Toledo Ohio – For the second time in one week people recovering from heroin addiction joined by the codependent in their community have taken their message to the streets. Their message was clear…Fuck Heroin! Standing in the cold rain their crowd quickly grew from 7 people to an estimated 60 people.
With what seems to be a never ending stigma on the growing number of heroin addicts across the nation, reactions from the community was mixed. People honked and cheered, stopped and talked, shook hands and congratulated them for their achievements and direct actions, but others cursed and threw eggs. They stated that they have only just begun and that recovery is possible.
Team recovery held heroin awareness signs in Toledo Ohio to support not just our city and state, but our country during this deadly epidemic. The stigma on “junkies” and heroin use is so hush hush and we need to stop hiding it and accept the fact that it’s out of the inner cities and into the suburbs and high schools now. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it happens to nurses, lawyers, doctors, athletes, etc., but all we want to portray is that recovery is possible. We can’t cure you, but we can show you what helped us and what might help you.
Because it IS possible to quit heroin and live a meaningful life without sticking a needle in your arm and stealing from society and your families. We need to erase that stigma. We also need more treatment and detox facilities. If people are going to use, we need harm reduction tactics. We need to educate our society about this (especially youth) and be proactive and preventative, rather than being reactive to a huge problem with a tiny amount of resources and funding. We need to have talks with our children. We need to ask for help. People are dying every single day from this at an all time rate. In the US, every 13 seconds someone dies from opiate related death. That’s unacceptable to us and we will do anything to change that statistic. We will do anything to spread a message of hope. ~Team Recovery, Toledo Ohio
A recovery epidemic is on the horizon ~Team Recovery
Awareness of this growing epidemic is not only happening at a community level, but also at a national level. Recent rallies have also been held at the Nations Capital in Washington DC. Stop The Stigma, Break The Silence national gathering was attended by an estimated 8000 to 10,000 people on October 4th at The National Mall in DC. That rally denounced the war on drugs and mass incarceration and also served as a platform to raise awareness of the 1000’s who have lost their life due to this epidemic. This fight is far from over, communities will need to come together, families will need to unite, and the stigma associated with addiction must end.
Fuck Heroin indeed but let’s not lose sight of the underlying reasons why we become addicted to drugs in the first place. If you eliminated all of the psychoactive substances on the planet right now by tomorrow folks would be holding their breath and spinning in circles until they fall down dizzy and light headed. Addicts fuel the addiction but what fuels the addicts? Spiritual sickness. Emotional and mental health. Abuse and neglect. Necessity. Pain. Disconnect. Etc. let’s change the conversation. Let’s start treating what is really going on. Demand change in the treatment procedure and from the justice system. ~Team Recovery, Toledo Ohio