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Look at the data on those who have chronic pain: they are prescribed opiates at high dosages daily (equivalent to extreme abuse), and doctors think this is acce

Look at the data on those who have chronic pain: they are prescribed opiates at high dosages daily (equivalent to extreme abuse), and doctors think this is acceptable. Heroin is essentially just an opiate. They do not show effects as bad as life-long alcohol users, nor obviously abusers. A lot of socially acceptable alcohol use would be called abuse if society was fair about it.

omginternets 6y ago
>they are prescribed opiates at high dosages daily (equivalent to extreme abuse), and doctors think this is acceptable That's an orthogonal concern. That being said, I don't understand your reasoning. Firstly, this is opioid abuse. Granted, the responsibility for this abuse falls on the prescriber rather than the user, but it is nevertheless a pathological pattern of use. Secondly, you've substituted "heroin" for "pharmaceutical-grade opiates" in your argument. The irony is that this supports my position more than yours because it demonstrates that the slope is particularly slippery, even with medical-grade opioids. This point bears repeating: the addictive and toxicological potential of opioid medicine is greater than alcohol. The trend is even less in your favor when we return to the topic at hand: heroin. I share your concern about opioid-based medication, but this argues against your point.
- ajkdhcb2 6y ago
  You didnt say anything at all in this comment about physical consequences, so I am lost in the discussion. Doctors are rationally ok with such prescriptions because the effects are not as bad as alcohol. Simply put: opiate abusers and users don't need liver transplants or get such severe brain damage; alcohol is more damaging in a myriad of ways for both uses and abusers. There is plenty of data supporting this, and it is valid to use data regarding medical grade opiates. The risks of heroin are almost entirely side-effects of the war on drugs rather than the drug itself.

omginternets 6y ago

>they are prescribed opiates at high dosages daily (equivalent to extreme abuse), and doctors think this is acceptable That's an orthogonal concern. That being said, I don't understand your reasoning. Firstly, this is opioid abuse. Granted, the responsibility for this abuse falls on the prescriber rather than the user, but it is nevertheless a pathological pattern of use. Secondly, you've substituted "heroin" for "pharmaceutical-grade opiates" in your argument. The irony is that this supports my position more than yours because it demonstrates that the slope is particularly slippery, even with medical-grade opioids. This point bears repeating: the addictive and toxicological potential of opioid medicine is greater than alcohol. The trend is even less in your favor when we return to the topic at hand: heroin. I share your concern about opioid-based medication, but this argues against your point.

ajkdhcb2 6y ago
You didnt say anything at all in this comment about physical consequences, so I am lost in the discussion. Doctors are rationally ok with such prescriptions because the effects are not as bad as alcohol. Simply put: opiate abusers and users don't need liver transplants or get such severe brain damage; alcohol is more damaging in a myriad of ways for both uses and abusers. There is plenty of data supporting this, and it is valid to use data regarding medical grade opiates. The risks of heroin are almost entirely side-effects of the war on drugs rather than the drug itself.