This Giving Tuesday, I’m supporting harm reduction programs for drug users
Not all of my subscribers know this about me, but I’m a drug user.
Specifically, I’m a safe drug user. I use drugs recreationally, the way some people use alcohol: responsibly, for the most part.
I test my drugs and store them safely. I keep a Naloxone kit in the house. I talk to a trusted friend or therapist if I think I might be using too much, or in chaotic ways. I don’t mix drugs that shouldn’t be mixed. I never drive high. I never touch drugs when my kids are in my care, even if it’s the weekend and they’re in bed. For reasons you’ll understand in a moment, I never touch opiates.
Some subscribers have expressed concern that I talk too casually about my drug use, or drop mentions of this or that drug to sound cool. Maybe there’s some truth there, but that’s not why I talk about drugs.
I talk about drugs because I want to normalize conversations about substance use so that people who use them can do so with dignity and safety, and with less judgement, whether or not they are making efforts to “get clean” – an expression I don’t like because using drugs doesn’t make a person dirty.
But I’m anything but casual on the subject.
It might surprise you to know that I’ve lived my entire adult life alongside people grappling with very serious drug abuse, the kind that costs marriages, jobs, and homes. If it weren’t for NARCAN, I’d have at least one fewer family member (that I know of).
The Opioid Crisis was a tornado that ripped through my family, and we are still sorting through the debris. It is far from over. More like a limp you learn to walk with. Mixed metaphors, sorry. This isn’t an easy email to write.
I learned tolerance from my mother.
Whether you helped yourself to an extra twenty when she loaned you her bank card, or she found you slumped over her dining table at 3am, totally dipped out, she would love you just the same, and help you find a way to forgive yourself. Her patience and lack of judgement have been one of my life’s great lessons.
She was the first person to teach me that people who use drugs deserve respect and care just like anyone else, a lesson I’ve carried through my life.
In Canada, we have many programs that provide care for drug users, from housing to low-cost dentistry to genuinely affordable recovery programs. Ontario’s Safe Supply program makes clean drugs available to people who depend on them, which reduces crime and cuts down on overdoses by as much as 26% (mostly because it means fewer overdoses on fentanyl, which is 100x stronger than heroin and users often don’t know it’s in their supply).
I’ve seen recovery take many forms, and it rarely starts with “I want to quit all drugs forever.” Programs like safe supply, overdose prevention centers, needle exchanges, and access to free NARCAN Kits, those things not only save lives, they send a message to people using drugs that says, “Your life matters. It matters no matter what choices you make today, tomorrow, or the next day.”
This Giving Tuesday I’m giving to organizations that are in this fight with me. You may not share these views, and that’s 100% okay. We all have our own stories about substance use. Zero judgement if you don’t want to make my cause your cause.
But in case you do, I will personally match any donation you make to the following organizations today, up to a total of $2000:
>> PHS Community Services Society (Canada) — harm reduction and housing in Vancouver’s most affected neighbourhoods
>> DanceSafe (USA) — drug testing and harm reduction education at festivals and events
>> Drug Policy Alliance (USA) — addressing the harms of drug use and drug criminalization through policy, organizing, and education
All of the above organizations offer tax receipts. Make sure to forward it to me so I can match it.
Harm reduction isn’t enabling, it’s care. It’s compassion. For that reason, I hope you’ll choose to donate.
But if you’ve not vibing with this, no problem. I have some other suggestions later in this email. Perhaps you’ll make a donation today that aligns with your values and the people you care about, even if it’s just five bucks.
If wealth affirmations and manifesting abundance are part of your worldview, this is a great place to direct some of that energy.
Happy Giving Tuesday
Tarzan
Tarzan Kalryzian [she/they]
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Other Organizations Worth Your Consideration
Cystic Fibrosis Canada: Big Pharma doesn’t invest much in CF drug development because there isn’t a lot of profit in them. The life-giving treatments available today only exist thanks to private donors and organizations like this one.
MECA: Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance: Protecting the health, lives and rights of children in the Middle East, including a Gaza Emergency fund bringing assistance to families and medical supplies for hospitals and clinics.
Loving Black Single Mothers: Regenerative and ever-evolving support designed to nourish the flourishing of Black single mothers. Applications to receive support are also open and ongoing.
Any donations made to these organizations will be included in my Giving Tuesday Donation Match, up to a limit of $2000 total.
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