I appreciated the recent call to acknowledge Portland’s “addiction problem” (“Maine Voices: Portland needs to admit that it has an addiction problem,” Oct. 10). But I’d like to invite the author and other community members to dig one layer deeper. Addiction is a viable solution to a bigger problem: deep pain and suffering. While we definitely need more treatment centers and recovery facilities to keep people alive, for long-term recovery we need more compassion and healing.

Our addictions can kill us, but they’re also the most effective and often most accessible temporary remedy for pain and disease. Unresolved trauma from living in a system that prioritizes money, power and productivity over love, generosity and self-nurturing got us here. Adding detox beds is critical for saving lives, but curing the addiction problem described in the column will require a collective reimagination of how we exist together. A sense of belonging is a prerequisite for healing. How can we ever expect our neighbors living in tents in parking lots to feel like they belong and matter?

A long-term solution requires dismantling systems of oppression. A step in the right direction could be opening our hearts to the possibility that everyone really is doing the best they can with the tools they’ve been given. Recognizing our shared humanity goes a long way.

Elise Boyson
Portland

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