Why is it important to decriminalize minor drug offenses? Why do I support this #harmreduction discussion that @CityofEdmonton is going to have in only a couple days?
I'm no storyteller like @drdagly and I'm not an expert like @ehyshka.
But let me try to show you why. 🧵👇 1/x
I'm no storyteller like @drdagly and I'm not an expert like @ehyshka.
But let me try to show you why. 🧵👇 1/x
TW: opioid poisoning deaths, residential schools, Sixties Scoop, self harm
Aka: this is heavy. Welcome to my job. This is addiction med front lines. Come see what I see.
2/x
Aka: this is heavy. Welcome to my job. This is addiction med front lines. Come see what I see.
2/x
It's 2:30pm. I haven't eaten since 8am. I'm tired but we are pushing hard to admit as many as we can. We know the ERs are overloaded w/#COVID. If we can take a few of the patients off their list, maybe it will help just a bit.
He's my last patient to admit. He's tired too
3/x
He's my last patient to admit. He's tired too
3/x
He's a big guy. Wild hair. His chart says he's younger than he looks. The dinky mask we gave him doesn't fit his strong nose but he diligently pulls it up regularly to be polite. He picks at dead skin peeling off the healing frostbite wounds on his fingers. 4/x
We have been talking for 30min. About his alcohol, opioid & crack use. How to manage withdrawal. Treatment options, facilities to go to. The shelters. Those meds he keeps forgetting to pick up.
The conversation lulls. I look down through fogged goggles to check the chart. 5/x
The conversation lulls. I look down through fogged goggles to check the chart. 5/x
"I saved the money yknow"
I don't look up right away. Where is that lab req...
"My Sixties Scoop money. Got it in September. I put most of it away"
I stop shuffling the papers & look up at him. Put the pen down. Wait. He's not making eye contact, he looking at his fingers. 6/x
I don't look up right away. Where is that lab req...
"My Sixties Scoop money. Got it in September. I put most of it away"
I stop shuffling the papers & look up at him. Put the pen down. Wait. He's not making eye contact, he looking at his fingers. 6/x
"I'm going to use it for a place yknow. Once I can get one. I put the money in the bank & made it hard to get out."
"Thats a good idea"
"Ya. My mom would be proud"
He pauses. I see a tear soak the mask.
"Well not the drugs. That I saved the money. Yknow."
I nod, wait. 7/x
"Thats a good idea"
"Ya. My mom would be proud"
He pauses. I see a tear soak the mask.
"Well not the drugs. That I saved the money. Yknow."
I nod, wait. 7/x
"She was a good mom. I wish I had seen her more as a kid. She went to residential school yknow?" pause. "She was still a good mum."
More tears. That mask sucks them up. I get some tissue & put it within reach. He doesn't take it. But he finally makes eye contact with me.
8/x
More tears. That mask sucks them up. I get some tissue & put it within reach. He doesn't take it. But he finally makes eye contact with me.
8/x
"I should have spent more time w/my brother too. But I was in jail. For crack."
Pause. I say, "I'm sure they would be proud you're here. It takes a lot of courage to come here."
"Ya. I'm lucky too. Lotta people died this year. Good people." He looks down at a track mark
9/x
Pause. I say, "I'm sure they would be proud you're here. It takes a lot of courage to come here."
"Ya. I'm lucky too. Lotta people died this year. Good people." He looks down at a track mark
9/x
"Did you lose someone?"
"Who hasn't?"
Good point. I wait.
"Ya. But anyway. I'm going to use that money for the right stuff. The stuff my mom would tell me to get. Not for drugs. I still know some recipes, so I'll start with a big pot. Kitchen stuff. "
We both smile
10/x
"Who hasn't?"
Good point. I wait.
"Ya. But anyway. I'm going to use that money for the right stuff. The stuff my mom would tell me to get. Not for drugs. I still know some recipes, so I'll start with a big pot. Kitchen stuff. "
We both smile
10/x
He asks me again about Poundmakers Lodge. We chat more about treatment options. He rubs his eyes with his sleeve and I notice the long scar on the left wrist. It's old but it explains another facet of his story I'm missing that I want to know.
But he gets up to go.
11/x
But he gets up to go.
11/x
Me: "Hey X. Just wanted to say. I'm glad you're here. Thank you for telling me about your mom."
He smiles "She was as short as you. Don't know how she made a guy like me"
We both laugh. He takes a shaky step out of my room & that huge body disappears down the hall.
12/x
He smiles "She was as short as you. Don't know how she made a guy like me"
We both laugh. He takes a shaky step out of my room & that huge body disappears down the hall.
12/x
These are the people we are trying to save. With safe injection sites. Safe drug supplies. Decriminalization of drugs. These "controversial" policies aren't left wing radical ideas.
They're evidence based treatments.
To save children. Like this man
13/x
They're evidence based treatments.
To save children. Like this man
13/x
Because he's still a child in there. He's still a little boy. Standing on a stool over a big pot. Making dinner w/his mom. Right before he was stolen in the Sixties Scoop. Then traumatized in foster care. Then hooked on drugs. Then hardened in jail. Then homeless in #yeg
14/x
14/x
And then sitting in front of me. Trying to find a way out from the cycle of addiction, streets, poverty and violence. He's looking at me, asking me to show him an exit that doesn't involve death
He's just a little boy inside, still wanting to make his mom proud.
15/x
He's just a little boy inside, still wanting to make his mom proud.
15/x
We need to do better. We can do better.
So please, remember the human behind the news stories. This isn't about political ideology. It's about saving someone's life.
#harmreductionsaveslives #decriminalizepoverty #safesupply #safeinjectionsites #abhealth
16/fin
So please, remember the human behind the news stories. This isn't about political ideology. It's about saving someone's life.
#harmreductionsaveslives #decriminalizepoverty #safesupply #safeinjectionsites #abhealth
16/fin
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