"Using Drugs Saved Me"
Real comments from real PWUD about how even their chaotic drug use helped keep them alive, inspired by this tweet by @traceyh415
Also left in a comment of someone saying they'd consider this perspective. Having the ability to listen and be open to changing your mind about something when being presented compelling information is actually a really important part of being a harm reductionist.
Ironically, they tend to be less self-centered than those who claim to have "killed" their egos with psychedelics lol. Maybe for 5 minutes. Some "healers" are some of the most narcissistic people I've ever met. It takes a special type of patience to not feel the desire to take away someone's autonomy. It probably helps that I am a bird owner.
It's not like I burst onto the scene having all the right attitudes and information. I have been wrong and probably will be wrong again. At first I did believe fentanyl could cause an OD from contact or airborne but as soon as I found out that the LEOs were using fentanyl and OD'd I stopped believing the hype. I also used to think that physical withdrawals from cannabis were not a thing.
Some things may change and I may have to change also. That's life. I was straight-edge at one point with 0 understanding of what benzos and opioids did, and when I was a teenager my friends were fucked up on them all the time and suicidal. I had to intervene for people's immediate personal safety a bit (they were usually blacked out and not aware they were harming themselves/in danger), but never forced the expectation of sobriety.
And here I am today, advocating for all drugs despite what we all went through. Even the ones I haven't done, which is a somewhat short list at this point if we're being honest.