Canada must get over division on addiction crisis

We are in a modern-day epidemic and the problem is that the public is split as to how to deal with it. Modern-day opioids are killing our people in record numbers and an all-out effort must be made to address it before it becomes unmanageable.

The approaches extend from harm reduction to complete abstinence, but neither is an answer in the long run.

In the 1980s, I was attending the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. It was close to Veterans Day and one of the speakers reminded the audience to remember the veterans. He went on to state that half of the homeless people on the streets were Vietnam vets.

I remembered a friend from Ontario who was very bright but was a heavy drinker. He had been a medic in Vietnam, and he witnessed things no person should see. He lived out his life with untreated post-traumatic stress disorder.

When I looked around the streets of San Francisco I was amazed at the number of middle-aged men who were drug addicted or homeless.

This was at a time when the Americans were conducting a war on drugs and the popular bumper sticker of the time was “Just Say No.” They managed to fill the jails, but the devastation of drug addiction continues.

The real gateway drug is trauma. People dealing with trauma in their past often self-medicate to make the pain go away. It just makes things worse.

The public is split as to whether addiction is a crime or a health issue. Some want to jail the addicts and force them into treatment.

This only creates resentment and those who work with addicts know the decision to address the addiction comes from the person who is addicted.

There are no simple solutions, even though politicians like to blame each other and demand more jail time and policing. The journey from an addiction to a functioning member of society is a long one and requires a sympathetic and supportive public.

The first step is to keep the addict alive with safe consumption sites and street patrols. Many people frown on this approach, but the fact is you can't rehabilitate a dead person.

Second, those addicted must know they are not alone and there are people to help them. This is an important role that is played by a safe consumption site where counsellors can reach out and give a helping hand.

It may take months and even years for the addict to seek help. When addicts become clean, they can't be placed back in their old environment. Success means a complete lifestyle change including a new address, new friends and self-sufficiency through employment.

It's not simple and people will relapse, but it's not a failure because they have seen freedom and relapse can't be a failure unless you let it be. To make criminals out of addicted individuals is a terrible mistake; it isolates and labels them, they live outside the law and are harder to reach for rehabilitation.

On the other hand, those who prey on addicted individuals and profit from their misery should be charged and receive severe sentences. The pushers and those high up the chain must be sought out and made to pay for their crimes.

Gangs and other forms of organized crime should be targeted, and the top individuals sought out. Low-level punks are easy pickings and the low-hanging fruit. They are easy for gangs to replace. Care should be taken to go after the head organizers who seldom work in the open.

People addicted to drugs and alcohol have a mental health issue and are not criminals. There is not enough jail space to house all those who are addicted.

The naive assumption that all people have to do is just say no oversimplifies the problem. Addiction has its roots deep in a person's past and may even come from trauma carried forward several generations in the past.

Addiction is one of the most serious issues facing Canadians and especially Indigenous people. We need to work together and treat the victims for what they are — victims and not criminals.