Written by Leah McLeod
1 November 2024 will mark our 16th International Drug Users Day, #IDUD24.
And how far we have come in addressing our massive agenda, things like preventing & treating blood borne viruses; tackling stigma & discrimination; reducing fatalities from overdose; expanding harm reduction; and demanding drug law reform. And yet, despite this fistful of harm being so central to the life of a user in 2024 that it can feel like these issues are hardwired to our sense of self, none of them are putting on a one-issue show for 1 November.
Rather, IDUD stands as a reminder that our lives are so much more meaningful than a daily dance to sidestep harm & trauma, armed with whatever harm reduction tools & tips we can amass (entirely dependent on local funding & policies) and a gauzy strip of resilience that seems to be our “gain from pain”.
IDUD then is bright, not gloomy; is based in hope, not fear; and values diversity over homogeneity. Anyone who’s ever insisted on going it alone will appreciate our collective approach to the anniversary. I love the energy that comes from belonging to a kind and inclusive community that has my back, and it is beyond special to have access to this international group of activists simply by self identifying as a person who uses drugs. On IDUD, we honour our community as one.
You don’t need us to tell you how tricky life can be sometimes. That’s for everyone on the planet, but there is special hardship that comes from the way that we are treated and dehumanised. But maybe you do need us to tell you that you deserve to feel good about yourself.
This year, our theme is all about choice. There is a massive surge in our self-acceptance in feeling connected to the other 16 million people who use drugs around the world, while enjoying the personal freedom to define our own relationship to drugs. And there is amazing satisfaction in motivating our local community to celebrate their identity, choices and straight-up fabulousness – especially if it includes slicing up dozens of pieces of INPUD’s party-starter birthday cake while pretending my eyes aren’t damp because a friend is reading aloud from the Vancouver Declaration (btw it’s not emotion, it’s the fucking onion icing, I tell you!). For me it doesn’t come awesome-er than the bottled goodness of feel-good solidarity, mixed through with the daily recommended serving of high quality self-determination. You know the label has to say: “Essence of the IDUD spirit”.
We know that of itself, drug use doesn’t make us sick or selfish or evil or mean or helpless. It doesn’t turn us into Jimi Hendrix or Billie Holiday or Marilyn Monroe or Bill Burroughs or Iggy Pop (more’s the pity) or make us a bad parent or an irresponsible worker or a flawed human being (thank god). Nor does it stop us making art, looking at sunsets, playing golf or learning guitar. Importantly, our own use doesn’t stop us getting behind a friend who chooses abstinence, whether theirs is a recent decision or a lifelong one.
But sadly the drug policies and laws around the globe place such limits around identity that acknowledging people who use drugs comes down to these pre-packaged stereotypes: the criminal and the patient, the latter in this season’s colours of the victim, for whom dependency is the result of abuse and coercion and the delusional, who refuses to understand that experiencing a distressing state of out of control, stuck & desperate merely requires a single performance criteria – drug use.
This year, we at INPUD want our community to enjoy the gift of reflection, thinking through the decisions we have made and owning our choices along with their consequences. We wanted a day to shake off shame and blame and feel at peace with our path. We wanted to say hey here’s a day out of life when we can let warmth of self-esteem, personal dignity & integrity set the tone. Time to feel the connection between us. And the opportunity to feel proud of our contribution to the global agenda over the last 12 months plus. Because whether you picked up extra fits for a mate, represented our community at a United Nations meeting, reversed an overdose with naloxone, spoke at a webinar on self-determination, stuck up for another user when they were getting hassled or wrote a paper for a journal on drug policy, your contribution was essential to the steps forward that our community took this year.
Let’s make this the season to recognise our choices and get loud in celebrating our independent thinking, as we reject stereotypes and myths about drug users and decide our own moral compass points. Let’s congratulate ourselves for learning how to hold space for ourselves, to self-regulate, to acquire the skills and qualities we admire and to represent our views and preferences, standing firm and graceful even in the face of misunderstanding and disrespect. So that whatever our choices, we use 1 November to celebrate our worth, authenticity and dignity.
Here are some things of which I am very very sure. We are awesome human beings with the same strong claim to human rights as the rest of the world. Central to those rights is that we must be free to make decisions about what we do with our own bodies and that includes embracing the adventure of dignity of risk that may be a feature of our personalities. Feeling the security of belonging and enjoying the knowledge that we are treasured and wanted is something every single person deserves and we need. It is right that we own a valued position in our chosen community of people who use drugs. We should be commended for all that we bring to our friends, family, workmates and acquaintances in the wider community, including the issues we embrace, the care we show and the energy we bring to everything that is important to us.
This IDUD, please note that you are loved and respected for the choices you have made and the person that you are. And in conclusion please be reassured that we are keen for you to eat the biggest piece of rich cake you can find that meets your health needs and environmental commitment. As for me, I’ll be unpacking my drug user pride, because in my head it’s quite simple: I am user, hear me roar! And, you know, watch me eat cake.