3 ms·
This has nothing to do with race. The reason people view the recent wave of rural drug abuse differently is because it largely originates from trusted professio
by burfog 7y ago
This has nothing to do with race. The reason people view the recent wave of rural drug abuse differently is because it largely originates from trusted professionals. Even old people with no prior history of drug addiction are getting caught up in it now.
In the traditional case of drug addiction, it started because somebody said "hey, let's get fucked up". It was foolish self-destructive thrill seeking.
In the modern case of drug addiction, somebody was prescribed Oxycontin for recovery after surgery or an injury. The addiction became established long before turning to illegal street drugs.
So it isn't "these people are white". It's more like "these are responsible people who were in the care of trusted medical professionals".
- scarface74 7y agoYou really believe that? That most people who are getting addicted in rural America are getting addicted because they were first on prescription pain medicine - including all of the abuse of drugs based on over the counter pseudoephedrine? https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/substance-abuse https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/substance-abuse And this is just what I’m referring to. It couldn’t possibly be that poor people in rural America are abusing drugs for the same reason that poor people in the “inner city” are using it. Because those drug dealers in rural America are “responsible people”. There were also stiffer penalties for crack than the same amount of cocaine. The entire reason that weed became illegal in the first place was because it was used by Mexicans. http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-ille... Also, why are doctors who overprescribe medicine for the financial kickbacks not considered hardened “thugs” like street level drug dealers? Also check out the same site referenced above and compare use of the same drugs in “large metro”, “small metro”, and “non metro”.
- burfog 7y agoMethamphetamine, which is what I think you mean by "abuse of drugs based on over the counter pseudoephedrine", does not get the same sympathy as opioids. The reason is because people aren't getting addicted to methamphetamine via the actions of trusted medical professionals. Methamphetamine is a long way from being over-the-counter, requiring a reaction with either anhydrous cryogenic ammonia or with phosphorous and iodine. I don't believe that penalties for crack and cocaine are evidence for racial discrimination. (crack being largely black, and cocaine being largely hispanic) When a new drug appears and rapidly becomes popular with lots of resulting violence, we legislate in a panic. The resulting legislation is unlikely to be well-thought-out or consistent with anything else. In the years since then we have made adjustments, most recently in 2018 when Trump helped 2,600 people imprisoned for crack by signing the First Step Act. In any case, people of all races have a very simple and reliable way to avoid getting in trouble for the non-opioid drugs. Just say no.