Listen & share with others to create greater understanding around opioid use, policy, and the ongoing crisis. Everyone’s voice and experience is a valuable contribution.
Opioid overdose deaths in British Columbia have led to the declaration of a public health emergency – but different people hold different views about how to address the emergency in our communities. No one has all the answers.
Now is a good time to begin having honest and open community dialogues about drugs and drug policy. Dialogue is not meant to lead immediately to agreement or action. Instead, the hope is that participants will come away with a better understanding of the subject, of each other and of themselves.
Dialogue to address the opioid crisis is far more than talking about drugs. Since addiction is not simply about drugs but results from a breakdown in the fabric or connectedness of human community, the dialogue needs to help us understand each other and build social relationships that support individual needs, preferences and autonomy.
“Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.”–Jane Goodall
As part of the coffee shop dialogues, sketch books are to be found at each of the participating cafés with the hopes that those who would like to contribute but perhaps cannot make it on a Friday morning or would simply prefer to write and/or draw can do so at their convenience and comfort level. All contributions are welcome. There are a few prompts found on the inside of the books for those who are curious but not quite sure about it.
We have become used to debates that pit one against another: idea against idea, agenda against agenda, and person against person. But debates don’t build community. Those who lose do not go away, they simply stop taking part. Disconnection actually contributes to the tensions and divisions that are having devastating consequences in our world. People who are disconnected have important knowledge that can help us build safer and healthier communities. By talking to people from different backgrounds and vantage points, we become more informed. When we are more informed, we tend to make better choices. Those choices affect everybody.
Come join us for more Opioid Dialogues!
Friday March 9 at Fernwood Café 9am – 12pm.
