Something that new to me, that I’ve learned about in the last five years is Harm Reduction. Harm Reduction is an evidenced-based, client centred approach that seeks to reduce the health and social harms for those who struggle with addiction or substance use. There’s a controversial aspect to it, that it does not require the person to abstain or stop from using substances.
Now the much younger more religious me from about twenty years ago would absolutely be against it. But I was naive and kind of an asshole. Now, after living and dealing with my own susbstance use issues, I realize that my world was way too small and that there are much smarter people out there who really want to best for themselves and others, but due to circumstances are stuck.
So essential to a harm reduction approach is that it provides people a choice of how they themselves will minimize harms through no-coercive strategies to help themselves live safer.
Now fair warning, things are about to get controversial.
I met someone through my various contacts who like to use marijuana for pregnant people as a harm reduction tactic. Their site is here. She’s been a doula for years and has worked with those are either in active use or recovery.
I hope this goes without saying, that pregnant people should choose the best life for themselves and for their little ones who are not yet born.
But we have to realize that we live in a system designed to keep a certain type of person in power and where poverty is rampant and sexual education doesn’t have a national standard here in Canada. Leaving each province to incorporate its own curriculum and variations across the country.
My opinion is that drug use is one symptom of a system of harm, but not a cause. Mental health, racism and privilege all work against some of our citizens who do not access to protective social institutions.
So how does mary jane enter the picture. Juliet, the doula mentioned above has worked with clients who have issues with addiction but (of course!!) want to try their best once they get pregnant. So instead of living in active addiction with a class A narcotic they will turn to pot for the duration of their pregnancy to manage their symptoms and to do less harm to their own bodies and the little body inside them.
I am floored by the compassion and the education that harm reduction can bring. It can be the difference between a life feeling stuck or a life that can make choices for themselves. For some people, me included, realizing that I had the ability to make choices while in active addiction led me down the path to full sobriety. It was not a clear, breezy path. But the ability to choose the substance I was using allowed me to slowly wind down and them slowly move toward sobriety. I’ve been sober for over seven years now.
So, in my squarely middle age years I’ve become a much better person, less judgmental and more compassionate to others. Harm reduction and mary jane can work wonders together.
