For several years now, the harm reduction model has been used to treat those who are homeless. Harm reduction includes giving free drug paraphernalia out to those who are addicted. Often times, outreach workers will bring these items directly to the addict.
That is, in part, where our tax dollars for the issue of homelessness have gone. And it is a model that has failed miserably. It is a model that I blame for the deaths of some of my homeless friends. When I was homeless and an I.V. drug user, had someone been supplying me with needles, I would have taken that as a cue that what I was doing was socially acceptable.
When and where do we draw the line? People who are experiencing homelessness do not need this enabling that has someway wormed its way into our system.
I had a brother who died of suicide at the age of 29 due to his diagnosis of AIDS, so I am certainly sympathetic to those individuals who are living with that diagnosis. It is not the government’s place to fund the distribution of syringes, foil and pipes. In fact, this fact should anger people as it only perpetuates the problem of homelessness along with literally killing addicts.
We need to replace the harm reduction model with the recovery model, which encourages people to stop abusing drugs and/or alcohol. As someone who embraced recovery in 1992, as well as someone who has worked one on one with our community’s homeless folks, recovery is the only solution that is lasting and that works.
Recovery tells you that you deserve a better life. Harm reduction tells you to keep doing what you’re doing. Recovery tells you that you are valuable and worthy of a good life. Harm reduction tells you that you need to get high to cope with life. Recovery has never killed anyone. Harm reduction has killed many. May we start to rethink the manner in which we have been treating homelessness.
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