Kudos to the government for closing safe injection sites

 

The Ontario Government has announced that safe injection sites within 200 meters of schools and childcare centres are no longer allowed. This will result in 10 safe injection sites being closed in Toronto. As with all issues like this, there is much controversy.

As a recovered alcoholic/addict and social worker who works with people active in addiction I applaud the move. These sites are glorified enabling sites. Addiction is a disease and a health issue and the addict cannot control his/her consumption. However, you cannot treat this disease like any other disease. Addiction/alcoholism is the only disease that tells one they do not have it.

By making it easier to use and lessoning the consequences of one’s addiction we only make it easier for someone to continue using. The only thing that causes change is pain (physical/emotional/spiritual). If we take away the pain then there’s little chance of someone having that moment of clarity where they decide to ask for help.

I heard that 40% of people who go to these sites have been referred to treatment. That is great but that means 60% do not. Taxpayer money would be better spent on paying for treatment and lessoning the wait times as that moment of clarity does not last long. It must be acted upon ASAP. One of my friends was going to work at a Toronto safe injection site and was told, in no uncertain terms, that he was not allowed to talk about recovery to people using the site. That sealed the deal for me on any pro-stance towards these sites.

The government has also banned any attempt at providing safe supply. Thanks God for that!!! It has been proven, in both Vancouver and London, Ontario, that this does not help the addict in the least. All they do is sell the safe supply and by stronger opiates. In Vancouver, it’s actually labelled safe supply which makes some of the people it’s sold to think it is totally safe to take. A 14-year-old died from this alleged safe supply in 2022 when she bought it off someone who the government gave it to. The Vancouver family has launched a lawsuit and rightfully so.

If we want to help people, we need five things:

A)   Quicker and free access to addiction treatment.

B)   Treatment centres need to be regulated. Currently they are not and many take advantage of that.

C)   The Ontario Mental Health Act needs to be changed so we can put people with severe mental health problems into institutions to get help they don’t realize they need.

D)   The proper institutions need to be built.

We need much more transitional housing. Many addicts are not ready for independent living

A    If someone is not ready to be clean and sober then nothing we can do will change his or her mind. However, making it easier to use sure won’t get them to the place they need to be to make that change.

Davka Dave (AKA: Dave the Dude)

 

Forced Treatment

 

There’s been some talk in the news and talk radio today about the possibility of forcing active alcoholics/addicts into treatment. A reporter asked future Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Poilievre if he would do that. Wisely, Poilievre said he didn’t think it would work but he would consider it if evidence showed it could work.

Well, as a recovered alcoholic/addict and social worker/addictions counsellor I can tell you that there’s no way it would. My fellow recovered alcoholics/addicts would agree that if one does not have a desire to stop then no matter what you do they won’t get clean/sober.

It took me five years to stop drinking/drugging. When I first started trying to get clean/sober, I did not have the desire to stop drinking. I could not envision a life without it. Despite legal ramifications, health consequences and friend/family consequences I could not come around to having a desire. It wasn’t until I had an emotional/spiritual rock bottom that desire arrived.

I work with many addicts/alcoholics who do not have the desire to stop feeding their addiction. Despite being homeless, broke and facing numerous consequences they do not want to stop. Forcing them into a treatment centre would do nothing but negatively influence those there who do have a desire to quit.

I’ve seen families send their children to treatment centres against their wishes. The children never make it. They either get kicked out for breaking rules (usually using) or negatively affect someone who may have had a chance.

Every active alcoholic/addict effects up to seven people in their lives. If you include the general public being effected by crime, costs of dealing with overdoses, ER visits, etc. then it effects society as a whole. Despite this, forcing someone into a treatment centre just won’t work. Unless you want to keep the person locked up for the rest of their life, they will go back to self-medicating.

The Ontario Mental Health Act prevents people with severe mental health issues from being held against their will unless they are a harm to themselves or others. This is a big problem because people don’t stabilize on medication. An addict/alcoholic with severe mental illness cannot get sober unless that part is taken care of first. So, while I disagree with forcing people into treatment I feel the Ontario Mental Health Act needs to be changed to put people back into institutions to get stable. Once stable mentally the desire for sobriety may come easier. We still have an issue with housing, poverty, etc. Until a person is also stable in that area then the addiction cycle will not stop.

Davka Dave (AKA: Dave the Dude)

We are here to Pass It On

 

The other day during a debate over the Plain Language Big Book someone said that we shouldn’t criticize it as it’s not for us to decide how someone should get sober. I was astonished. The whole purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show those who come after us how to get sober through Service, Unity Recovery. They are the three pillars of Alcoholics Anonymous.

                        Service – Help Others

                        Unity – The Fellowship

                        Recovery – Working the 12 Steps

If you want to tell people in the Fellowship not to criticize someone who got sober outside of Alcoholics Anonymous that is fair. However, to suggest we should tell people who come to AA for help “just to figure it out and whatever they feel will work is good” is just plain wrong and a possible death sentence.

I walked through the doors of AA a beaten man. I was, “restless, irritable, discontent”. If it wasn’t for the fellow alcoholics I met who told me about the 12 Steps, my sponsor who guided me through them, my home group that started me on service work and the Fellowship that made feel I was no longer alone I would not be sober today.

I’m not sure what the Plain Language Book will say but from what I hear it is taking away the arch that keeps Alcoholics Anonymous alive. I’ve heard that it will NOT talk about the allergy. It will NOT suggest that one needs a spiritual experience in order to lose the obsession over alcohol. Apparently, it’s being turned into a book of psychology.

The Big Book tells us that, “no human power could relieve us of our alcoholism”. That includes doctors, psychologist, psychiatrists, etc. That was true for me and for the dozens of fellow alcoholics I have heard share in my almost two decades of sobriety.

The Big Book is how I got sober and will remain the textbook I pass on to those who ask me for help.

Davka Dave (AKA: Dave the Dude)

The Fear is Real

 

I usually just write on recovery stuff but there is a lot of stuff going on in the world today that is effecting me. It is bringing out some fears that I have not experienced before. Since fear is a big part of recovery, I guess this is recovery related after all.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock you have to be aware of the attack on Israel on October 7 by the terrorist group Hamas. There were 1,139 people (mostly civilians) killed, 240 people were taken as hostages. Many of the hostages have been beaten, raped and murdered. The attack was followed by Israel defending itself. If this had happened to any other country there would be little criticism. But since it’s Israel it is being heavily criticized by the woke left who support Hamas. I believe a big part of the left’s support of these terrorists is due to fact that the philosophy of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) has gone way beyond its original intent. It was originally supposed to make all people equal but like all good ideas it has been taken over by idiocy. Those who follow IDE now believe that anyone who has overcome challenges and become successful are now the enemies. Combine that with racist Critical Race Theory beliefs and chaos has fallen upon the West. Those of the Jewish race have been taking the brunt of this neo-racism that the woke left hold dear. Just look at university campuses across North America. Misguided woke leftists students have created encampments on campuses and are blocking Jewish students from attending classes. There are pro-terrorist marches blocking traffic and hospitals as well as causing chaos on a weekly basis across the West. I live in Canada and see people waiving pro-Hamas flags daily on bridges over Highway 401.

All of this has created a fear and caution in me that I have never experienced in my 54 years on this planet. I’ve begun wearing a Mogen David (Star of David) to show my support for Israel. However, in the back of my mind I’m always wary of someone saying something to me. I recently posted a funny video on Tiktok where I happened to be wearing a shirt with the Israel flag on it. The video had nothing to do with the current situation. Yet I received some very antiemetic comments including someone telling me I should dress like the Nazis made the Jews dress in the 30s.

The other day I called CAA for a tow as my car wouldn’t start. I happened to be wearing my Israel shirt and, of course, my Mogen David. The driver who came to tow my car was a really nice guy. However, in the back of my mind I kept worrying that he may have some negative views towards Jews. Luckily, this was not the case but I have never had these worries before.

This is nothing compared to what my grandparents went through when they lived in Europe and then came to Canada. I still remember my Bube (Grandmother) crying on a regular basis because all her relatives were murdered in the Nazi concentration camps. Before I was born there was a local golf course with a sign that said “No Dogs or Jews Allowed”.

I remind myself that most people are good and just want to live their lives peacefully

I pray that conflict in the Middle East is over soon and that the current rise in anti-Semitism reverses itself.

Dave the Dude