In todays NJ Courier Post there is my editorial about the need for a needle exchange program here in the state right next to a letter entitled "Liberal thinking will be the undoing of America!"Isn't irony a bitch? Hey, at least my story gets top billing with a headline "Life saving policy" while the "Liberal thinking" nonsense was relegated to the bottom of the page with no fanfare.
Anyway, for those of you who don't know this about me yet, I know first hand (as a retired crystal meth junkie) just how important having access to clean needles is to the long-term health of drug users who are still out there using.
At first I was embarassed to discuss the meth days openly like this. Let's face it, there is still a lot of shame and pain associated with the topic for me, and for most ex-addicts for that matter. But the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that getting off crystal meth was probably the hardest and most important thing i will ever do. In fact, the more people know about the nature of the drug, the more folks actually seem to respect me for my past and what I have been able to overcome. I never would have known this by keeping my story of recovery to myself.
Perhaps the lesson here is this: people respect honesty and openness. My willingness to discuss something so delicate, personal, and downright icky as the need for clean needles for addicts in this state has been rewarded with many kind and sympathetic sentiments from around New Jersey.
And that feels damn good.
2 comments:
I think I said here once before that a dead addict has no hope of recovery.
couldn;t have said it better myself, granny!
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