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“Everybody’s looking for help:” Addicts discuss need for safe consumption site in Lethbridge

Jan 20, 2018 | 8:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE – “I guess they just have to live the life to understand. Because nobody understands it. I never used to understand it, until what happened to me.”

John (Not his actual name, but he was uncomfortable being identified for this interview) casts his eyes down at his hands, as he talks about the need for the ARCHES supervised consumption site that’s set to open in Lethbridge within the next few months.

“I lost my kids, and I got depressed and I had nothing to go to,” he continues, keeping his gaze lowered. “Alcohol wasn’t doing nothing no more, so I tried this drug, and I almost liked it. I liked it and I hated it at the same time. It takes something away, it takes the feeling away that I don’t like, but it brings [another] feeling that I don’t like.”

When asked what he uses, John simply replies “Everything”.

It’s a relatively warm January day after recent cold snaps, as Lethbridge News Now speaks to several clients who are visiting Streets Alive Mission, looking for something to eat and possibly a clean change of clothes. We’re asking if they see a benefit to the ARCHES site, and if they or their friends will use it when it opens.

The facility will be home to the first inhalation site – along with booths for injection, snorting and taking pills – in North America. It comes amid an ongoing opioid crisis across the continent, that has resulted in high numbers of overdose deaths.

The interview with John starts slowly. His answers are very short, generally confined to one or two words. He says the drug users he knows will probably use the site, saying, “If someone ODs, at least there’s somebody there.” When asked if some of the additional services offered – such as addictions counselling – will help users get clean, he starts to open up.

“Yeah [it will help], cause there’s a lot of people that are tired of this,” John says, before taking a long pause and then pressing forward, unprompted. “Actually, I use, and I’m tired of it. It ain’t going anywhere. You get up to it, go to sleep to it. Actually, I don’t sleep… I’m tired of doing it.”

Similar comments are echoed by Natasha, who only provides her middle name.

“Me personally, I use alone. So, it’ll be good to be with other people around in case something does happen, other than me being out there and something happening and not anybody knowing,” she replies, when asked if she will use the facility.

“At this point, I don’t use it to get high anymore, I use it so I’m not sick, so I’m normal,” she continues.

Natasha did manage to get clean for about a year-and-a-half, before falling back into old habits as she struggled with issues surrounding her marriage and family. She uses fentanyl and crystal meth, and acknowledges that it can be scary, but says after a hard day, the need for relief overrides everything else.

When asked if she has any interest in taking advantage of addictions counselling while using at the supervised consumption site, she says yes, but quickly adds that it isn’t quite that easy.

“It’s not something that you [can] be forced into, you have to want it,” she explains. “Soon though. It’s getting harder out there to live like this.

“The money to get the drugs, and the things you have to do to get money…” Natasha trails off. “People steal, some girls sell themselves. It all depends on you, I guess.”

Having heard that, how can someone help from the outside? John says it comes down to opening the lines of communication.

“Talk to people more,” he explains. “People don’t know what [drug addicts are] capable of or what they could do, and that’s the reason why they’re scared of them. But, if you get to talk to them, know them… we’re OK.

“Nobody wants to talk about it,” John continued. “[If] someone reaches out to people, they’ll reach back and they’ll look for help, because everybody’s looking for help.”