Reflections on Healing Beyond the War on Drugs

By Cat Butler 

Five decades into the abject failure that is the War on Drugs, our country is struggling with an opioid epidemic with no end in sight. Law enforcement and the judicial system have more money, courts, and jails than ever and yet there seems to be no end in sight for criminal enterprise or personal substance usage. In a report December 4, 2024  written by Harm Reduction International, The US government has spent over $1 trillion on this ‘war’ to no avail. Incarceration rates have also exploded, with the Sentencing Project in May 2024 stating that from the 1970s to 2024, our rates of incarcerated peoples have jumped from 360,000 to nearly 2 million. Fentanyl overdoses, despite the 24% decrease in 2024, are raging throughout the country. Marijuana prohibition is largely seen as a failure, with over 90% of the country having safe and legal access to the drug as of 2025. 

I am a certified Community Health Worker specializing in prevention and harm reduction with Safe Streets Wichita, giving out naloxone or Narcan, fentanyl test strips, Plan B and other resources to the community for free. Make no mistake - the opioid epidemic is taking its toll on Kansas as well. I think what we do can help spark fundamental change. Even down to how we speak about those who use drugs, we are trying to build a movement around harm reduction and community care. I think this work is some of the most important stuff I’ve done in my life. 

I think that harm reduction works better to combat overdose than punitive measures. I’ve attended funerals for friends who couldn’t get proper help for their substance disorders, lost touch with other friends who are in the throes of their addictions, and been incarcerated myself for drug distribution and possession.  From my own time spent in county jail to the support I provide today has effectively shown me that there is a lack of support available for people who are struggling, just punishment. All that time spent in a cell or peeing in a cup for a probation officer and it didn’t change my circumstances or help me find resources. 

I offer two principles within my work: Prevention and Harm Reduction. Prevention to me means disseminating correct information regarding substances and their use, while dispelling any myths.  My goal is to prevent unnecessary death due to overdose. Increasing education around substance will help dispel any rumors or misinformation. It also has the added benefit of more capable people who could intervene in the case of an overdose. For example, “Fentanyl laced marijuana” is a myth because fentanyl cannot break down in marijuana in any way that it is currently consumed. Or even more recently when Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell advised that “3,4,5 injections are needed sometimes” when that is wholly false information. One dose of 4mg narcan is fine for most folks experiencing opioid overdose. A second dose is only needed if there is no reaction.    

Harm reduction - as I define it - is making sure that folks who do use substances are following best practices so they don’t overdose, and providing resources to that end such as Narcan and fentanyl or xylazine test strips. We don’t hold any expectation of folks to be fully abstinent from using if they are getting resources from us, we just want the resources to get out into the community. When handing out our free kits at events like Open Streets ICT, I stress to people that effectively ‘better safe than sorry’ is our motto. We maintain that it is important to provide this service without judgement, so we can end stigma while encouraging best practices. With this idea, the onus is shifted from shaming folks for their choices and instead providing care to prevent any deaths. 

I think the future of how we care for each other in the community is going to be decided by those with lived experience rather than 3rd party groups and politicians. People who have vested interest will be the ones to protect our most vulnerable populations.  I firmly believe in the phrase “ We are all we got” and I like to keep that phrase central in my mind as I do this work. If my words come across your eyes at all, I hope you can take some tangible things from them: First -Carry Narcan! Consider it another part of your first aid kit, and help us end the overdose crisis. Secondly - Check your biases and educate yourself! Too many people believe that this crisis only impacts the poor or unhoused. In reality, anyone of any community can be affected by overdose, and ostracization of folks with substance use disorder just makes the problem so much worse. With these two things in mind, we can begin to subvert punishment based laws and policies, and we can begin to heal our communities with our own power. 

About the Author:

Cat Butler is a certified Community Health Worker and serves as the Outreach Coordinator for Safe Streets Wichita. They are very interested in intentional community building and ending stigma around substance use and prevention.  

Sources:

• The Sentencing Project. Mass Incarceration Trends by Christopher Uggen et al.

  https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/mass-incarceration-trends/

• Harm Reduction International. A World of Harm: How U.S. Taxpayers Fund the Global War on Drugs Over Evidence-Based Health Responses.

  https://hri.global/publications/a-world-of-harm/