People who use drugs deserve love and kindness.

Abstinence is not the only form of recovery. AA/NA doesn’t work for everyone. Sometimes people choose to use instead of meeting other needs, which is valid. Some people use for recreational purposes. Some people use for medicinal purposes. Some people who use have substance abuse disorder. Treatment looks different for everyone. Not everyone needs or wants treatment, for various reasons. The only thing Naloxone enables is breathing. Active use is not shameful. People who use drugs often also deal drugs. People in recovery should not shame active users. Active users deserve love. Active users deserve someone to check in on them, get them safer use supplies, and get them pizza. Active users deserve to be listened to. They deserve better than to have that be the first time anyone ever treated them as human since they began using.

Let’s care for each other.

I just huffed paint for the first time it was an accident but it's fuckin fun right but I'm curious now like, what's the dangers? How long does a high like it last? Doesn't feel too crazy, already feeling less high, which makes sense. Anyway it was an accident but now I'm curious. It's fun but I didn't mean to. So yeah. What's the dangers of it? Thanks Shezza xoxo lmao

'Accident' for sure. I know a lot about such 'accidents'.

The dangers would be brain damage and shrinkage, cerebellum and white matter atrophy, as the solvents kill nerve cells, and the inhalants restrict air flow to the nerve cells, and they rapidly deteriorate and die without oxygen. The result is mental impairment, loss of motor control and issues with vision and hearing. But you know to get brain damage one has to have a brain to begin with, so for you there shouldn't be any dangers regarding this.

Toluene is in many products the main solvent, and a central nervous system depressant causing the intoxicating effects, by interacting with dopamine, glycine and GABA receptors causing sedation, disorientation and euphoria. However the high is very short lived, although after-effects of dizziness, nausea, confusion and other side effects can continue for several hours. And toluene is known to be neurotoxic, already damaging nerve cells in a single exposure, so well done. It is also suspected to increase leukemia risk, but not conclusively proven yet. Toluene also affects the heart destabilising it's electrical signaling, and destroys hemoglobin in the erythrocytes, causing anemia and worsening oxygen transport further. Other high-inducing solvents would be butane or benzene.

Another danger is 'sudden sniffing death', which occurs either because the lungs have been completely filled with the inhalant, making it inaccessible to oxygen, causing painful suffocation. Or because the inhalants or the oxygen deprivation can cause rapid and irregular heartbeats, which end in cardiac arrest, causing sudden death. The inhalants make the heart more sensitive towards adrenaline, thus when someone who is using an inhalant gets startled, it could cause a sudden heart attack. Even in young people, there was a case of a 16-year old male dying because he used too many body spray cans in his room without properly ventilating it, even without the intent to abuse it. They suspected some sort of foul play or murder, but in reality he just died because he excessively and obsessively sprayed himself with deodorant, completely filling his room with butane until it reached toxic levels.

So for such a short-lived and small high the risks are definitely not worth it. I would say it is even more dangerous than cocaine or morphine with such a sudden death, but weirdly products containing such solvents are for sale everywhere and everyone has them in their home, even though they could potentially be so dangerous and addictive. Really makes you question drug regulations and penalties, doesn't it?

So have fun huffing your paints, if you still dare to.

If you use arab.org like I do please consider taking the extra 30-60 seconds to click on ALL of their causes. Palestine is important but so are the environment, refugees, children, women, and the impoverished across the middle east and it doesn't take away from Palestine to click for multiple causes. The arab world faces a lot of problems and they only get worsened by how western nations have oppressed and attacked them. Clicking is small but it generates something and overtime it does benefit the greater good. It takes all of us clicking as often as possible but we can do it! It's really easy and safe and they have proofs on their site on how they do make an impact and are donating your click money

They have since left four premature babies to decompose on their beds. They have since kidnapped, stripped, tortured civilians and tried to frame them as Hamas fighters for their propaganda. They have since shot people at refugee camps execution style. They have since targeted academics and poets and directors. They have since killed 86 journalists. Still no ceasefire.

psa: i know that many of us did NOT doubt this for a second, neither did i. this is targeted at the people who educated themselves for the first time about this genocide and discovered the absolute horrific things that Israel is capable of doing to Palestinians, with the unwavering support of its allies.

trans women are everywhere and are so eager to be seen and heard but only if they feel safe around you. if you hardly ever have trans women interacting with you, especially online, then consider there might be a reason for that and you should address it

favorite hobby when I'm driving is to catch someone trying to climb up my back bumper while I'm going a completely reasonable speed and just slowly take my foot off the gas. you seem upset, brother. why don't we slow down and enjoy the view awhile

Huh.

So I randomly remembered Croc is pretty much Italian.

nothing makes me more insane than the phrase "selling your body" btw. like was i not also selling my body at every other job i've had where i had to be on my feet all day, lifting boxes, working in a warehouse, etc. why is it that sex work is uniquely labeled as "selling your body" while every other job is sorted into another category, no matter how much that job might have a physical impact on your body. lmao.

Saying that cannabis isn’t a drug further stigmatizes drug use. Cannabis is a drug, and that’s okay. When you say it’s just a plant or it’s just medicine, while both those statements are true, it is harmful in many ways. People who use drugs are not bad. Drugs are not bad. Stop stigmatizing drug use and start encouraging safe drug use.

Most fucked up chocolate i have ever seen

Little things adults and older people can do to help younger people and children feel included, safe, and respected as an equal individual:

Ask before touching the young person - even for hugs. Ask before you take pictures of them, and let them see photographs of them before they are printed or sent to others (even family).

Apologize when you are wrong

Ask for a young persons thoughts on a subject, then engage with them after they have spoken

Demonstrate behaviour you want to see from them (see: apologizing). Say "excuse me," say "thank you," say "please" to them

Validate their feelings, even if they don't know how to express them just yet

Remember that this is the first time they've been alive, and that you've had way longer to "figure it out"

These are some things I wish other adults remembered when engaging with young folks. We so often forget what childhood felt like and how unfair it all was because we were often awarded freedoms as adults that we never had as children. These kids are equal to adults, and they deserve the same courtesy, respect, kindness, and understanding we give to other adults.

skyrim affirmations part 8

i think marinette is worse at resting when she's sick but adrien is worse at sitting things out if he's injured. i have no explanation, these are just the vibes

Love love LOVE the focus on Joel’s boots during his rampage in the hospital. Because it’s not in a fit of rage, or desperation. Joel’s face is blank. He’s not thinking about consequences of his actions. He’s thinking “you took away my daughter and now I’m getting her back.” It’s a skill he picked up from Tess. He knows what’s coming. There’s no need to get emotional about it. It’s the simplest thing in the world to him: “You don’t get to take her away from me. Not again.” Hell, he doesn’t even look at the doctor when he shoots him! He’s looking right at Ellie, his entire focus and purpose laying in front of him! Mans is straight up on autopilot!

Joel is a unstoppable force in his grief. And Ellie is the immovable object that keeps him from walking straight over the ledge.

A sketch I did a while back. Maybe Gale wouldn't mind Minthara stepping on him...