Punks and Hard Drugs

This is a complex subject to me.
My first time on adhd meds i was 5, when i no longer had that by age 7 i turned to caffiene as a substitute. Going from adderal to caffiene meant i was already having to drink the daily maximum dose recommended for adults (400mg caffiene).

At 8 i wound up with a pair of my dad's socks in my laundry and found my first gram of cannabis. Mids too. Haha. Being raised catholic this is also the time the church started giving us wine. This is also when i became a glue head

My memory sucks but between 11 and 13 is when i picked up tobacco. Up until high school i mostly stuck to caffiene, cannabis, booze, and glue.

In high school i went full swing, picked adderal back up, found out i love klonopin, did too much dxm, discovered poppy tea, started abusing my psych meds to get high, and [progressed] into alcoholism. I used to leave class and by the time i got back someone would have left a goodybag of free pills in my backpack. Never found out who it was. At 16 i was backstage at a LOC show and tried crack, it was fun but not something i really seek out.
My abuse continued until i dropped out and my ex left me because i got fed up with the gaslighting and their beating me, and retaliated.

These days i use cannabis, kratom, caffiene, and nicotine daily, i drink every once in a while. Some months more than others. If psychadelics are offered i gladly partake. I still use speed a couple times a year, generally if i find my caffiene tolerance is too high, and the same for poppy tea if kratom isnt enough for my pain.

With my drug use history out of the way:

Drug use has always coincided with our community. While i do see addiction as an epidemic to us, i try my damn hardest to not judge addicts in our community. Especially being an addict myself, it would be pure hypocrisy.

The one that has killed most of my friends is heroin, and there have been countless times where there was no way to call for help and i really just wanted some narcan for whomever i was with. Speed is a close second.

Due to the shitstorm that is the american healthcare system, we unfortunately cannot rely on them to help our sick kin. I think the best solution we have is to set up sober punk houses that focus rehabilitation. With that we need to remember that relapse happens, and that relapsing isnt necessarily a hard reset on your sobriety.

At the end of the day, i know that some of us are straight edge, some of us like our drugs. Whether you are sober or not, it is our job to lift each other up and support each other rather than judge each other