About once a month, I receive an email from the Eastern Ontario Health Unit with a press release about drug use in the Cornwall area. For health unit coverage purposes, “Cornwall area” includes our area. I usually set the release aside simply because what happens in Cornwall is not necessarily a reflection of what is happening in Winchester and area, but that doesn’t mean that North Dundas is drug-free.
I’ve heard tell of drug use locally, and I’m sure many readers have as well. Being a much wealthier area than Cornwall, drug use here in North Dundas is more likely to happen invisibly inside a home than in the street for all to see. Drug users are not likely to advertise their habits, so we will likely never get a clear picture of the local drug scene.
I studied addictions as part of my schooling, and there are a lot of moving parts. When we talk about drug use, it can include things that are legal (alcohol and cannabis), and of course things that are not legal (I have personally heard of both methamphetamine and cocaine use happening in Winchester, and there are likely other substances in use as well). We also may be talking about experimental use (such as teens at a party) or full-blown dependent 24/7 use.
North Dundas has great kids and teens. I try not to act like a grump when I have to pick up the occasional drink cup or snack wrapper on the Winchester Public School yard and throw it in the garbage can 20 feet away. At first there are mumblings in my head about how someone needs to teach these youngsters a thing or two about respecting public property. But after I take a few deep breaths, it always occurs to me – these teens are choosing to hang out in a space that is supervised by professional educators for 12 hours a day, Monday-Friday. They are choosing a space monitored by security cameras, directly across the street from an active police station and a hospital, not to mention being adjacent to a busy street with dozens of cars every hour. When I find a KitKat wrapper and an empty slushie cup, the optimist in me thinks “if this is rebellion, Winchester is turning out some pretty good kids”. I have to imagine that in other areas – perhaps Cornwall included – it could be needles or pills found on the schoolyard. I’m happy to report that nothing so dangerous has ever surfaced at WPS.
That’s not to say that it’s always just candy wrappers. I’ve found empty vapes, alcohol cans, and recently, a 9 year old boy found a lighter on the yard and screamed at me in panic to take it from him because it was “illegal”. Sometimes innocence is precious. The point is – Winchester’s youth (and adults) are not perfect when it comes to experimenting with substances, but we also have to look on the side of optimism. We’re a pretty well-behaved and clean community.
One thing that concerns me is that in 3 years of working for the Times, I have never seen a “drug use is down” type of press release come through. When you compound the almost monthly emails from the EOHU about drug-related poisonings on the rise, it becomes clear that there is a problem building up in the world that North Dundas can’t hide from forever. We feel the stress of life here too. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been shocked at how rapidly grocery prices are rising. My wife enjoys the Tim Hortons Keurig steeped tea pods. I remember when they were $9.99 no more than 2 years ago. I have watched the price jump to $13.49, not even gradually. The last increase was a full dollar – $12.49 to $13.49. That rate of inflation is unprecedented, and though I don’t excuse drug use, part of me understands why people turn to coping mechanisms when life is so unaffordable and unmanageable with no end in sight.
It’s almost a given that there is “private” illegal drug use happening in North Dundas. If it’s a loved one, how can you help? This may seem worthy of an “eye roll”, but – love them! I recently came across an article that was very critical of Harm Reduction. Why? Because it’s better to punish and shame drug users instead of realizing that they have an actual mental illness worthy of treatment? The basic idea of Harm Reduction is that substance users are going to use, so why not prevent the associated harm? Think of all the gang activity that is rooted in drug use. The illegality of drugs is what breeds the left, shootings, and other criminal activity. Harm Reduction is a different way of approaching the issue, and we can use the concept on a smaller scale as well.
If there is a drug user in your family, do you hate them, or just their habit? My guess is the latter, although sometimes we get mixed up and believe it’s the former. My advice: Write their eulogy. No not literally, but in your head. Think of what you would say at their funeral if they died tomorrow. It’s the easiest way to remember who they truly are, and why you love them. You may not be able to fix their addiction, but you can at least take away some of your own confusion and hurt. This same logic can apply to virtually any situation when we are inclined to choose hate. Sometimes anger and hate take more out of us than it’s worth. In the words of a young friend of mine, “if you can’t fix it in 30 seconds, maybe it’s not worth the worry”. Words to live by.
