Drop stigma of substance abuse, show compassion
I'm writing in response to the Oct. 31 article, "Heroin use by whites soars and gentler drug war urged." This kind of information needs to get out in the open, which helps the stigma that surrounds it.
First of all, I want to commend the police and sheriff's departments who are taking this new approach on this deadly epidemic. I am hoping this approach will be more effective than what has been done so far.
I understand how difficult of a problem this is, but I'm hoping we can agree that arrests aren't the answer. Giving a chance for treatment and recovery seems like it's an approach worth taking.
Far too many people are affected and dying from this disease of addiction. There are far deeper issues within the person.
My heart breaks regarding this subject. My family has lived this torture and all the generations before mine. It's so sad. This disease spares no one.
It doesn't matter how old you are, what profession you're in, what gender you are, and what ethnic background you're from, and it surely doesn't matter how much money you have or don't have. It takes you down! It steals everything you love and cherish.
It takes your entire soul and you'll do just about anything to feed the addiction.
How could anyone think someone would really want to be an addict? I like the idea of not using terms like "addict" and "junkie." I appreciate the wording the newspaper mentioned -- "substance use disorder" -- to convey a very chronic illness, which it is. It encompasses much more than drugs.
I'd like to relay this message from a very special recovery book stating, "Now that we know that the time has come when that tired old lie 'once an addict, always an addict' will no longer be tolerated by either society or the addict himself ... we do recover."
Thank you for bringing this information into light. We don't need to keep this quiet.
Kathy Adams
Bradenton
This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Drop stigma of substance abuse, show compassion ."