My heart goes out to you. This should not happen to anyone. Yet it’s happening every day. It’s not okay. Pretty much everyone in these parts (I’m just north of you, in BC) has lost someone they know, and many have lost more than one.
I hate the stigma. People are stuck in their assumptions and presumptions. People think about it as a homelessness problem, despite data that shows most deaths (at least in my province) happen in private residences. People think it happens only to people at rock bottom, when it happens very suddenly, at any and every life status (people working in trades are especially represented in the statistics). People think it’s just people who try to take too much, when in reality they are being poisoned in completely unpredictable patterns. You and I know I could go on forever with all the dumb assumptions people make.
There was an anti-stigma ad campaign here a while back that I really liked. There would be a picture of someone, completely average-looking person, and it would have four describing words beside them, one of which is addict. I don’t remember specific ones, but along the lines of “father, engineer, addict, husband” or “volunteer, best friend, daughter, addict”. It would spark conversations. You can’t really bring up someone’s prejudice out of the blue, but you can mention the ad you both saw and ask what they thought about it.
I think there’s a sizeable portion of people who have heard enough to actually rethink things, but not completely change their thinking. It’s hard to totally change the way you think, and to admit to yourself that what you believed wasn’t accurate. It’s uncomfortable being wrong, and uncomfortable to learn about something so tragic. These people might just need a safe person or a conversation to wrap their minds around things, and they might not know how to start that conversation.
And some people just are straight up not ready or not willing to change their minds. I don’t know what to do about this, other than just keep on making sure truth speaks louder than denial in wider society.
I think continuing to have the difficult conversations, calling out stigma, and just telling your truths will help change mindsets. That, and being there with an open door for people who need a safe person to talk to. You never know when someone who’s feeling imprisoned by stigma, will find inspiration from something you say, and find the courage to break through. However, since this is a society-wide change and involves subconscious bias, I think this is going to be a longer, slower process than any of us want.
But aside from stigma, for the practical matters, we don’t have to wait for everyone to get it. We need enough of the right people who are in charge of the decisions that need to happen. People who aren’t in charge, can hold accountable those who are, and enlist the help of people who represent them… in government, in the workplace, in other organizations.
Personally, I often feel like the problem is so big and we are moving so slow towards solutions, I feel defeated and discouraged, even hopeless. It helps to have others to talk to, and to listen to people’s stories (thank you, by the way 
). This is also something that helps, and can keep people fighting.
like wtf!