Pensioners and drug addicts

I met with a lovely older lady today in her house. I will call her M. M lives on a modern social housing scheme with small houses and flats designed mostly for older people.

Quite a number of the flats are occupied by single young men and women. They are drug addicts and alcoholics who are housed here. Many have a small dog who accompanies them on their regular walk down to the pharmacy to collect their methadone. Because of their addictions some of them are quite confused at various times. Other times though M finds them sociable and friendly neighbours. They spend their days walking around with their dogs and sitting in each others flats. 

There have been incidents - one where a flat was set on fire because the occupant was too stoned to realise what he was doing. But there has been no crime or violence.

This last weekend there was a tragedy in the neighbourhood. One of the young men ( probably in his thirties) threw himself off a footbridge onto a road below and was killed. His wee dog sat on the bridge barking all night. It seems that the lad had heard some distressing family news and in his drug influenced state of mind he took his own life.

Reflecting on this poor guy she said she would often stop and talk to him and though he would sometimes be all over the place in his thoughts, at other times he would be just a nice but lost young man. He was sensitive to the fact that whenever he walked past an elderly lady most would hold their bag close to their body with both arms showing in their body language their fear of attack. He admitted to M that this really distressed him as he loved his own granny and these ladies were just like her. M said to me that all these young people are all someones child. It is so sad. 

What is the good news for these people. I have seen the good work NA (Narcotics anonymous) can do with people who are trying to kick their habit and stay clean. They use the well-proven techniques of AA using peer support.  Society's only answer seems to be to give them prescription methadone - and is that really a solution? I wonder if we can be good neighbours to these young people or will we walk past on the other side.

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net