06/13/2022
This will be X Posted on my woodworking page for Joes Joe’s Hardwoods and Walnutz. These Co****le Boards are already spoken for sort of but I can make regulation boards with basically any design or look to it. Advertising is not really the point of this post. These will go to the https://m.facebook.com/ConnellyGolf1/ Jonathan Connelly Memorial Golf Tournament to be auctioned off.
For those who are not familiar with his story I will give it and then I apologize but I am going to get on my soapbox for a bit. Jon was my cousin. He passed away a few months ago. Unfortunately his ending is a story we have heard over and over again over the past several years. After many years of struggling with a he**in addiction he died way too soon. While the end of his story is the same as thousands of other people his life and talents were extraordinary. If you are not familiar with Jon just Google Jon Connelly St Mary’s Basketball. You will see that was an all metro player, a super star really. Had the potential to play on college but unfortunately his struggle had begun. When you look at the other players in the metro area that were close to him in scoring many ended up at D1 schools and a few have made a ton of money playing the game. While he didn’t have the size to be that level of recruit he certainly had the talent to continue. He was also a heck of a soccer player. So this is not the kid people think of using drugs. From the outside looking in he was a kid most parents would love for their kids to be. Unfortunately no matter how great things look from the outside looking in you never know what someone is going through.
Jon battled for over a decade with addiction. In and out of rehab. The financial and emotional toll this took on his parents and sisters is almost indescribable. Things were finally looking good. Stayed clean for a while. Training and looked to be in great physical shape. Unfortunately once you lose control it is nearly impossible to get it back. He slipped up and never woke up again.
We have decided as a society that we are going to no longer hold people accountable for most things. But there is a huge exception made. Drug Addicts. For whatever reason it is ok to blame people with this illness. Because most people do not understand, it is not a weakness, it is an illness. No one decides they want to destroy their life, cause pain and hardship for their families. Sure he made the choice the first time or two to do he**in. But the majority of people with a different body chemistry can use he**in a few times and never get addicted and just move on to a normal life. However people like Jon have an “addictive personality” or the “addict gene.” They all describe the first time the same. I just felt right for the first time. Unfortunately while they are trying to medicate whatever problems they are having their brain is being permanently altered. Happiness which was illusive before he**in or other opioids/opiates is now impossible to find with out it.
The problem is we as a society decided during the 80’s that we are going to wage war on drugs. But it isn’t a war on drugs. It is a war on our family, friends, neighbors, and people everywhere. Laws that make it illegal to put stuff in your body have never been effective. They never will be. Our country has been trying to legislate drugs and alcohol since probation and has never once been successful. All the drug laws do is push our loved ones into the shadows. Make it harder to get help. Make it more likely to overdose on fentanyl or similar chemicals that are produced for next to nothing and are strong enough to kill an elephant. Make it hard for people to hold down jobs. Because they can’t hold down jobs they are more likely to commit crimes. Because it is a black market violence erupts to control the drug trade and the billions of dollars that come from it.
We as a society need to stop waging war on our own people. We need to look at actual data and scientific evidence. In places where addicts are allowed to legally use medical he**in or morphine there are no overdoses seriously zero look it up, the secondary diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis, Gangrene have almost completely disappeared. Poverty is down. There are far fewer neglected children from parents chasing a high or not being able to provide from them. Violence is way down because a huge part of the illegal market has been removed. And this is a huge one, people who get treatment and eventually completely kick any kind of drug use rises exponentially. We need to stop pushing people into the shadows and bring them out and help them. If you do not share my opinion fine, but those are all easily verifiable facts, not opinions.
So I beg you if you have a friend, family member, just a person you see on the street, instead of judging them as weak, offer them help and support. Even if they are not ready to stop using let them know you are there for them if and when they are ready. No judgement. Please when you get the opportunity to correct misinformed drug laws vote to do so. There are people still serving life sentences for marajuana and now as a society it mostly legal at least for medical use. In 20 years he**in will most likely be the same? How many people we love have to die before that happens?
There are lots of ways to help but one of them would be to contribute to this tournament with gifts that can be auctioned off. The money is going to a place that showed Jon kindness during the last year of his life. I am linking the details here and if you can’t reach someone reach out to me. Almost everyone probably knows someone who has a problem with addiction. Many of us have lost someone close to them. The amount of people I went to school with that are gone is insane. Maybe your gift can give a family a few more years to be together. Rant over.
https://m.facebook.com/ConnellyGolf1/
