I approached the issue of opiate use in Vermont by taking excerpts from erowid.org experience anecdotes and turning them into poetry, and then put onto a poster. By changing the medium of communication to publicly displayed text that is easily accessible to anyone on the street, the piece is powerful and effective at communicating my message. Opiate Stories gives a fair and equal treatment to the spectrum of experiences had by users with opiates. Nothing in this world is black and white, or definitively good or evil. By representing one positive, two neutral, and one negative experience, I wanted people to think about this family of drugs and of the users with a renewed understanding they come to on their own. This project is neither pro- nor anti- drug. It is meant only to represent the experiences of users in a fair and equal way.
If you would like to see more experience anecdotes, or peruse this comprehensive drug database and resource on nearly every drug under the sun, check out erowid!
