Updated: May 20, 2022
I consider myself to be somewhat progressive, or centre-left. I support ideals like universal healthcare, curbing climate change, guaranteed income for those less fortunate, and harm reduction. I believe in helping people, and I do not understand why the UCP does their level best to abandon those in desperate need. Jason Kenney’s modus operandi: - “if God didn’t want them sheared, he wouldn’t have made them sheep.”
This brings me to our topic; Red Deer’s Turning Point. Harm reduction is grace in action. People who use drugs might not make the best life choices, but my friends who work for organizations such as Turning Point, they choose not to inflict judgement on top of already severe social and economic consequences. This is the least we should do.
Have we gotten to the point where love, grace and education have become negative values? Today we concern ourselves with $6.00 lattes, real estate valuations, and owning the largest truck on the block. Not only is this a ridiculous existence, but it would seem we lost our humanity to rabid consumerism.
Some will say harm reduction supports addictions and is therefore bad. I counter with the argument that harm reduction instead sees the world with clarity, then acts in good conscience to minimize harmful effects of drug use. Do not mistake me, addiction is never a good thing, but it will always exist in our world. We should treat the people who live with drug use as real people who deserve aid, because they are and do.
Our actions define us as individuals and collectively, as a society. We either choose actions that promote our own self-interest, or we operate with the health and welfare of our brothers and sisters in the forefronts of our minds. I would like to think I choose actions that promote the common good, even at the expense of self, and I believe this includes supporting the harm reduction initiatives at Turning Point.
Joshua Wiebe