Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jan 2017 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2017 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 Author: Karin Siemens Page: A7 ADDICTION IS A CHOICE, NOT A DISABILITY, SAYS WOMAN WHO HAS LIVED IT Could someone please clarify something for me? In Canada we have laws set in place to protect, to govern and direct. There is nothing safe about injecting anything illegal into our system. If we truly care about the welfare of addicts it's not about "reducing" the harm but rather eliminating the harm and bringing hope where hope has been lost. Do you have children? Here's my take on all of this. Turn the elements of your stove on high, place your children's hands on those hot elements and do not let them remove their hands. Gently reach done and turn the heat down a few notches, well maybe a couple more. As long as those hands are on the heat and the heat is on, damage will continue to be inflicted. Their hands need to be removed from the heat and the heat turned off, not simply down. I, too, abused drugs and alcohol and became addicted. Almost three years ago, I made a choice. I chose to say no to using drugs to get high. Addiction is not a disability. It is a choice. I chose to use substances to deal with or cope with my disability. We can become disabled by abusing drugs and alcohol, but it is still a choice. I believe we need to redefine our present definition of a disability and question the funding that goes into supporting a person choosing to use drugs. So please help me out here. We are offering addicts a clean, safe, warm place for them to inject an illegal substance. Not only are we providing the accommodations for this, but we are staffing these places with professionals that we as taxpayers are paying for. I just don't get it. It's illegal to use drugs, yet we accommodate these addicts because they continue to choose to use illegal drugs, regardless of the risks involved. Those risks are even greater now with the fentanyl epidemic on the rise. Has anyone gone back to assess the effects of the safe-injection sites that have been put in place? How has that decision impacted the communities where the sites are? Has it helped in lessening the crisis we are faced with? Are the addicts being helped out of their hell or are we actually keeping them stuck in that cycle of addiction? I have watched a gradual deterioration of our social structure and health-care system. The problem is not the drug itself, but the reality there are people choosing to use these substances regardless of the risks. It's not just about saving a life in crisis, but more about investing in people and helping them to build a life worth living without substances. It's about hope, something that is definitely missing on our streets. Over the years, I have watched as funding cutbacks or misallocation of funds have impacted our local community and the resources they can offer. We pour millions of dollars into "crisis intervention" rather than treatment or rehabilitation. We took the "12-step approach" out of our treatment plan and reached it with a "harm reduction" agenda. Is it working? Are we seeing people's lives changed for the better and for long term? Is everyone being told the truth about addiction, street life and the longterm impact of "safe injection sites?" Are we ready to deal with the impact this is going to have on our community? What about those of us who have made the tough choice to say no to drugs? Where are the resources to help us rebuild our lives? I have a son in university and he deserves a stable future. Why should he have to pay for the choices of those who are choosing to use drugs? He's not forcing anyone to use drugs or stick a needle in their arm, yet his taxes are paying for these illegal behaviours. I may be opinionated but I also have life experience to stand behind and it's because of this that I am attempting to speak out. Safe injection sites a not the answer. We need to stop the use of drugs by giving people a reason to quit, a reason to choose life. Years ago we called it "tough love" because we did care. We were committed to seeing changed lives within our own communities. There were consequences for behaviours. Today, we are making accommodations for dysfunction and illegal behaviours. I'm choosing to speak out because I know it is possible to bring lasting change. It begins with saying no, and then choosing to continue to say no. It's not easy, but it is right. I had to move away from the Kelowna area to find real freedom from my addictions. There are drugs everywhere, but I did not have history with drugs in the community I moved to. Basically, I got clean by doing almost everything opposite to what I was told would work. I am clean today and I have no intentions of ever going back, by the grace of God. Without my faith I would not be alive today and I would not have the hope I have found either. I am not in "recovery" but rather I am building a life for myself, a life worth living without substances, a life worth sharing with others if I choose. An addict may say, "I'm addicted and can't choose." Sorry, but you make a choice everyday when you choose to use instead of saying no. Addiction is a choice, not a disability. Let's redefine who is actually eligible for disability funding and make a commitment to see positive changes not only in the lives of those who use drugs, but also the lives of those of us who have a real disability, something we haven't chosen. It's called SLURP- Street Level Un Recognized Politics. It's time the bigwigs start "slurping" up the crap they've been dumping on us. We all have a voice and we need to start using our voices to stop the changes happening within our community that we do not agree with. I am committed to bringing change, but not the change our governing party is proposing. It's time to re-access the decisions we've already made and determine if they have been beneficial or if maybe it's actually the cause of the deterioration we are experiencing. We need to stop building our community and our lives around the needs of the addicts. We need to offer them a hand up rather than continued handouts. Addicts need to be held accountable and responsible for the choices they are making. Stop excusing them by saying its a disability or a disease. It's this attitude that I believe is exactly what keeps us from moving forwards towards abstinence. If we really do care, then let's eliminate the harm, not simply reduce it. It is possible. Karin Siemens, Lake Country - --- MAP posted-by: Matt