Just Imagine…

My heart is breaking for a health care system that does not treat addicted people when they are "ready" to be treated.

In physical trauma, "readiness" is determined by the incident. Something happens and you need to get patched up.

With addiction, it is not quite that obvious but the need is just as great. The lack of medical care when the person is "ready" to receive it means that x number of bags of dope must be injected and x number of dates must be done so as to financially support the purchase of x number of bags. The end result of people not getting care when they are ready is: more people, made in the image of God, on the street, doing "tricks" occasionally getting their necks slashed, being raped at gunpoint or being crushed by an out of control car as they sleep on the sidewalk - all because the medical system that created and didn't control opioid use can't bring itself to correct their own gross error, acknowledge their mistake and take steps to save the lives of those people who they have all but destroyed.

When a human being suffering from addiction decides they are "ready," they should know that they can go to any medical facility and say "I'm ready." That House of Hippocrates should say "Welcome. Let's get started."

Imagine how many
• overdoses would never happen,
• slashed throats, black eyes, and rapes on "dates" would have been prevented,
• people would not die of pneumonia, drug-related heart and other organ issues,
• people would not be crushed by cars,
• arrests would not happen,
• how empty our jails would be and
• parents would be reunited with their children.

Just Imagine…