We always hear the stories of how terrible everything is for injecting drug users. I don’t believe that everyone has such a massively negative experience with drugs, yet we rarely hear the positive side of it.
We’re constantly bombarded with stories about how terrible drug use
is, and presented with exceedingly negative views of people that use drugs.
The media always presents us with the worst situations, and leads people
to believe that all drug users experience drug use in that way.
In turn, people that use drugs also tend to relate their negative experiences
when they write or speak to the media, because this is the way people see
things as being done. If all a person ever hears is negative stories, it
is likely to feed into their mind and increase the chance of them having
a negative experience.
Discrimination against drug users
Not everyone experiences dramatic problems with taking drugs, and people don’t need to. Also, if all that people with no personal experience of drugs hear is negative stories about drug use, they’ll believe it can only be that way, and accordingly they will view people that use drugs negatively, leading to discrimination against all drug users.
The positive side of drug use
Many people who use drugs enjoy them – they are functional, they input meaningful and amazing things to society and I’d like to hear more about people’s positive experiences, their great ideas and the positive things that they’re doing in the various drug user magazines. My brother for instance, like many others, is a great person, but because he’s constantly put down for his drug use he has come to believe that he’s not good at much. He, like many others, is constantly subjected to negative stories from other users, the mainstream media and the rest of his family. He is actually a witty person with plenty of skills. I believe that user magazines should be seeking positive stories of users doing positive things.
I think that we should try to keep negative stories, pictures and poems about drug use out of drug user magazines and websites as were already overwhelmingly surrounded by negativity. I want to finish reading and feeling positive and inspired, not feeling negative, guilty or scared. - M.
Some responses from the local drug users' association
“All the injecting drug users I know are incredibly creative and articulate people full of overlooked talent. I wish people could get over the stigma and see them with fresh eyes...”
“D. loves her drugs but she loves her kids even more. She’d have to be one of the best parents I know and she has this really close friendship with her two kids. She kept her use under control and away from her kids, yet when they hit their teens she was open and honest about her use. It really gives me the shits when your average person thinks drug use means you don’t love your kids or you are automatically a crap parent”.
“I’m part of a support group for people who are using. I’m consistently amazed at the resilience of the people in that group. They’ve been incredibly strong to survive against the odds, often dealing with exploitation, grief and loss, abuse, prejudice or stigma”.
“I’ve always figured we must be a bit different to the norm if we do drugs. And I reckon that’s why we users tend to be more artistic, sensitive to others who don’t fit in, and are good at thinking outside the box. Of course, the big problem is everyone inside that ‘box’ spend a lot of time and energy making you feel like shit for being outside the box! But I guess squares fit in boxes better anyone else, ha!”
I’ve been working with two guys going through detox. Like so many other users, they’ve never got into trouble with the law, and they are really likeable blokes. It’s a bugger that society give them a bad rap, when smokers or heavy drinkers are usually seen as okay people who just happen to have a health issue. People are people, they shouldn’t be judged on the legal status of their particular drug...”
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