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Is our society failing us all ? Brian's story from his dads perspective. 6-6-2022 My son Brian was injured in an accident at a young age. Like most of us who have pain, we are prescribed medication. I am unsure what kind of medication it was. This was in the early 90's Fast forward. After his passing at 38yrs of age from an overdose / poisoning I was informed that during that time he was on that pain medication he expressed a deep love and appreciation for how the medication made him feel when he took it. It was also stated that Brian continued to search for and eventually struggled with illicit drugs trying to relive those feelings unknown to me. Now going back in time when he was a young adult. I knew he would drink and smoke pot. I always tried to express my concern, being I struggled with addiction myself. I would often say everything in moderation. Well, obviously, I was not talking about a drug that could and can kill you and does kill you instantly. This is one of many of the big "what ifs" and " if only " "If I had just not said everything in moderation." If only I had known he was struggling with that particular drug. I had to stop myself from thinking about that. I will never know that answer. It breaks my heart even writing these words today. Brian passed on June 22, 2019 Our families and our lives changed forever that day. In many different and painful ways. Brian's addiction or SUD ( Substance Use Disorder ) was what killed him. It was not who he was. Brian was hard-working, thoughtful, funny, kind, compassionate and caring, and so much more. He loved and protected animals. He helped people when, at times, he literally had nothing. I was told by a couple of his friends after he had passed that they felt he had saved their lives. When they told me that, I cried tears of pride for the man he had become. He refused to conform to what our society expected. He was free spirited and a deep thinker. Many times, I did not agree or even understand what he was saying at times. Lol... It was way over my head. But I respected him and his beliefs even if I did not agree with him. He and I knew life would be difficult for him going against the masses. But that's what I loved and respected about him. He was not afraid to make a new path. I lived the typical life our society groomed me for. Married, kids, house, picket fence, and mostly a steady job. I'm not saying that is a bad thing. I'm saying society is also at least partly responsible for Brian's choices and struggles and subsequent death. In many ways, Brian was a victim. A victim of our societies commercialism, greed, and corruption. Societies harmful stigmas, attitudes, treatments, and laws towards people struggling with SUDs, mental health issues, and homelessness. Let's take the first 3 first. Commercialism, greed, and corruption. Supply and demand. Is simple business. Create or fill a demand increase supply, increase profits. So if you're in the business of selling drugs like the Cartels or our pharmaceutical companies. You're in business to make money. Sure the doctors, scientists, and individuals developing drugs want to help people. But the business part of these corporations who run the companies only care about the money. Without the money, they don't have a business. This is where greed and corruption come into play. Now according to our government they are too big and important to fail. So now our government says they can not or we the people are limited to how much they can be sued for. For fear of going bankrupt, they now have almost zero liability if they make a mistake or even lie. If you watch TV, look at social media or even just watch movies. You will notice we and especially our children are being bombarded daily with ads for various drugs and alcohol. We are constantly being told we need something else like a pill, a drink, or a vaccine to feel better, to be happy, or to be safe. And our government has become the supplier, the pusher, the dealer. Corporations and their lobbyists have been in control of our government for decades. This is not a political party issue. This is a broken government issue. A broken treatment issue. Maybe a broken moral issue. Next, we have societies, harmful stigmas, attitudes, treatments, and laws. Addiction is proven to be a disease. BELIEVE IT OR NOT IT IS. So why do we continue to punish, persecute, isolate, and dehumanize people struggling or recovering from or with a known deadly disease ?They are struggling with a health issue, not a criminal issue. The criminal issue is what our society has turned it into years ago. With the war on drugs. If we stop treating it as a criminal issue and start treating it as a health care issue, I believe we can help save lives and minimize many addiction issues. Brian never confided in me about his struggles. I'll never know why for sure now. But I believe it was at least partly societies attitudes, treatments, and stigmas when it comes to addictions. I'll always believe that had he reached out to me. I could've at least tried to get him the help he so desperately needed. So my new purpose and missions today is to spread kindness, compassion, and awareness and try to help change societies attitudes, treatments, policies, and laws when it comes to addiction or SUDs. In the hope of savings lives and families from going through what hundreds more of us are experiencing each and every day. All In Honor and in Memory of Brian. Together, we can and together we will continue to the best of our ability ♥️🫂