Time to update your First Aid kit

Every time I read an article that tells the story of another casualty of this drug epidemic, my heart breaks. I want to believe I’ve ingrained into my kids' brains to never do drugs. I know they know better. I also know kids are impulsive and making poor decisions is part and parcel of growing up. Of course, it's not just kids who make bad decisions. The majority of opioid-related deaths are in the 20-49 age group.

If you haven’t picked up a Naloxone kit from your pharmacy, NOW is the time to do so.

The Naloxone kit is free and takes 5 minutes to learn how to use. Every household, business, building that people enter should have one on hand.

“it’s worth remembering that anyone using drugs today could be sober tomorrow if given enough time and opportunity.”

Every time I read an article that tells the story of another casualty of this drug epidemic, my heart breaks. I want to believe I’ve ingrained into my kids' brains to never do drugs. I know they know better. I also know kids are impulsive and making poor decisions is part and parcel of growing up. Of course, it's not just kids who make bad decisions. The majority of opioid-related deaths are in the 20-49 age group.

I used to smoke and I still drink alcohol. Both of these are legal and both are addictive (Mind you I was underage when I started both.) No one experiments and believes that they will get addicted even though we were taught the likelihood. We experiment with the belief that addiction happens to other people, we are the exception to the rule.

Smoking was something I tried at age 14, my intention of course was, this is going to be an occasional thing, something I will do when I feel like it. Fast forward to 11 years later when I finally quit and it took many, many attempts. I knew better and I still tried it. My parents were disappointed and very concerned and yet I continued to smoke. I would even go as far as to say that I loved smoking. By saying I loved it, I convinced myself that smoking was my choice. Quitting was so hard and to this day I will not allow myself to even try a cigarette. I know it has a power that I never want to go up against again. If I am truly honest it was overcoming my addiction to cigarettes that tamed my adventurous self not to experiment with other addictive substances when presented. I learned that I wasn't infallible. How lucky am I that I learned this through cigarettes? I understand that some may not agree that trying cigarettes should be compared to trying an opioid. However, addiction is addiction, no one thinks it will happen to them.

As for the moral high ground, I implore you to educate yourself on addiction. Dr. Gabor Maté is a physician who practiced for over a decade in Vancouver's Downtown East Side "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" is a great read. If you are not big on reading then check out his TED talk "The Power of Addiction and The Addiction of Power". Another TED talk that is super insightful is "Everything you know about addiction is wrong" by Johann Hari.

This life isn't an equal playing field, we weren't all raised with coping skills. Trauma demands to be dealt with and when it does, we either have the coping skills that will see us through or we numb ourselves. We need to not look at having a Naloxone kit as being permissive to drug use but as compassion for the user.

No one should die over a bad decision, even if they make the same bad decision 1000 times over.

There is a quote I love and try to live by:

"Don't judge someone's story based on the chapter you walked in on"

Decriminalization, treating addiction as a chronic illness, and eliminating the stigma should be the end goal of course. In the meantime, we can all do our part so those that are suffering can still be here when we have better care in place.

Please get your Naloxone kit today.