If you’ve lived in the city or the suburbs of Philadelphia for long enough, you’ve probably had a friend, classmate, or family member that was effected by opioid addiction. And if that black hole of a wasteland known as Kensington & Allegheny got a hold of them, I hope you were able to get them back. To those who didn’t, my heart goes out to you. It’s a wrenching, personal matter to so many of us in the area.

Throughout the entire country really.

K & A is the City’s nucleus of dope sickness and the trickle down affect extends to various corners and pockets of every neighborhood. West and Northwest Philly, South Philly, and Port Richmond are all receptors of its outward wave. Center City is not exempt either. The effects are felt on public transportation. The sights, sounds, and smells of SEPTA are enlivened by K&A comers and goers transport. Even if mostly in rider comfort and tension, safety feels like more of a suggestion at times. The strip itself can be enough to make the skin crawl. As the years drag on, an actual solution feels like it moves further into a world separate from reality.

A white elephant is something you can’t get rid of. An elephant in the room is a problem that typically goes undiscussed. There’s been K&A convening for years but the lack of true action makes it feel like those words are empty, even if they weren’t. And so Kensington Beach gets drowned out.

The white weary elephant of Philadelphia — Kensington & Allegheny.

But every section of the city has pockets where it’s common to find someone, alone or with others, battling through the throes of addiction in a very public setting and every kind of high — nodding off, frozen in place on K-2, sporadic in a world of their own, starting nerving, empty conversation with strangers, or even actively taking or preparing take one drug or another.

Perhaps second to K&A is Center City. In terms of visibility and consistency. It doesn’t affect the daily lifeblood of say Market and 15th like the entire neighborhood is impacted by K&A, but the Municipal Building and Market East are both strange areas to spend too much time in.

A New Leadership & Action Plan

Philly’s historically elected 100th Mayor, Cherelle Parker, has vowed to be tough on crime and bring some serious change to Philadelphia. On her first day in office declared a public safety emergency with a focus on Kensington & Allegheny and gun violence throughout the city.

One of her 100 day goals is to shut down the open-air drug market. Her appointed Police Commissioner is supported by a Deputy Commissioner with the specific initiative to lead the overall Kensington Safety Plan implementation and Commissioner Bethel has his back.

"Here in Kensington the reality is stark, painful needles litter our path. Let it be clear, this ends today.”

— Commissioner Kevin Bethel

From the NBC10 article:

She said the caucus would work to execute the Kensington Marshall Plan — which is still being developed — that will allow legislators to "determine what resources are on the ground now, who is providing resources, how they are being delivered and what challenges are".

Over the past year, Lozada noted that councilmembers had met with residents and partners throughout the Kensington community to gather input for this plan. In discussing the effort, Councilman Harrity, who noted his own struggles with alcohol addiction, said that the caucus is a way for council to work hand-in-hand with the mayor's efforts to impact this community.

there isn’t a Single thing about addiction and public doping that Should be normalized.

It’s gruesome, dangerous, sad, scary.  

There’re few things more jarring to witness than a needle hanging out of someone’s arm in a public setting. 

Of course, there are more intense things to witness overall—a shooting, a car accident, a lion escaping the zoo and mauling people… but all of those things get policed and require action. Yet, public doping often goes unchecked by the average passerby.

It’s officially hawing, dying white elephant in the room. Red eyes, a busted trunk, and a broken leg that no one knows what to do with, so the vast majority just averts the eyes and keeps moving.

What’s a commuter supposed to do?

Of the hundred people who may pass by a person struggling with addiction in plain view, it’s maybe one or two who offer some sort of assistance. Assist how?

Most wouldn’t feel safe enough to engage but for the good samaritans and angels that do, here’s some info.

Is The National Guard Part of the solution?

Specific to K&A, Parker has stated that the National Guard could be part of the solution.

Philadelphia Inquirer article: “The National Guard will be ‘part of the solution’ in Kensington, Cherelle Parker says”

Democratic mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker may seek help from the National Guard to shut down the open-air drug market in Kensington, saying Monday that the Guard “will be a part of the solution” in the neighborhood long plagued by the opioid crisis and violence it fuels.

During a town hall event hosted by 6ABC, a city resident asked Parker how she plans to quell crime and wondered if she would ask for assistance from the National Guard, a part of the U.S. military tasked with responding to domestic emergencies.

Parker responded by speaking positively about the Guard’s presence in Philadelphia amid civil unrest in 2020 following multiple high-profile killings by police, saying people who live and do business in the city “respected the peaceful nature in which we partnered with the National Guard.”

“Will I call on them to help us, for example, shut down the open-air drug market in Kensington that’s being allowed to prevail? They will be a part of the solution,” Parker said. “What that looks like, I’m going to have an experienced police commissioner who’s going to define what that plan is.”

In a statement Tuesday, Parker added that her public health and safety plan includes “a strong intergovernmental approach to address the crisis ongoing in Kensington” and that she will convene a variety of agencies “to ensure we put an end to the open-air drug market and drug use residents are being forced to live with.”

The remarks were the latest example of the tough-on-crime tone she has taken throughout the campaign. Dispatching the National Guard to Philadelphia would represent a shift in how the city addresses drug sales and violence, and shows Parker is open to using more aggressive tactics than Mayor Jim Kenney.

Parker has also said she supports the use of stop and frisk, a controversial law enforcement tactic that Kenney campaigned against. And she has rejected some progressive approaches that Kenney has supported, including the idea of supervised drug consumption sites, where people can use drugs in front of health providers and be revived if they overdose.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, would need to authorize any mobilization of the National Guard. An administration spokesperson said Shapiro and Parker have broadly discussed partnering to address public safety in Philadelphia but are continuing to discuss specific strategies.

On Monday, Parker said it’s one of her key priorities to address the crisis in Kensington, which has long been the epicenter of the city’s opioid crisis. Law enforcement officials have estimated that the drug trade in the neighborhood is a $1 billion enterprise.

Kenney’s administration has tried a variety of strategies to alleviate overdoses, homelessness, and shootings in the neighborhood, including establishing a cross-departmental Opioid Response Unit and increasing quality-of-life investments in the neighborhood.

Parker said her administration would focus on “long-term care, long-term treatment, and long-term housing.”

“If you give me the opportunity, Philadelphia,” she said, “I’m going to use every ounce of my academic prowess, my lived life experience, along with my intergovernmental experience, to convene the right stakeholders together to make sure we address this issue in our city.”

Whatever the solution — please, God, let there actually be one — it will take an army… the mayor, the national guard, the local authorities, the neighborhood, the homeless shelters and the rehab clinics, the family and friends of those struggling with opioid and other drug addictions, and all the good samaritans and angels of Philadelphia who have a hand to offer here and there.

HELP & QUICK RESOURCES

SAMHSA National Helpline — 1-800-662-4357

Confidential free help, from public health agencies, to find substance use treatment and information — Learn more

Right here in Philadelphia you’ll find the below resources:

There’s addiction services from the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services — dbhids.org/services/addiction-services

If you are unsure what service you require and do not have medical insurance, please contact the Behavioral Health Special Initiative (BHSI) at 215-546-1200, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

If you want treatment for a substance abuse challenge and do have medical assistance or Medicaid, please contact Community Behavioral Health (CBH) at 888-545-2600.

If you would like to access a list of NET Access Points, or feel you are experience an emergency and would like to find a Crisis Response Center, visit our webpage listing these centers located within Philadelphia.

But let’s be honest… how many people are going to spend the next few hours calling, arranging travel, and helping someone through this process? Probably a few saints here and there, and those who are paid to do so. There’s also no guarantee that the person in need of help will cooperate.

So please, if someone struggling enough to do dope in public setting shows hope and interest in getting help…

Show some sympathy. Help them.

addressing a Recent “Letter to the Editor” AKA An Instagram DM

IMPACT VS. INTENTION

Upon originally posting this video and caption on instagram (initially without a trigger warning), a passionate and respectful gentleman, who had also struggled with addiction, reached out and explained that it was a triggering video and inappropriate to showcase this man in such a state.

My main point was that I wouldn’t have showed him if his face or any indistinguishable features were evident, if he wasn’t in a very public setting, and that I was wrong for not putting a warning beforehand. The fact I hadn’t thought about including a warning was further proof of how desensitized we all are to the subject. It’s not normal to see and converse with someone injecting drugs in their arm.

He went further to accentuate his exploitative point:

“Would you ever have posted a video of your friends publicly doping? Thats all im asking. Is for you to see this person as a human. No different than your friends in recovery. And think about the IMPACT of your post. Yea this dude might not ever see this. He might not have insta. But hes no less human. By the way. His face is not shown,,,not because you asked for consent and he said “just dont put my face in it” his face isnt shown bc he is literally high and cant pick his head up. That doesnt make it better that you photographed him without consent and his face isnt in it. Also, your reaction to this is “its so commonplace around town” is probably part of the issue. Its become so normalized that you have failed to recognize that this could hurt people and does hurt people. Im well aware of this and im triggered every time i see people suffer.”

So just be weary of the impact of your sensitive content. And maybe even remember that addiction IS sensitive content, no matter how normal it has become to YOU.

We must resist the normalization of substance use and abuse. Because if it becomes normal, it will not change.

…

I know you all have good intentions. Im just asking that you do a better job of ensuring that your impact matches your intention. I encourage you to reflect on if posting a video of human suffering through active substance abuse (something that youve never had the lived experience of battling) was the best way to make your intention come across. If you wouldnt post a video of one of your friends doping, why would you do that to this man. He is no different than your friends. And if you think he is, that is part of the issue. We dont see each other as human—no matter the circumstance. We are all human. And i dont believe that posting this man in his darkest hour was the best way to say “philly should do better.” If you feel philly should do better write to your mayor, get involved in local addiction and rehab work. Dont post people abusing substance online. Especially considering this isnt something you suffer from. Its dehumanizing and extremely insensitive.

The bolded line is a powerful one and is essentially the entire message of the video and this article. In hindsight, I did a very poor job of articulating that in the original instagram post. My intent was to show how commonplace public doping has become and how tragic it is for each individual. My intention was not to expose someone or use someone struggling for views.

This was in plain view on a platform that also had a small family, women, and other young adults on it. I didn’t go searching for someone shooting up. I was waiting for the train and he and I struck up that very minimal conversation and it was alarming in every way imaginable — the fact that he had no fear of being caught or anyone seeing him shoot up; the fact that no one else seemed to mind; that he wasn’t shy about it in conversation; that he got annoyed with me for offering help; and that it was 8:30 ish on a commonly frequented subway platform.

If you search “Kensington & Allegheny heroin” and you will find a lot more revealing depictions of drug users in the area from major publications than my 5 second video that completely hides the user’s face and any truly distinguishable characteristics.

As far as impact, that’s a more nuanced conversation. For starters, I should have absolutely edited the video to include a warning at the beginning. That was a mistake. Please accept my sincere apology in that regard. Although I did think about the shock and awe aspect of the video, what it might invoke in someone watching it on their phone was not at the forefront of my brain.

I hope this article/video/etc. has an impact on a few of us to help make a change and I hope Mayor Parker can make a real difference on the matter because hope looks bleak for that area. But that’s no reason not to try to make a change, whether you’re a mayor, a former addict, or a writer.