Pubdate: Fri, 03 Feb 2012
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Emma Graney

Drug Users in U of R Film

SPEAKING FROM THE STREETS

A young guy with short, blond hair sits in a room, clad in a black 
sweater with a short, striped tie thrown casually over his shoulder.

Under fluorescent light, his face angled to the left, he talks 
matterof-factly about his experiences living on the streets of Regina.

"I was about 13, struggling with my sexuality, not fitting in at 
school and I met some male prostitutes," he says with a slight shrug 
of the shoulders.

"It just felt like we had something in common."

He goes on to tell the story of his home life before he left; hearing 
his mother being beaten as he hid underneath his bed or snuck out of 
the window.

"They are my childhood memories," he says.

The man is one of a number of injection drug users interviewed as 
part of a film project through the University of Regina journalism school.

Another interviewee is a young woman, who wears a blue sweater and 
bounces a rattle-holding baby on her knee.

She tells of her own struggles with crystal meth and how her 
boyfriend asked her to help get money for more drugs by introducing 
her to "real dirty old man."

The film, called This Is Us: Voices from the Street, brings together 
people who talk about their own memories of abuse, living on the 
streets and drug use.

"Addiction is a very powerful thing," explains the blond man.

"It sucks you in, destroys your self-esteem and your self-worth."

Patricia Elliott, director of the community research unit at U of R 
and assistant professor with the journalism school, said the project 
was a way to change the stereotypes surrounding drug users.

"A lot of people think drug addicts are zombies, but this shows that 
they are intelligent, articulate people who know a lot about their 
situation," she said.

The idea is that the film, available through the school at www. 
thisisus.ca, can be shown to groups who regularly deal with drug 
users. "The last question they were all asked was who the film should 
be shown to," Elliott said.

"The answers were nurses, social workers -- anyone who deals with 
drug users -- and just the general community, so that they can get a 
better idea that they are dealing with human beings."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom