National Addictions Awareness Week: #StigmaEndsWithMe
An update from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), through Globe Newswire, has released information on 2019’s National Addiction Awareness Week. The Canadian National Addictions Awareness Week takes place from November 25 to December 1. This year, the CCSA will be focusing their attention on stigma, with the theme ‘Stigma Ends With … Continued
In the realm of hungry ghosts
To start 2019 off on a positive note, my partner Peter and I decided to partake in “dry January.” After the alcohol we drank over the Christmas holidays, we figured that our livers (and wallets) would thank us. I’m not much of a drinker anymore, and I predicted that dry January would be a breeze. … Continued
Treatment is key to reducing impaired driving
Bill C-46, which became law in December, allows police to request a breathalyzer test from any driver pulled over for violating traffic laws or passing through a check stop. Previously, police had to have a reasonable suspicion a driver was impaired (like noticing slurred speech or bloodshot eyes) to request a breathalyzer test. There are debates … Continued
Cannabis addiction is real
“You can’t get addicted to cannabis.” It’s a common belief that, at least anecdotally, I’ve long known isn’t true. I’ve watched a friend, fresh out of weed and desperate to get high, comb his carpet with a flashlight in hopes of finding tiny bits of bud. I’ve watched another friend, penniless from his daily toking … Continued
Mac Miller, human being
On September 7, rapper and producer Mac Miller (whose real name was Malcolm McCormick) died of a suspected overdose. He was only twenty-six years old. Throughout my addiction, I listened to his music. It was therapeutic. I was lonely, depressed, and couldn’t stop using substances, and his words touched on each of those subjects with … Continued
Ten tips to survive depression
I want to recover from depression someday. If you have depression, you probably do as well. Depression sucks. So does a lot of advice on how to handle it. Well-meaning friends and family who’ve never experienced depression and its painful, boring drudgery offer up gems such as think positive thoughts or buck up, lots of … Continued
Finding Amy
2016 was the year I learned that “jib” is a street name for meth; it’s also known as “side,” crack is “up,” and heroin is “down.” It was also the year I tried to rescue my little sister from the land of up-side-down. I scoured the scene before me but tried not to look obvious. … Continued
Out of Addiction and into Education
When Jordan Reed’s parents tried to talk him into moving to Nanaimo from Vancouver to attend a treatment centre for his problem with drugs, Reed resisted by using the tactics he knew best: anger, hostility, and manipulation. He thought he could beat his addiction on his own—an idea that is seemingly universal among addicts and … Continued