Jasneet shares some misconceptions around the opioid crisis.
There’s strong stigma that people battling substance use are usually homeless, or homelessness is always a result of addiction. The truth is, these things can happen to anyone. One population Jasneet, a harm reduction worker, is particularly close to are veterans, as she manages supportive housing for people who have served the country.
“From my conversations with the residents, they fell into addiction because of mental illness that they suffered as a result of their service,” she explains. “There are a lot of misconceptions about people who are suffering from addiction—that it’s because of the bad decisions that they made. But a lot of them didn’t make any bad decisions. People will say ‘thank you for your service’ when it comes to veterans and kind of leave it at that. But PTSD is a huge part of what affects them. They need support.”
Through her work, Jasneet says that some people have misconceptions about the clients she helps. “They might say, ‘oh, so you work with crazy people,’” she says. “And I have to say, that’s not accurate, nor the best way to put it.”
There’s a big difference between the idea of ‘someone who makes bad decisions’ and ‘one bad decision.’ With Canada’s dangerous toxic street drug supply, that one bad decisions or lapse in judgement can end up having serious consequences.
“You may not realize it,” says Jasneet,
“But we’re all one bad stroke of luck away from finding ourselves on the streets.”
She recalls the story of a quiet man who came to her shelter—he was not struggling with addiction at all and had no obvious mental health problems. But he had been recently evicted and had no friends or family to stay with locally. The shelter agreed to house him while he figured out a next step.
“I was shocked one day to learn he’d had an overdose,” says Jasneet. “He had tried fentanyl for the first time ever, after someone offered him some. He didn’t really know what it was but figured ‘why not?’ Luckily, we were able to revive him with naloxone.”
From veterans to ordinary folks who make mistakes, the opioid crisis is widespread and multifaceted. “In my experience, it’s always complex with many different factors involved,” says Jasneet. “Big picture, the most impactful thing that we can do is advocate for more support from anyone and everyone who can help create better outcomes for those struggling with addiction.”