aim to speak with them, and for our families.
1/14

Families come in different forms. For us, families mean ABC: Acquired, blood and chosen.
It is false to always distinguish between families and PWUD, as many of our members who have lost loved ones and work to keep loved ones alive also have lived and living experience.
2/14

Just like it is stigmatizing to generalize people who use drugs, one can not generalize how families respond to the substance use of a loved one.
We also acknowledge that many experience trauma in their families that this trauma is a factor in substance use.
3/14

The role of families and how they respond to substance use was explored by @crackdownpod in Episode 4 "Blame" where @garthmullins spoke with @RebeccaSaah, #MSTH cofounder @MsthPetra and a family with a much different view.
4/14

The role of family advocacy and the effect of substance use on families was examined in a research project with @RebeccaSaah @ehyshka @ekjenkins @HMorrisedmonton @MsthPetra and @donnadmay, and a second project with @ubcokanagan researcher J. Pierce. 5/14
momsstoptheharm.com/research-proje…

On a more personal level lived experience comes in different forms. We never claim to fully understand the experience of people who use drugs, but we do understand the experience of families.
Anyone who has sat with a loved one and helped them detox multiple times...,
6/14

...got them to appointments and drove them to the pharmacy almost daily, collected needles all over the house, paid overdrawn accounts, including dealers, held a crying desperate loved one, kissed their dead child goodbye...
7/14

, while fighting to keep another one [or other people's loved ones] alive, getting them into counselling and back on OAT numerous times, is entitled to a voice!
8/14

On the issue of race, class and gender.
Many in our group are white and privileged and use this privilege to speak out.
Most who speak out are women and we can't overlook the fact not too long ago women did not have much of a voice at all.

On the issue of race and class, we should ask what conditions contribute to BIPOC and Indigenous people not speaking out in greater numbers.
Substance use is still highly stigmatized and that same stigma is faced by families.
10/14

We have to create space for all people who use and families to speak out and participate in the drug policy reform dialogue without stigma, shame and repercussions.
11/14

We see the #WarOnDrugs as a product of racism, colonialism and unjust society.
This is what we need to fight, together.
12/14

#DrugPolicyReform needs broad collations that follow the voice of PWUD. It includes orgs like @CAPUDofficial representing PWUD, healthcare orgs, like @HRNA_AIIRM, businesses like @_EachAndEvery, umbrella orgs like @CANdrugpolicy & many scientists, practitioners and allies.
13/14

Families are part of this movement and we welcome dialogue.
We bring our voice, speak from our experience and hope to contribute to a more just society.
We do so in memory of those we lost and those we fight to keep alive.
14/14

@threadreaderapp unroll, please.