I used drugs recreationally. I don't like to talk about it. I especially don't like to talk about it online on a profile that's very heavily linked to my identity. Over many years of regular use of all kinds of different drugs, I have identified the war on drugs -- not drugs themselves -- to be the persistent threat to my safety, health, psyche and existence. Merely talking about this like I'm doing right now is a gigantic risk I am taking. And this means honest communication between the sides is non-existent. If you are a rational and a thinking person, you should eschew the persistent harassment and demonization of an entire societal layer that is the war on drugs.

What that means practically? Don't call the police on that one person smoking weed in a park or smoking fentanyl or injecting heroin on your bus if they are not bothering you. Don't make that joke about how crackheads are making this town dirty. Be humane. Be kind. Don't get dragged as a combatant into the war you know nothing about and that doesn't matter to you personally.