Empathise with drug addicts

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I once was one of those who, while sympathetic, would look down on those who had ‘allowed’ themselves to become addicted to alcohol and/or illicit ‘hard’ drugs.

Yet I, albeit not in the Fentanyl-use category, have suffered enough unrelenting PTSD-related hyper-anxiety to have known, enjoyed, and appreciated the great release upon consuming alcohol and/or THC.

Neglecting and, therefore, failing people struggling with debilitating drug addiction should never have been an acceptable or preferable political or religious option.

But the more callous politics that are typically involved with lacking addiction funding/services tend to reflect conservative electorate opposition, however irrational, against making proper treatment available to low- and no-income addicts.

It really is as though some people, unlike most other people, are actually considered disposable. Even to an otherwise relatively civilised nation, their worth is measured, basically, by their sober ‘productivity’ or lack thereof. Those people may then begin perceiving themselves as worthless and accordingly live their daily lives and consume their substances more haphazardly.

Tragically, many chronically addicted people won’t miss this world if they never wake up. It’s not that they necessarily want to die. It’s that they want their pointless corporeal hell to cease and desist.

FRANK STERLE JR

White Rock, BC

Canada