The second annual Stop the Stigma rally took place this past Friday at Market Square, downtown Guelph. The event focused on eliminating the stigma surrounding substance abuse and addiction.
The rally was organized by the Wellington-Guelph Drug Strategy (WGDS), which is a coalition of approximately 30 different organizations in the area (including the University of Guelph) who act as the area’s frontline harm-reduction working group.
The main purpose of the rally was to bring addiction and substance use and abuse to the forefront of conversation, in order to confront stigma and to facilitate much-needed dialogue that needs to be had within Canada. This issue is greatly underrepresented in the media, and often does not receive adequate attention from the government.
Jenn Greenwood, an outreach worker with the Guelph Community Health Centre, spoke to The Ontarion about the urgency of drug addictions, and the ongoing opioid crisis, stating: “As long as we keep substance abuse in the shadows, people will die.”
Organizers stressed the importance of following the rally’s slogan and encouraged everyone to begin to “put the us in substance abuse.”
One of the main issues with combating substance abuse is the cloud of secrecy that surrounds the problem. This is not an issue that can effectively be tackled if people are too uncomfortable to talk about it.
Speakers at the rally sought to break down the fundamental misunderstandings surrounding substance use, so that people may begin to talk about it uninhibitedly, as is the case with less stigmatized problems.
This open line of communication is critical in order for people to feel comfortable coming forward to ask for help.
“People view addiction as a character flaw, when in reality, it is not. Addiction is a natural human process and affects all of us, not just the addict in the alleyway, and needs to be viewed as such,” said Adrienne Crowder, manager of the WGDS, in an interview with The Ontarion.
Crowder encourages everyone to actively challenge each other when faced with judgement, as well as to stop and reflect on the impact that addiction has on our own lives.
Photo courtesy of Huffington Post