I think everyone is reading this as NPS not allowing Jane Employee to show up in uniform at Pride and hang out. Maybe they’d frown on that. But what appears to be happening is that employees are petitioning to march in Pride parades, or otherwise somehow participate, as they have in years past, and which supports the LGBTQ+ Special Emphasis Program of federal agencies, and NPS is letting those requests sit.
For anyone wondering why NPS or any federal agency might participate in external events or allow employees to attend events in uniform: LGBTQ+ is one of several areas of special emphasis for federal agencies in recruitment, retention, and awareness. Others include, for example, women in government; Asian, Black, Native American, or Hispanic heritage; and people with disabilities. Special Emphasis Programs (SEP) are codified by executive order. The major intents are to dispel stereotypes, promote inclusion, and recognize the advances made by and contributions of people belonging to these groups.
As an example of the kind of participation agencies have shown under SEPs in the past—a local office may attend and set up a booth at a career fair for a Historically Black College or University. This serves employment-related outreach efforts under the SEP for the agency while also observing and recognizing this group. There is no similar Big Gay Hiring Event at a large scale, so Pride participation makes sense to further efforts under this SEP. Even apart from recruitment, the recognition of LGBTQ+ individuals—which NPS already explicitly supports through their management of Stonewall National Monument—and outward displays of inclusion for this group are equally important for prospective and current employees, as part of the culture of the agency.
What NPS has done is allow requests to participate in local Pride events as a form of observance and outreach to languish on the desks of NPS leadership.
OP’s right on top of that, @Astronaut_M_Dexter@lemmy.world!
I know this isn’t what you’re asking for, but I will say that the “Share as image” option is great and very versatile. You can choose whether to include the post details and mask usernames and community names.
Self-medication as a term does not rely on what a healthcare professional would or would not prescribe you. It’s simply a behavior where a human self-administers any substance to treat a condition. Sometimes those substances would be recommended in certain cultures and not in others. Sometimes substances are recommended with limitations (e.g. a glass of red wine a day). But the point is that self-medicating not only doesn’t require a doctor’s note, it is often viewed as a response of asserting independence from established medicine.
I’ll echo other comments here that simply raising taxes does not seem like a successful long-term intervention strategy in a vacuum—and I don’t think the author intended for it to come across this way, though it kind of did. The availability of mental health services and a number of societal ills are what need to be addressed.
I’ll also add that in the same period when the author discusses a decrease in alcohol-related injury deaths, post-1991, there was an increase in illicit drug use as illustrated in this National Institute on Drug Abuse chart. While the increased trend in the use of any illicit drug is largely driven by marijuana in this chart, you can see there are also moderate increases for other drugs like LSD, cocaine, and later heroin.
Did the sudden availability of certain other drugs plus the higher cost barriers to obtaining alcohol create an environment that led to more drug abuse and other drug-related deaths? I don’t know, I’m not a researcher, but it’s a question.
I get what you’re saying and don’t disagree with your distinction. But it bears pointing out that it feels like splitting hairs to say self-medication and coping mechanisms aren’t the same when you’re the individual in pain.
Couldn’t you submit your own attempts (or a commission) to GitHub, or directly to @aeharding@vger.social to consider for inclusion? I’d personally prefer for the primary developer to focus efforts on continuing to make app functionality awesome.