Going On, Not Giving Up
My new piece in Splice Today, writing about harm reduction again, and taking pictures of flowers
Greetings new family, old friends, and all!
My article on the talk given by Millet Ben Haim, a young woman who barely escaped the Nova Music Festival attacks by Hamas terrorists, is published in Splice Today:
Please share.
Our friend Eve of Blacklisted wrote about how she used to be, before she started speaking out against antisemitism and was subsequently blacklisted in the music journalism industry. It is important to remember things that make us happy. Flowers make me happy.
I have been writing about antisemitism and Israel for several months now. It’s been quite awhile since I published anything about harm reduction, which is what I used to write about. Quite awhile since I published anything about gender politics, sex, passion or high heels. I have written recently about goats, but that was a metaphor.
A series of recent events made me think about writing about harm reduction again. I’ very concerned about the backlash against harm reduction measures such as safe consumption sites and decriminalization. As I have occasion to speak with people from all over the US, I hear much anger about the effects of drugs on communities. I taught in the most affected area of Philadelphia, right off of Kensington Aenue, and I too felt the frustration with walking over needles, walking by people who were nodded out on the street, and not being able to walk to the subway without dodging human excrement on the sidewalk. I saw the effects on the kids who were unable to get away from it.
What I understand is that these are the downstream effects of the long term criminalization of various drugs, and the lack of availability of the most effective, gold standard treatment for Opioid Use Disorder, methadone and buprenorphine. The cycle of drugs, crime, poverty, and death, can be stopped, but it will not be stopped overnight, and it won’t be stopped through punitive measures. Those have been tried for years and years, and what we see on the streets of Kensington and many other urban and rural areas is the failure of the Drug War.
I never used opioids or anything other than alcohol. Had it not been for an unfortunate relationship with alcohol, I would never have gotten to know people who use opioids or other drugs that are currently illegal, or at least I wouldn’t have known I knew them. Now I do. I have close friends who have lost children to the system that criminalizes these substances and makes life progressively worse for people who are in terrible pain. I know people who have barely made it out with their lives. And I have had the honor of working with people who are incredible warriors for harm reduction.
For years I was a leader in a group called HAMS (Harm Reduction, Abstinence and Moderation Support.) It’s a worldwide group, mostly on Facebook, for people who want to change their drinking through harm reduction means. No abstinence required (though that is a harm reduction choice and it is very much supported), and all goals are valid. It’s a wonderful judgement free group. I recommend it to anyone who is thinking they might want to drink less, more mindfully, or head off any problems. Please don’t blame me for the website - my dear friend the executive director refuses to change it even though it looks like it was created in 1999. The information is good - please suffer through the formatting. We wrote a book together, Better is Better: Stories of Alcohol Harm Reduction. It’s a little e-book as well as a cute paperback. If you want a gift copy of the e-book let me know and I’ll send you one.
I started thinking about writing about harm reduction again for two reasons:
I love Bari Weiss’ The Free Press, but they are way off on harm reduction. Recently they’ve published some things that I feel are very misguided, and a lot of their readers, being somewhat conservative, are not aware of different perspectives. I’ve been thinking about writing something that would lay out how harm reduction works, and how the Drug War has failed, and pitching it to Bari.
I recently read this piece from Moms for All Paths To Recovery, a harm reduction organization of parents of people who have substance use disorders, about how well methadone and buprenorphine work, but how hard they are to get. Please give the interview with Sam Snodgrass, PhD, a read. It may change how you think about people with Opioid Use Disorders, and it may give you information that could be helpful to you or someone you know.
The only difference between people who drink alcohol and people who use heroin is that alcohol is legal and heroin is not. When alcohol was illegal under Prohibition, people still drank, but the supply was often poisoned leading to deaths. Now, when you go to the liquor store, you can know you are actually buying whiskey, vodka, or whatever you think you’re buying. You can kill yourself with it (especially if you mix it with benzodiazepines - please don’t ever do that! I get so upset when I see people posting about taking a Xanax and a shot of vodka on Facebook. Respiratory depression is no joke. It will kill you dead. Not mostly dead, dead. And mostly dead is bad enough.) Alcohol causes many more deaths per year than opioids, but since it’s legal, people can drink it safely and be assured of a safe supply. They can drink in the privacy of their own homes, restaurants or bars and not get arrested if they don’t get behind the wheel (unfortunately too many people do drink and drive, and they get away with it while still proclaiming they have no problem. If you’re going to drink, don’t drive. Call a Lyft. Bribe a sober person into driving home. Get a goat and ride it home. No, leave the poor goats alone. They have enough problems showing up on Broad Street because I’m texting when I shouldn’t be.)
I miss writing about harm reduction. I’ve got a piece in the works now, editor already bought it. I have another I want to work on too. New stuff, new angles.
I want to write some fun stuff too. For instance, is anyone else outraged at the fact that you can’t ask the simple question, “Are you married?” without it being assumed to be a come-on? I can’t even ask mutual friends if so and so is married because they will assume I have nefarious intentions. Okay, I often do, but shouldn’t one just be able to get the information? Why must one resort to consulting public records to find out the answer to a simple question?
I’d like to write more about health and nutrition, especially about how getting older can be really fun.
I have a piece I want to write about historical fiction.
But I’m not giving up on writing about Israel and the rising tide of worldwide antisemitism. I understand the pull to just go on with life and pretend nothing is happening, but things are happening. Pretending everything is fine won’t make everything fine. I keep up with my Israel and other news every day, and the instances of antisemitic attacks are so frequent that it seems they are becoming a new normal. We can’t let that happen. It’s up to all of us to make our voices heard, in one way or another.
For anyone just joining us, here are my previous pieces on Israel and antisemitism:
I Stand With My Jewish Friends
Support Peaceful Free Expression - Stand UP to the Angry Mob
Going on, but not giving up. Doing things I love, and things that for me, make life worthwhile. I look forward to spending more time with my mom and doing things involving flowers as spring comes. I’m going to see my dad and stepmother for Easter. Flowers are a big thing for me. If you want to see my flower photographs, just flowers, no politics, look me up on Instagram, westphillylily.
Yesterday I got to go to the Philadelphia Flower Show. I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford it this year, but my landlord gave me a free ticket. Here is just one of the pictures I took. You will see more. I took hundreds I think.
Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living, and take pictures of flowers.
