4 ms·

> for that matter, how many opiate overdose deaths would be avoided if you could buy pure, safe heroin of known concentration over the counter Since 2000, 75%

• kragen 4y ago
  presumably you would have more opiate addicts but the rate of overdoses from prescription opiates is, as i understand it, very low, because the dosage is predictable a lot more old people needing regular enemas would be kind of shitty but not nearly as bad as millions of people dying from overdoses
  • trimbo 4y ago
    > but the rate of overdoses from prescription opiates is, as i understand it, very low, because the dosage is predictable Over time, addicts do not get the same high from the same dose of opiates. They require higher dosages, until such a point where they have to turn to illicit narcotics (which are also cheaper). Prescription drug abusers are 40x more likely of becoming heroin abusers. This is all in the article I linked above (click on the subheadings).
    • kragen 4y ago
      if they could buy whatever dosage they needed over the counter, instead of trying to wheedle a prescription out of doctors who are under threat of criminal prosecution, they wouldn't have much of an incentive to switch to different opiates, or to rely on dangerously unstable supply chains operated by organized crime this would increase the risk of suicide, but it would have to rise a lot to exceed the current usa rate of accidental overdose deaths