Archive for 10/19/11

Fraser Trevor

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Title: Enabling drug addicts
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Vancouver’s Insite program, where addicts can “fix” in a “safe” environment. As a resul...

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Vancouver’s Insite program, where addicts can “fix” in a “safe” environment.   As a result of this ruling, other Canadian cities may follow suit, to the delight of some and the significant uneasiness of others. So as not to be close-minded about the idea, a friend of mine suggested maybe Ottawa should be next in line for an Insite, and proposed an ideal location: an underused spacious building in the Ottawa city core on Wellington Street where Insite could be opened on the same floor as offices that are in temporary use. The building is called the Supreme Court of Canada. This way, our cabal of esteemed justices can experience first-hand the profoundly beneficial societal effects of their latest decision. Wishful thinking, no doubt. Most of us realize the next Insite will be in some neighbourhood far removed from the environs of the Supreme Court offices. The true and practical repercussions on a community will no doubt be some average working stiff’s problem. Like it or not, addicts are responsible for inordinate amounts of crime. Any recovered addict will openly tell you, drug addiction dehumanizes to the point where there is no concern for oneself, and thus no empathy or concern for anyone else. The only purpose and urge is to obtain the next fix, the next high, through any means necessary. It doesn’t matter who gets hurt. This very point is made every day in courtrooms across this country, in support of leniency for those claiming to be under the influence of various chemical intoxicants when committing their crimes. Insite, and programs like it, enables addicts to fix more frequently in an environment that protects from arrest, ensures medical treatment will be on hand to deal with overdose, and provide the necessary mechanics to inject (needles, etc.). The program reduces negative consequence to extremely dangerous behaviour and it becomes much more comfortable to be an addict. Does anyone seriously think this will somehow cause addicts to surrender their addictions? Hardly. We intuitively understand addictions will be attenuated. The only thing accomplished is fostering an environment that implies a societal acceptance of drug addiction. Addicts are now more comfortably able to destroy themselves by degrees. If this is where we are headed, why not just remove the middle man and have taxpayers supply the drugs, too? I seriously wonder if this isn’t the ultimate goal. Most recovering addicts I have spoken to only changed because they had finally realized there was no lower to go: it was rehab or death. Given the limited resources in these challenging economic times, why not use our funds to create greater rehab opportunities? Funding true rehabilitation seems to me to be an altogether better idea, benefitting both society and addict. In the meanwhile, we’re left to wonder where the next Insite will arrive, thanks to the ruling of judges that will never get anywhere near being confronted by the street level consequences of their decision.

Enabling drug addicts

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Vancouver’s Insite program, where addicts can “fix” in a “safe” environment. As a resul...

Eminem talks addiction, says 'The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got'

Fraser Trevor

Link Author

Title: Eminem talks addiction, says 'The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got'
Author: Fraser Trevor
Rating 5 of 5 Des:

Eminem hasn’t exactly avoided the topic of his relationship with a variety of illicit chemicals . After all, his last two albums were call...

<div class=" alignleft" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 240px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="bad-meets-evil" src="http://img2-3.timeinc.net/ew/i/2011/06/14/bad-meets-evil_240.jpg" style="font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></div><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Eminem hasn’t exactly avoided the topic of his relationship with a variety of illicit chemicals. After all, his last two albums were calledRelapse and Recovery. But the man born Marshall Mathers has rarely been as candid about his struggles with addiction in the press.<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">In the pages of GQ, where he was named a “God of Rock” next to the likes of Keith Richards and Robert Plant, Em let the world know exactly why he is so prone to addiction. “I’m very much a creature of habit,” he told GQ. “If I’m used to waking up in the morning and having [a Red Bull], I could do it every morning for the next ten years straight until I find something else to move on to. So if I’m used to taking a Vicodin when I wake up in the morning because I’m hungover from drinking or taking pills … The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got.”<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Eminem also explained that his drug problems could be traced over the course of his discography, noting that The Slim Shady LP was written almost entirely sober, the dark experiments on The Marshall Mathers LP were the result of more experimentation with substances, and Encore was hampered both artistically and practically thanks to his addiction to prescription medication (including Valium and Ambien).<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">After a failed stint in rehab (“Every addict in rehab feels like everyone’s staring at them. With me? Everyone was staring at me”), he had a traumatic overdose experience and finally made the decision to get clean when he realized he was killing himself. “I had a feeling in my arm that was weird, man,” he said. “Like, it really freaked me out. So I went to some people I trust and said, ‘Look, I know I need help. I’m ready now.’ I got a room in the same hospital where I overdosed, and I detoxed.”<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">His revelations fueled Recovery, which returned him to the top of the sales mountain and ranks among his finest work. The most revealing part of the interview involves his moment of clarity. “Sometimes [sobriety] sucks, and I wish I was wired like a regular person and could go have a f—in’ drink,” he told GQ. “But that’s the biggest thing about addiction: When you realize that you cannot f— around with nothing ever again. I never understood when people would say it’s a disease. Like, ‘Stop it, d—head. It’s not a disease!’ But I finally realized it really is.”<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">It’s refreshing to hear a star as huge as Eminem talking about his drug woes so frankly. And it’s refreshing to know that the reason why Encore is such a mess is because Ambien, as he puts it, was “[eating] a hole through my brain.” That certain explains <a style="text-decoration: none; color: #0177c2;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yf15kikC_g" target="_blank">this</a>.<p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 12px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">What do you think of Eminem’s thoughts on addiction? Where do you rank Recovery in his discography? Sound off in the comments!

Eminem talks addiction, says 'The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got'

Eminem hasn’t exactly avoided the topic of his relationship with a variety of illicit chemicals . After all, his last two albums were call...

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Enabling drug addicts

Eminem talks addiction, says 'The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got'

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