Damien
Bluelight Crew
I've been thinking about how "harm reduction" is different than enabling and I'm wondering where is the line if there is one. I was thinking about the classic situation of a parent(s) allowing their child(ren) and maybe their friends to drink alcohol to an excess in their home under their supervision because "they are going to do it anyway" and if they are under their watch they are in a "controlled" environment.
Growing up I always thought this was un-wise and also enabling the children to do what they please. There were points in my life where I challenged my parents' authority and tested their boundaries. If they had put their foot down, I would've backed down but often they didn't and I learned how to stretch my boundaries to eventually get what I wanted or at least avoid a lot of flack for it.
On Bluelight You can learn to shoot up heroin as safely as possible. I'm sure this has to spur people, who if they never had the knowledge would not have ever tried IV heroin, to actually try it. I think we are, in some way, enabling people to shoot IV heroin.
I've had a night to think about this more since I've started this post and I think I've come to some kind of conclusion. We might enable people to do some thing that they would've never done without the knowledge we provide, but that doesn't mean that they didn't make the choice to do it. I'm a believer of personal responsibility and I think that even if you're being enabled, you still have to take responsibility for the decision you made.
I think I'm just coming to terms with the fact that "harm reduction" isn't the solution I thought it was when I first started researching it. While I think that it is others' responsibility to make wise decisions I don't want to be one that makes it easier to make unwise decisions e.g. try cocaine the "safe" way.
Thoughts?
Growing up I always thought this was un-wise and also enabling the children to do what they please. There were points in my life where I challenged my parents' authority and tested their boundaries. If they had put their foot down, I would've backed down but often they didn't and I learned how to stretch my boundaries to eventually get what I wanted or at least avoid a lot of flack for it.
On Bluelight You can learn to shoot up heroin as safely as possible. I'm sure this has to spur people, who if they never had the knowledge would not have ever tried IV heroin, to actually try it. I think we are, in some way, enabling people to shoot IV heroin.
I've had a night to think about this more since I've started this post and I think I've come to some kind of conclusion. We might enable people to do some thing that they would've never done without the knowledge we provide, but that doesn't mean that they didn't make the choice to do it. I'm a believer of personal responsibility and I think that even if you're being enabled, you still have to take responsibility for the decision you made.
I think I'm just coming to terms with the fact that "harm reduction" isn't the solution I thought it was when I first started researching it. While I think that it is others' responsibility to make wise decisions I don't want to be one that makes it easier to make unwise decisions e.g. try cocaine the "safe" way.
Thoughts?