Long Thread:

Amazing to see divisiveness continuing. Reductionist views from activists of both #harmreduction and #recovery. Both saying most recover on their own. Fair. What about the rest. More, people are dying and can’t get the help they want and deserve! 1/12

Addiction Medicine is more than supporting acute care. Do we focus only on finding magic pills? Or forcing people into recovery program? Both can help some and fail others. Neither is an answer in its own. People need and deserve publicly funded evidence based treatment! 2/12

What does that look like? In many cases Rx is a helpful tool of recovery. Sometimes it is an amazing harm reduction tool. Access is important and can be life saving while helping build a life worth living. But it is often is not enough. 3/12

Add in addiction counselling to learn about addiction, cravings, urges, triggers, and building resiliency. This is a key, and is so important for those who are ready to start to live life without relying on a substance (or behaviour). 4/12

But this still isn’t enough. We can’t forget about the underlying mental health that led to addiction for many or perpetuates it. Why is this not regulated? Without treating trauma, depression, complex PTSD, and anxiety we are failing people as a system. 5/12

But this is expensive. And profiteers have been vocal at pushing an agenda, ignoring skills to focus on pills for a profit motive. Others focusing on what they know, with no expertise. Docs and other HC professionals are afraid of what they don’t know. 6/12

Most don’t even understand why cPTSD is, let alone how to treat it. Most have no trauma training, no psychiatric training, and don’t even screen for these co-morbidities let alone treat them. That’s not acceptable to those who live with this everyday. 7/12

Worse is being told to take this pill and all will be ok. And for some this works... but for many it is a short term solution at best. The same can be said for telling some that 3 weeks in our facility and all will be ok. Same results in many cases. 8/12

We need to fix a system that relies on profiteers to be vocal leaders. That relies on activists to be leaders. That relies on ideology. That is ingrained in divisiveness. That is not publicly funded. That is not easily accessible. That is stigmatized. 9/12

Stigma doesn’t end until addiction is treated like cancer and heart disease. A medical concern, not a criminal one. #decriminalize Evidence based practice. Rx, therapy, addiction counselling, peer support/recovery coach and supporting everyone. 10/12

We can do better. People deserve better. The system needs to be overhauled. We need to admit our failures, and learn to come together to celebrate lives, not constantly mourning the deaths of all those who were failed by the system. 11/12

Together we stronger. Together we can change everything. While people argue, people die. Let’s start working together to advocate for those most vulnerable. 12/12