Filed under: Drug Politics
Good campaign for drug law sanity has been launched in the U.K. by RELEASE, an organization that specializes in drug laws and defending the rights of drug users. This campaign, including the posting of adverts on billboards and city buses, is directed at shifting the debate about drugs away from punishment toward decriminalization. The quality of media coverage this campaign is receiving demonstrates that society is increasingly open to thoughtful rethinking of current prohibitionist drug policy.
^^^ Advert on a London city bus ^^^
Efforts are ongoing in virtually all developed and semi-developed countries to revamp drug laws. Portugal is leading the way with its decriminalization of personal possession for all drugs in 2001 (see recent report at CATO Institute by Glenn Greenwald).
Okie dokie, now do what ya gotta do, and don’t forget to “be nice!”
Filed under: Drug Politics
It is still less than 100 years that the illegalization of drugs has been the way things are. Prior to 1914 (or thereabouts) criminal sanctions were not applied to people who used, or sold, the substances we’ve come to call “street drugs”. What is incredible about the relative recentness of the criminalized prohibition of drugs is how quickly it came to reside in the mind of the public as if it were an absolute eternal fact of life for a proper and good society. People don’t see prohibition of drugs as some sort of arbitrary (and relatively new) societal feature, they generally regard drug prohibition with a strong internalized approval and commitment to things the way things are and should be; as if drug prohibition is an essential component of a good society. Why therefore question something that is so obviously correct?
Of course, most good citizens have given little consideration to drug prohibition in any real evaluative sense. But of course, that’s just fine because why should one bother to evaluatively consider something which is so clearly the right thing for society to be committed to. Of course drugs should be illegal! And that’s that! Indeed it is truly amazing (and just a tad bit frightening) that good citizens feel such a strong conviction in something they really haven’t thought much about at all. But that’s where things are at. Most good citizens think drugs should obviously remain illegal because they’re bad and society would go to hell in a drug-crazed handbasket if drugs don’t remain illegal.
So how to dissuade the good citizens from their commitment to drug prohibition?
No one wants to see individuals, let alone society itself, messed up on drugs. But more, and more, that’s what we’re seeing. And therefore, some folks might get to questioning whether the drug prohibition efforts are actually worthwhile – after all, drug-related problems seem to be increasing in a context of drug prohibition. One the other hand, other folks might conclude that society simply isn’t being vigilant enough in its war on drugs, and figure we need another multi-billion dollar surge in the war effort in order to get the job done (i.e. “lock up all ‘em druggies”).
Luckily whole hearted commitment to the war on drugs is not as universal as some powers that be would have us believe. One fine example is Portugal. Portugal began a societal experiment in drug decriminalization in 2001. We didn’t read about this in front page headlines the way we read about drug gang murders in Mexico, but what’s happened in Portugal as a result of drug decriminalization is pretty darn significant nonetheless. Other countries such as Spain, Italy, Brazil are following suit, and many others are giving serious consideration to a rethink regarding drug prohibition.
In Portugal when users are seen with drugs they are no longer persued by the police with an intention to convict and incarcerate them. That big stick approach has been rejected and replaced by an extended helping hand. I get a hoot out of what they call the body which now administers society’s response to users – they call it the “Dissuasion Commission“. The idea is to dissuade users from continuing with problematic drug use and to encourage them to try alternative routes. Whether they do or not is up to the user. They aren’t penatalized if they don’t accept assistance, but rather they are let free to continue learning lessons the hard way – with the offer of help always available.
One thing that advocates of this decriminalized approach really emphasize is that by taking the police and courts and prisons out of the equation, Portugal has freed up a whole lot of money which it now puts into treatment options and counsellors. And they really mean treatment options and good counsellors. In North America, treatment and counsellors are like after thoughts, once the vast majority of expenditure is made on police and prisons. So obviously the quality of treatment and counsellors is equivalent, as the saying goes, to what you pay for. Just think what would be possible if hundreds of millions were being spent on an emphasis upon great and thorough treatment opportunities, rather than just a couple million here and there if there’s any $$$$ left over after re-equipping the tactical take down squad?
Last week, when returning home from scoring in the big city, I found myself listening to an excellent interview on the car radio. It was during a segment called Portugal Drug Decriminalization on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s The Current radio program. There is an interview with a man whose been a member of the Dissuasion Commission ever since its inception in 2001. He very eloquently emphasizes how different things are in Portugal now that the money that used to go to cops and jailers now goes to treatment and counsellors. That change in emphasis is extremely significant and it really deserves to be considered in terms of the possibilities that would be freed up in light of such a transformation. And, as a matter of fact, the positive proof is in the pudding to such an extent that even Time Magazine has taken note.
Do yourself a favour and tune into some good news: defintely listen to Part 3 on Portugal Drug Decriminalization.
And then if you want to really study up on the story, visit the American think-tank The Cato Institute website and download a 34 page .pdf entitled Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies (download link)
Filed under: JUNKe life
I love it when we’re totally flush. When the cupboard is anything but bare and we can simply relax and go about our daily lives without any worries (at least so far as dope is concerned).
It is so ironic how much we counter the stereotypical image of junkies as public nuisance or threats – particularly when we’re flush. And the more we’re high the less of a threat we become. The more high we get the more we just a completely content to sit at home occupying ourselves with a hot chocolate and an old b&w movie on the tv. It ridiculous how pre-occupied and fulfilled we become with entirely passive, stick-at-home activities when we’ve got cupboards full of dope. When we can shoot up to our heart’s content, why bother going out? Much rather just contemplate our navels within the cocoon of narcotic comfort. When we’re flush we are so far from a public threat it isn’t funny. We’re simply at peace.
How different from just a few weeks ago when every fix meant we were that much closer to having nothing and the situation was quite different. Our stress levels were high, and getting higher by the day. Way too stressful worrying about how we’re going to survive if we can’t score before running out of what meager supplies we have remaining. It is then, when we’re just doing half-doses, and measured ones at that, that the dangerous thoughts begin to creep in. Aha, we might have to do this-or-that our of desperation, you know. Yes, I know…
It is so pathetic that junkies can’t just be prescribed what we want and then we, and society, wouldn’t have a care. We’d be no trouble what-so-ever. It is just damned morality that makes society think it has the right to stick its snotty nose into our daily affairs. As if its anyone’s business whether I care to watch the evening news under a blanket of morphine warmth. What difference does it make? So long as we remain within our four walls, we have no impact upon anyone regardless of how high we get.
Its laughable. We’re model citizens to the max when we’re maxed out. The last thing we want to do is hit the streets, we much prefer hitting the sofa like some well and proper couch potato. Dope doesn’t make us threatening, it makes us the nicest, most contented people imaginable. If only society could understand this, it might see its in its interest to provide us with the dope we want. To say nothing of the morally right thing to begin with since it ain’t no body’s business but our own.
Seedless, one of the excellent writers with Junkylife offers a heroin books reading list at her personal blog. You will be well versed in smack literature if you check out even a quarter of the books she lists. Seedless also offers a list of heroin movies, however it is no where near as extensive.
While there, be sure to read some of Seedless’ regular posts as she is quite a talented writer, even while wallowing in an inordinate amount of depressingness too frequently.
Filed under: JUNKe life
A couple days ago our region was hit with powerful winds and rain, and then it got cold and half a foot of snow fell. During the we were watching tv when suddenly the power went out and we were engulfed in total darkness. Luckily we have a wood stove so we didn’t have to worry ourselves about freezing in the dark. However the scary thought that immediately came to mind was “how are we going to do our next hit?”. It is very difficult to prepare a fix and find a vein without light.
Of course we have a bunch of candles available to use whenever the power goes out. But when the lights go out at night, even several candles don’t really produce much useable light. Not only do we need a candle to cook with, but we need candle light to see with. Try it some time. A candle under a spoon produces no light to see what’s happening in the spoon. You need light above the spoon. And when its completely dark, you need quite a few candles above the spoon. So, we hastily lit a half dozen candles and arranged them on top of stacked up soup cans so that they were shinning about a foot above the surface of the table top. It was just barely enough to prepare things…
Luckily low light sometimes is helpful in finding veins; especially if it is cast from one side and produces a bit of a shadow where there is contour showing. So even though it was still quite dark, I did manage to find some hard to find veins and we did get our hits into us. And luckily the power was only out for ten hours, so we only had to repeat the process once more. All in all, we had it pretty easy.
But what about the junkies who are caught in major natural disasters? We often think about them when watching the news about big events, such as destructive tsunami, the Katrina disaster that hit New Orleans, or the big ice storm which shut down major cities in northeastern North America. Apparently during Katrina, the mayor of New Orleans made some statement “regarding hordes of marauding addicts roaming the street searching for their fixes”. I can just imagine. It would be horrible if during the chaos you couldn’t find your dealer.
Or what about methadone clinics being shut down? I’ve heard that is a big problem when natural disasters happen. It seems that NAMA jumped into action during Katrina, but often disasters create horrible disruptions in methadone provision.
I imagine the panic that hits a city’s junkies when everything is shut down. No buses running, often there’s curfews, phones aren’t working, etc. etc. etc. Life gets very difficult. The heat goes off, there’s no lights, and you can’t score. Total panic. It would be complete hell. We just experienced a few seconds of such panic when the house went dark and we worried about how we were going to do our next fix. But I’m so grateful we have the resources to weather hardships ourselves. All we can do is give a thought to those who suffer immensely when natural disasters impact them…
Filed under: Stuff
‘Round about 5 am Christmas morning I woke to to take a pee with the rhyme of a limerick dancing in my head.
My partner stired beside me, so I announced “hey, listen to this” and recited the following silliness:
There once was a junky named Ryan,
When asked if he was selling or buying,
He replied “Just give me your shit”,
“I’ll do all of it”,
“Then you can ask me again, this time crying”.
She laughed. I laughed. And then I scribbled the silly limerick onto a scrap of paper… for posterity.
Enormous collection of William S. Burroughs’ book covers are compiled here. Below is the Penguin UK 1977 cover – the first edition of Junky I read.
I loaned my copy to my friend, Duncan the Garbage Gobbler, and haven’t seen it since. Dunc got his nickname not due to a voracious appetite for food but because of the non-discriminating nature of his drug consumption.
Filed under: JUNKe life
Yesterday we drove for an hour and a half to score. And then drove an hour and a half back home to get well. It’s funny how relative things can get. I remember years back when a cross-town drive to score and get back home took 30 minutes and it seemed like an eternity, whereas yester day’s three hour drive seemed like a pleasant Sunday picnic. What does that say? I suppose it means I must have developed some patience while attaining this older age I currently reside in.
A couple days ago I received a call informing me of the time and place to make yester day’s pickup. Before leaving I double-checked and got a confirmation that everything was good to go. As a result, I enjoyed the drive. I didn’t have to worry whether I’d be able to score or not.
Driving back home after scoring is usually a real contrast from the drive to score. The trip to the dealers is usually tense with worry, with long silent periods punctuated with desperate little prayers (”shit I hope he’s home”) or scrambled back up plans (”let’s try Joe Blows if so-and-so ain’t home”). Nothing but worry and nail-biting. But once the buy is made and the dope is safe and secure in one’s pocket the trip back home is all joy and anticipation (”thank gawd that worked out”).
Nowadays I usually get several weeks supply at a time. So instead of the daily ups and downs of drug seeking, I’m on a much more expansive see saw of emotions. Initially there’s not a worry whatsoever because the size of the bag or the bottom of the pill bottle seems so far away it seems like there’s enough to last forever. As a result, my carefully thought out schedule for dosing immediately goes in the garbage and there’s several days of “let’s treat ourselves today”. It doesn’t matter how unrealistic such thinking is, I inevitably engage in it.
And just as inevitably, the bottom of the bag becomes in sight. Ah yes! this isn’t going to last forever, is it? Well, that peak was nice, but the pendulum does swing, and down it starts to got. Ok, let’s figure out what’s left. Time to figure out a new dosing schedule. Let’s see… if I do four hits per day, of so-and-so amount per hit, this is gonna last such-and such time. Okie dokie, 12 days left. Aha, that’s not too shabby.
Opps, 12 days seemed distant enough that I decided to indulge myself for a couple extra days. Now there should be ten days left, but there’s only eight. And that’s eight if I stick to the dose schedule, which I haven’t stuck to one day yet. Opps! Oh well… these things have a way of working out… somehow. Even if, in reality, its just that I’m digging myself into a deeper, and deeper, and… deeper hole.
Damn! I just realized I’m going to run out before I can resupply. I thought he said see him on the 25th, but that was last month, and this month he said the 28th. Shit! That’s still seven days off, and I’ve got to find a way to carry me through them extra three days. I suppose if worst comes to worst I’ll just have to score at regular street prices. Which means I’ll spend for three days what I could normally purchase a week’s worth.
At least I’m not worrying about getting sick. Going cold turkey isn’t really a concern. Well, maybe its a bit of a concern, but these days are sure easier then when I used to be worried about where my every next fix would come from. Still and all, this past week has sure been a lot more stressful than the previous one. Now I do a hit and see the pile get smaller each time. The previous week it seemed to not diminish whatsoever. It’s funny how that goes…
Now I score and I’m not fully relieved. I want to be more sensible this time. Show a little restraint. Try not to increase my habit too much. Maybe even cut back a bit. But that idea lasts a day or two before I decide that I’m going to get a bit of a buzz on today. And the next day, and the day after. Ah, those are the days of great relief. In fact, I still get good and high, so long as I do enough. The days drift by in cosy comfort, the future seemingly distant enough that it is no cause for concern.
Suddenly tomorrow is today, and I wish I could postpone today for tomorrow. But I can’t. My habit is relentless, and demanding everyday. This is indeed a see saw, up and down, up and down, impossible to get off, and in danger of falling off. Last week was a lot better than time week.
And this week will be a lot better than last. Today is fine. Tomorrow will be fine as well. And next week will be here sooner than I think today.
Ibogaine is touted by some advocates as a potential “cure” for drug dependency, particularly heroin addiction. I’ve always been quite skeptical when I read about this or that drug being championed as the new cure-all. I figure if something actually worked to cure heroin addiction that it would be widely known. After all, we’ve been suffering for more than a century when trying to kick an opiate habit and we’ve been searching high and low for some sort of painless procedure to get that monkey off our backs. So if there was something that actually worked, well, one would expect it to be celebrated like all get go! Therefore, my initial reaction to ibogaine was “yeah, right, and pigs fly too”.
Ibogaine is proposed for the treatment of chemical dependence. Claims for this antiaddictive drug include significant reduction in opioid withdrawal and interruption of drug craving behavior. The Ibogaine Dossier is the oldest internet source dedicated to information on this substance. Within the Dossier you will find reports on subjects as diverse as ibogaine’s use in African religion to cutting edge neuroscience.
The Ibogaine Dossier
It appears ibogaine is useful for dealing with heroin dependency for two reasons: 1) it is a stimulant and as such its stimulant properties can alleviate some of the cold turkey sickness of withdrawing from heroin, and 2) it has some psychedelic qualities which as useful for self-observation, self-awareness and self-analysis. What I found intriguing was that it is gentle as a inner trip and therefore avoids the intense loss of self which LSD can effect. Rather than directly embarking on a trip which can be mind-blowing in that one so directly experiences the full impact of one’s psychology as an immediate participant in it, on ibogaine one tends to be able to observe one’s self from the outside and from a safe distance be an observer things about one’s self.
Although ibogaine came to my attention because its advocates speak about its effectiveness as a drug treatment procedure, I found myself interested in it as a tool for self-observation in and of itself. I’m less interested in it as a tool for overcoming addiction, and fascinated in it as a gentle psychedelic.
Filed under: Stuff
Hope is a precious commodity. Hope can keep one going in the face of harsh and painful conditions. Hope can sustain one through the roughest of circumstances. Hope can win an election. Yes it can!
Eventually hope can turn to despair if its promise is not eventually fulfilled with concrete improvements because hope, despite its magic, cannot fill a hungry belly or wipe out a lethal virus. We cannot overcome by hope alone.
The election of Barack Obama as the next President of the U.S.A. has brought hope to people the world over. Across the globe people hit the streets in celebration. Mr. Obama’s victory is felt as a victory for downtrodden people everywhere. But will this hope be fulfilled?
In his initial speech upon winning Mr. Obama began to temper people’s hope with clear words about the long and difficult road ahead. He understands that unrealistic expectations can only lead to let down and cynicism and thereby even the modest opportunities which are possible will become unrealized if people become demoralized and deactivated.
What can drug users hope for from Obama’s Presidency? Can we expect more compassionate open ears will listen to us when we speak out? Surely that is the least we can hope for. So let’s organize ourselves and make sure drug users’ voices are a strong part of the dialogue about what needs to get done.
Speaking of organizing ourselves, I recently had the privilege of attending IDUD 2008 – International Drug Users Day – in Copenhagen, Denmark. Hosted by the Danish Drug Users Union, nearly 100 user activists from around the globe – literally – came together for discussions and celebrations of user culture and our collective struggle for human rights and safe conditions.
The most important lesson arising from this incredible gathering of drug users is that we can raise our voices in every community in this world. To do this takes bravery and commitment, and lots of hard work, but it is a task that only we can do. No one can truly speak for users but us ourselves. Have a look at some of your peers already speaking out for user rights: IDUD 2008 Photos
