I don't encourage excessive drinking, or drugs, but realistically speaking, let's accept the fact they're out there. The customer's are lining up with shopping carts of alcoholic spirits and beverages, the cannabinoid vampires are getting their weed, and the hard drug users - well, maybe they'll consider backing off a bit and even maybe recognizing there is a limit to what us human beings can endure physically and seek help.
Over the years I've met pretty much all kinds of "drug users", from those who have self-control to those who have lost it. As I've said before, drunks scare me the most, but mostly because they feel free to terrorize the towns and highways.
The following are BobKat's harm reduction suggestions... maybe if just one person reads this and a injury is avoided/a life saved, it'll mean something, and make this post worthy of my efforts.
1) Don't drink alcohol or use recreational drugs and drive. Period!
I have a dear family friend who got in trouble! In a sense she was fortunate, in that, she and her new husband went to a party one night and they both got blind drunk. Although it was her husband's truck they left in, my friend decided to drive because HE was too drunk; but she was too! Being drunk causes stupidity, plain and simple. She was always the responsible one in the family... but that night, she made a BIG mistake thinking she'd be a better driver than her husband.
My friend was in school to be a registered nurse, and now she has a record: "aggravated DWI. He wasn't charged. Now she has no driver's license, has spent time in jail, and more.
Why didn't they call a cab??? Because they were drunk, and they felt fearless. That's alcohol, feeling fearless.
2) Cannabis use may seem safe - and I believe in many ways it is. But if you use cannabis, the opposite can happen... you can feel fearful, especially on the highway. Someone who has never used cannabis prior to the day they do, are especially vulnerable, as they have no experience with the effects of cannabis. Stay put if you're high... take a long walk, unless it's dangerous outside. But just because you may have experience doesn't mean you're prepared for the unexpected. Cannabis is a herb to use when you're safe indoors, if you go out, a straight person drives. It's common sense, and unlike alcohol users, cannabis users seem to retain most of their common sense.
3) This is important - this is the time of year often hardest on people who, for whatever reason, are feeling lonesome, alone or abandoned... I've been there and in some ways i'm still doing that! I've come to an understanding though, about my existence, and that is, the planet itself is not safe, but I am, or seem to be, at present (knocked on wood:).
There is a lot of uncertainty, yes. I've experienced it. Drives me nuts, internally. So I write. And do other things. I accept it somehow...
Sometimes Life gets hard to take in - breathe in...
I know.
***
If you use drugs - alcohol, cannabis, and others, don't drive... until the effects have had hours to wear off... call a cab, designate a person to drive who doesn't use intoxicants and euphorics, or stay put. If you're at a party and you must get home, have no money for a cab, and there is no designated driver... make a PLAN - let family or friends know you're going to a party and may not be able to drive... ask them ahead of time if they'd be willing to come get you, rather than the worst case - post your bail or ID your dead body (along with other, often innocent persons) at the morgue!
I want you around in one piece next year to follow my blog and the blogs of my friends, like Slam Dunk.
So please... Be Safe this Christmas, Ho Ho ;> And Not SORRY!!!
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