Down But Not Out/addiction

Digital photoArt by Ronzig depicting homeless people and their squats plus articles and commentary by Ronzig about crack cocaine, heroin alcohol and other addictions. What is being done and what needs to be done and the support systems in Toronto. Stories of addiction and its effects on the people addicted and on society as a whole. You can comment on content seen on this page by going to the bottom of the page. Every page on the site will have a comment section at the bottom.

Four years ago on this date, I left the homeless life behind for good and swore off drugs and alcohol. I've been clean and sober and off the streets ever since. To all the wonderful friends who supported me and helped me to accomplish this, I want to say THANK YOU.

October 1, 2009

Four years ago on this date, I moved into my first real home in 10 years. At first I couldn’t get used to it. I couldn’t sleep and I missed the street. I felt claustrophobic with a roof over my head and isolated from everyone and everything that I knew, but I couldn’t reach out to my past. I had to avoid familiar places and familiar places. There was danger there. I had to regain my strength before I could see my old friends without relapsing.

It’s safe now though and I spend a lot of my time visiting the old haunts and hanging with the old friends. I do this as part of my mission.

When you’re a homeless addict, you feel so very hopeless. Nobody who gets out ever comes back unless they relapse. If a friend hasn’t been around for a while, you assume he left town or is in jail or the hospital or DEAD. It never even crosses your mind that he got clean and sober.

I go back to show that IT CAN BE DONE. I don’t preach about it. I just let them see that I made it. That way I figure that they can hang on to hope. When they are ready they will know that I did it and they’ll know that they can too. That little spark of hope is perhaps all that they need to try once more. Maybe this time it’ll work.

So I visit my old friends, but I have many new friends that are part of my new drug free life, so I am doubly fortunate, thank God.

I see two reasons why there is so much corruption.

1. MONEY. There is such an immense amount of money involved here that the drug lords can afford to buy just about anyone they think can protect them. That means police who only go after the unconnected dealers and leave their bosses alone, thereby eliminating unwanted competition. That means judges who refuse to convict or provide light sentencing to connected traffickers. AND that means politicians who refuse to put any teeth in the legal system.

2. Even more sinister is ECONOMIC SLAVERY. Our socio-economic system is designed to force people at the bottom to work like slaves all their life to keep a meagre home for themselves and their families. They live in perpetual debt with the constant fear that everything they have can be confiscated at any time if they don’t tow the line. The men of power who benefit from this system of slavery direct the politicians to legislate in their favour; the judges to rule in their favour and the police to enforce in their favour. Drugs have become a tool that the fat cats appreciate because it is a means of silencing the people who refuse to accept the slavery. THEY DON’T WANT THE DRUGS TO STOP. To counter the few who do speak out, they have created the myth that these brave souls are PARANOID.

If paranoia means being appalled by the cynicism and corruption that permeates our society at all levels, then I AM PARANOID.

What happened?

It’s common knowledge that substance abuse is endemic amongst the homeless community, but have you ever stopped to wonder why?

I have met pre teen girls whose addicted mothers started them on heroin or crack and put them to work as prostitutes.

I have met young boys and girls who grew up in homes where alcohol and drug abuse were the norm.

I have met children who left their homes because of physical, psychological or sexual abuse and turned to drugs and alcohol to dull the pain.

I have met aging and dying people who should have become revered seniors in our society who are the result of similar situations.

I have met countless homeless people who never used drugs before society turned its back on them and left them to struggle for survival on the streets. When society turns it’s back and life becomes a minute by minute struggle to stay alive, substance abuse is a natural and nearly inevitable result. Every one of us would seek some kind of comfort from the pain of exclusion.

I have met many others like myself who were unaware of the dangers of drug use until it was too late, We thought the warnings were just more lies from the slave masters of our present socio economic system.

I have NEVER MET anyone who woke up one morning and said to themselves, “What should I do today? I know, I’ll become a drug addict.”

Other than homelessness and substance abuse, these people are NO DIFFERENT than anyone else. They laugh, they cry and they try to survive.

Think about it. Should society penalize these victims and condemn them to a premature death or should we do more to find a way to help them?

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