E12: Are We Criminalizing Suffering? A Conversation About Addiction with a Social Worker ft. Denae Pellerin

Wide Open Spaces Podcast

English - May 04, 2021 05:00 - 1 hour - 48.4 MB - ★★★★★ - 5 ratings
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Previous Episode: E11: Fish Are Friends Not Food - A Meateater in Dialogue with a Vegan

Next Episode: E13: How To Have Better Dialogue: Covid-19 Vaccine Edition

Drug addiction has been a big part of my family story. It’s a part of many of our stories. So when something so personal gets discussed in the context of politics, it can become a conversation full of powerful emotions and sharp division, depending on what role you believe the law should play in addiction response. On today’s episode, I spoke with Denae about her experience working with addicted youth and her perspective on why decriminalization may, nor may not, be the best way to create safer communities and to effectively lower overdose and addiction rates.

To learn more about Denae:

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/denae-pellerin

For an easy-to-watch video on Dr. Gabor Mate, who said that "addiction is a response to emotional pain:"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ys6TCO_olOc

Denae makes reference to several articles and statistical evidence regarding decriminalization. Here are the links for anyone interested in further research:

68% chance of reoffense after prison release (US): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3859122/

12-fold increase of likelihood to overdose after release from prison: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3414824/

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police stance on decriminalization of personal substance use:

https://www.cacp.ca/index.html?asst_id=2189

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chiefs-police-decriminalize-posession-personal-use-1.5643687