At the age of 42, former FDNY firefighter David Gonzalez was tragically already addicted. But New York City's liberal policies are pushing him towards the grave.
Thursday,Post created a profile for Gonzales. Gonzales shot the heroin for half a day. He spends the other half shoplifting and spends enough to sell and feed 10 buggy addictions a day. Then he slept in a shelter funded by taxpayers who didn't care much about what he was doing, day or night.
Every day, David dances with the deadliest demon of his generation. In the same 12 months of 2020-21, when COVID-19 killed 53,000 Americans aged 18-45,drugs killed nearly 79,000.
Did I call it a drug? I meant a drug, the singular. Some narcotics have nearly 50% more deaths in young and moderately young adults. Its name is Fentanyl, which drives the latest wave of America's protracted opioid epidemic.
Fentanyl, the leading cause of death for Americans in the David Gonzales age group, is a synthetic opioid that is about 50 to 100 times more powerful than street heroin. It's a killer combo that's cheaply made, overwhelmingly powerful, and has rapidly addicted to the illegal drug flow in North America.
Fentanyl proliferated, especially in the heroin stream, while the country suffered from COVID. Today, it's a hot dose waiting for all heroin addicts to choose substance abuse over drinking for just one day.
Safe Haven
It's the death of stalking David Gonzalez. And instead of doing something to prevent this, New York City seems to be actively encouraging it.
Instead of directing David to rehab, New York City heads for Safe Haven, a type of city-run temporary housing that allows check-in every three days. To guide. Every day, like a traditional homeless shelter. Safe Haven, an indication of our progressive paradise, does not force anyone to stop drugs or shoplifting as a rule to provide shelter. What a positive thing!
David shoots publicly near Times Square, but drug abuse and even shoplifting, as the number of cities dominated by the Democratic Party grows, Seemingly a non-starter will terrorize the store Employees robbing bandwidth from already flooded emergency medical personnel, and most importantly, fentanyl is spiked Inject until the final dose is found.
As an addict, I am familiar with the big difference between being ashamed of an addict and making him possible. David Gonzalez should not be ashamed of suffering from addiction. But for himself, and also he should not be allowed to continue this dangerous path indefinitely.
In the extreme spoiling of addicts, the progressives in charge have a rational "wait until ready" idea and a distorted "he uses (and steals) indefinitely". I'm confusing the idea of "helping me". The former supports David's need to take ownership of his life. The latter is betting his reluctance to do so. The former provides an agency. The latter is planning an agenda with the risk of tolerating the death of an addict.
You need to do better than this. Safe Haven does not mean safe space. David should be free from physical danger there, yes, but not free to steal or shoot without consequences. In the era of fentanyl, avoiding consequences only increases the end result: the chance of death from overdose.
Disadvantages
New York City's "progressive" attitude towards addiction does more than just penalize shopkeepers, first responders and taxpayers. They also bring disadvantages to addicts.
In a city where the emotions of an addict are far more important than fate, the next read about David Gonzalez is his obituary. It's not progressive. It's anger.
Christopher Dale is the author of the next book"Better Halves", which explores marriage in addiction and recovery.
