Red Hot Commie’s Blue Era

A man and a woman according to weird misogynistic transphobes

[transcript:

"Hi, my name is Courtney, and I'm a harm reduction worker in the South Bronx. So, someone basically asked me what to do when they love somebody in their life who's in active addiction. They don't wanna lose this person, but this person is not ready to get clean yet, and they don't know what to do to help them. And I wanna tell you guys about what we do in harm reduction, and an individual-centered approach.

So, the most important part of harm reduction is meeting people where they're at, and we do a person-centered approach, which means our cases for each individual is going to be completely different, because each individual experiencing addiction is completely different.

For some people, forced treatment may help them, but it's still a punitive measure, and we don't wanna force people into treatment, because for a lot of people, it ends up being traumatic, and you don't get the results they want if they're not ready to get clean and they don't want to get clean.

And, by the way, that's okay for them to not wanna get clean yet or not be ready. They're on their own timeline and their own journey.

So, I'm gonna make up a hypothetical person so you guys can understand what meeting someone where they're at basically means. So, say I'm working in harm reduction, we have someone new come in and, um, I do an intake. They say that they shoot, um, heroin and fentanyl about 8 times a day, they're an IV user, they're houseless, um, and... they... don't— they're not on any form of MAT or anything like that, in any program.

I can ask them what they wanna gain from coming [to] the harm reduction center. Like, "What— what is your goal? You obviously came here for an intention." A lot of time it'll be like clean syringes or fentanyl testing strips or they wanna like store their syringes and exchange them properly, something like that. So we can make a goal for them, to start using clean syringes every time they use. And that is a major goal to achieve! So, um, we set that goal, then say they come back in 2 weeks, and they're been using clean syringes every time they use. They're still using! But they're using clean syringes, which is way safer than what they were doing before, and that's an amazing goal, and we celebrate them achieving that goal.

We don't shame or stigmatize their use. It's okay.

So then, since they achieved that goal, I could be like, "Okay! Do you wanna like, achieve another goal? Let's get you on, maybe, maintenance, MAT*," if they're ready. So they join a methadone program. Um, and they're still using, but they're only using 2 times a day now, they're using clean needles, and they're on maintenance, they're on methadone. So, that is a huge achievement! And if they achieve that goal, that is something to be celebrated! Like that is harm reduction, and meeting someone where they're at.

So when this case first came in, think about it: They were using 8 times a day, they were using dirty syringes, which is a risk for HIV, Hep C, and infections, um, and you know they were not on maintenance, all this stuff. Now, they're only using 2 times a day, they're using clean syringes, they're disposing of them properly, and they're on maintenance. That's an amazing achievement in itself, so we celebrate that!

Then, say they're ready to get housing, because housing is a form of harm reduction. I can get them into a shelter, maybe an apartment, or we could work something out, depending on the individual and what they're um, you know, um, accessible— what's accessible to them.

So they go from being houseless to being in a shelter, only using 2 times a day, being on maintenance, and using clean syringes. That in itself is an amazing achievement. So, they didn't stop use, they didn't get totally "clean", they're not totally "abstinent", but they're, like, way— they're using in a way safer way then they were before.

And you might think that's not an achievement, "Oh my God, they only... achieve this much," but to the— to anybody else, this is a huge achievement, and this is something that should be celebrated!

Then, one day, say they're ready to come in, and they're like, "Yeah, I wanna get on Suboxone**, I want to stop using completely," or "I wanna go to detox," then we can help them with that as well. Like, it all depends on the individual, and the person themselves, and meeting them where they're at.

So, if someone you love is using, and you know they're using, and you wanna help them, don't— don't help them in a stigmatized way, don't stigmatize their drug use, don't shame them, don't... force them to get clean. Um, that is basically not helping in any type of way.

And I know your intentions are probably good, but the outcome is not always good.

So try giving them fentanyl testing strips, try giving them access to clean syringes, try hooking them up with harm reduction centers, try anything you can, AA, NA***, I mean, I'm not big fans of AA or NA, but it works for some people, like anything you can.

But meet that individual where they're at, and be prepared for what that individual is ready for, and do it on their timeline, that's the most important part.

And I hope that this explains it well, I know it's a really long video, I'm sorry, but I'm just trying my best to explain a really complicated matter in like, as short and simple as possible. I hope it helps!

end transcript]

the final part of the video is a cut to a yellow sign that says "end the drug war" with a caption that says "END THE DRUG WAR!!! save lives!!!!" end video description]

*MAT: medication-assisted treatment

**Suboxone: a treatment for opiate addiction