7 ms·

Agreed. I was struck by the same line, "cracked out of their minds"... very biased. I don't know if "abuse" used to have a coherent meaning, but these days it b

by md224 10y ago

Agreed. I was struck by the same line, "cracked out of their minds"... very biased. I don't know if "abuse" used to have a coherent meaning, but these days it boils down to "used in a way I don't like". Drug use is certainly a mixed bag but it deserves a balanced treatment, not scare tactics. The article even goes on to list great accomplishments that were made possible (or at least supported) by drug use. Talk about cognitive dissonance... EDIT: For a wonderfully contrarian take on drug policy, check out Jessica Flanigan's "Three arguments against prescription requirements": http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22844026 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22844026

WalterSear 10y ago
"Narcotic" stimulants tipped me off.
- thisguy666 10y ago
  Narcotic is an actual word with an actual definition that is completely appropriate in this scenario. This is no way sensationalized.
  - WalterSear 10y ago
    Stimulants don't put you to sleep.
    - thisguy666 10y ago
      Are you joking? They can and that is part of the reason they are given to REAL ADHD patients.
      - WalterSear 10y ago
        The paradoxical stimulant effect is as mythical as your personal definition for the word 'narcotic'.
HarryHirsch 10y ago
Wonderfully contrarian? I'd disagree, in fact I'd maintain that what the lady does is not science. How can you argue medical ethics, a subject firmly rooted in observable, shared reality, from first principles and then disregard outcomes? If you intend to do science uou can't omit to check dogma against reality, perhaps those dogmata are no good at all to describe the world. Very telling is another publication of hers, about Obamacare. From the abstract: "Though states are morally required to provide citizens with access to affordable health care, states must also take care not to violate important economic liberties .. ." Where do the "economic liberties" even come from? Everyone knows that US healthcare costs are an outlier in the civilized world, and the ostensible goal of Obamacare was to fix that. And if we have to talk about the principle of economic liberty we also have to consider the observable phenomenon of decision fatigue. This is not science, this is libertarian apologetics. There is a purpose for that but it needs to be clearly distinguished as such.
- brbsix 10y ago
  > states are morally required to provide citizens with access to affordable health care There may be other indications (I haven't checked), but that statement doesn't sound even remotely libertarian. The moral requirement to provide affordable health care is a positive right (something that obliges action). Contrast this to a negative right, something that obliges inaction, such as free speech or private property. Libertarians generally don't acknowledge positive rights (unless by contract, but then we're talking about something else).
  - HarryHirsch 10y ago
    I didn't check much either, but "economic liberty" is amongst the libertarian shibboleths.
    - TTPrograms 10y ago
      So your opinion of an unrelated argument was driven by the association of this author's separate work which contains an idea that's associated with an ideology you oppose? That's like an (ad hominem)^3. On the face it doesn't appear unreasonable that a state should protect some aspects of a free economy - disagreement with that would imply disagreement with the fundamental capitalist economics of western nations. "we also have to consider the observable phenomenon of decision fatigue" Are we just talking about random things now?
simplexion 10y ago
Link to full article: http://jme.bmj.com/content/38/10/579.long http://jme.bmj.com/content/38/10/579.long

by md224 10y ago

WalterSear 10y ago

"Narcotic" stimulants tipped me off.

thisguy666 10y ago
Narcotic is an actual word with an actual definition that is completely appropriate in this scenario. This is no way sensationalized.
- WalterSear 10y ago
  Stimulants don't put you to sleep.
  - thisguy666 10y ago
    Are you joking? They can and that is part of the reason they are given to REAL ADHD patients.
    - WalterSear 10y ago
      The paradoxical stimulant effect is as mythical as your personal definition for the word 'narcotic'.

HarryHirsch 10y ago

Wonderfully contrarian? I'd disagree, in fact I'd maintain that what the lady does is not science. How can you argue medical ethics, a subject firmly rooted in observable, shared reality, from first principles and then disregard outcomes? If you intend to do science uou can't omit to check dogma against reality, perhaps those dogmata are no good at all to describe the world. Very telling is another publication of hers, about Obamacare. From the abstract: "Though states are morally required to provide citizens with access to affordable health care, states must also take care not to violate important economic liberties .. ." Where do the "economic liberties" even come from? Everyone knows that US healthcare costs are an outlier in the civilized world, and the ostensible goal of Obamacare was to fix that. And if we have to talk about the principle of economic liberty we also have to consider the observable phenomenon of decision fatigue. This is not science, this is libertarian apologetics. There is a purpose for that but it needs to be clearly distinguished as such.

brbsix 10y ago
> states are morally required to provide citizens with access to affordable health care There may be other indications (I haven't checked), but that statement doesn't sound even remotely libertarian. The moral requirement to provide affordable health care is a positive right (something that obliges action). Contrast this to a negative right, something that obliges inaction, such as free speech or private property. Libertarians generally don't acknowledge positive rights (unless by contract, but then we're talking about something else).
- HarryHirsch 10y ago
  I didn't check much either, but "economic liberty" is amongst the libertarian shibboleths.
  - TTPrograms 10y ago
    So your opinion of an unrelated argument was driven by the association of this author's separate work which contains an idea that's associated with an ideology you oppose? That's like an (ad hominem)^3. On the face it doesn't appear unreasonable that a state should protect some aspects of a free economy - disagreement with that would imply disagreement with the fundamental capitalist economics of western nations. "we also have to consider the observable phenomenon of decision fatigue" Are we just talking about random things now?

simplexion 10y ago

Link to full article: http://jme.bmj.com/content/38/10/579.long http://jme.bmj.com/content/38/10/579.long