4 ms·

> In private life, we probably do more "dumb things" than we used to. The number of people dying in car accidents or due to drug overdoses is absolutely stagger

> In private life, we probably do more "dumb things" than we used to. The number of people dying in car accidents or due to drug overdoses is absolutely staggering and is a fairly recent phenomenon. The gains from banning lawn darts and no longer using fire grenades are inconsequential in comparison. I would consider drug overdoses dramatically different than car accidents. To the point, "dumb things" where you put deadly chemical in jar (fire extinguisher) is not the same as purposely injecting yourself or accidentally losing control of your vehicle. For what it's worth, while drug fatalities are increasing (arguably there was an intentional act to start drugs, granted addition is less so): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_drug_overdose_death_rates_and_totals_over_time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_drug_overdose_de... Vehicle fatalities are actually going down per year (and have been, on average, since the inception of the car) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in... > But that aside, a lot of the gains in life expectancy have to do with very basic things - like flush toilets, along with generally improved standards of living. I agree with you there, lots of minor things like vitamins, clean water, improved environmental controls, etc add up dramatically

pksebben 3y ago
So like, here's the thing with the overdose crisis - it is in fact just like the dangerous chemicals being put in a jar. It's actually specifically that. The recent spike in drug overdoses has nearly nothing to do with people going out and making bad decisions (at least, not more than they've made over the last 50 years), but the fact that doctors and pharma companies, who ought to know better, keep putting fentanyl out into the world and making it as accessible as any other schedule 1 controlled substance. You know, like weed is a schedule 1 controlled substance (1). According to NIDA (who are the don't-do-drugs-mmkay folks, responsible for gems like the egg ad and DARE), the lion's share of the spike in drug-related fatalities is due to instances where the drugs taken were "in combination with synthetic opioids other than methadone" (2). That's fentanyl, folks. As cheap and easy to get as it is lethal, and here we are putting it in hospitals because anesthesiologists think it's just the bee's knees. So like, we're putting little microscopic landmines out there AND creating the circumstances for an unregulated black market that benefits from mixing said landmines into people's cocaine, which ostensibly they want because they have a really great business pitch they just gotta get out at 3am at the club (rather than a crippling addiction that's leading them to OD). IMHO, kinda similar to the fire grenades. No way bad shit ain't gonna happen and it's on us if we're surprised. 1 - https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling 2 - https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overd...
- wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
  Thank you for the information, I appreciate it. But for me your vernacular is a bit offputting. I had to force myself to finish reading your comment. "So like," in a written context takes away from the information. Or I could be wrong and people with similar speech will synchronize with you. I'm not attacking you, so I hope you don't feel that way, but it is something to consider.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    Didn't this construct recently become, like, accepted English grammar or something? Or was it the "because <noun>" thing?
    - wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
      It wasnt any one colloquialism that made it annoying, but the whole phrasiology package combined with the moral high ground. "so like, folks, you know like, heres the thing, here we are, puttin out there, the fact that we are actually," Its my bias of course, but I have never respected anyone who speaks that way, nor have I been given reasons to do so. If its not a critical context, its fine. But this was, so it came off very karen.
      - bigbillheck 3y ago
        > I have never respected anyone who speaks that way, nor have I been given reasons to do so. Who are you that pksebben or anybody else should care?
        wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
        I may be an asshole but atleast I am a well spoken asshole.
        TeMPOraL 3y ago
        Elegant trolling... for a more civilized age.

pksebben 3y ago

So like, here's the thing with the overdose crisis - it is in fact just like the dangerous chemicals being put in a jar. It's actually specifically that. The recent spike in drug overdoses has nearly nothing to do with people going out and making bad decisions (at least, not more than they've made over the last 50 years), but the fact that doctors and pharma companies, who ought to know better, keep putting fentanyl out into the world and making it as accessible as any other schedule 1 controlled substance. You know, like weed is a schedule 1 controlled substance (1). According to NIDA (who are the don't-do-drugs-mmkay folks, responsible for gems like the egg ad and DARE), the lion's share of the spike in drug-related fatalities is due to instances where the drugs taken were "in combination with synthetic opioids other than methadone" (2). That's fentanyl, folks. As cheap and easy to get as it is lethal, and here we are putting it in hospitals because anesthesiologists think it's just the bee's knees. So like, we're putting little microscopic landmines out there AND creating the circumstances for an unregulated black market that benefits from mixing said landmines into people's cocaine, which ostensibly they want because they have a really great business pitch they just gotta get out at 3am at the club (rather than a crippling addiction that's leading them to OD). IMHO, kinda similar to the fire grenades. No way bad shit ain't gonna happen and it's on us if we're surprised. 1 - https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling https://www.dea.gov/drug-information/drug-scheduling 2 - https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overd...

wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
Thank you for the information, I appreciate it. But for me your vernacular is a bit offputting. I had to force myself to finish reading your comment. "So like," in a written context takes away from the information. Or I could be wrong and people with similar speech will synchronize with you. I'm not attacking you, so I hope you don't feel that way, but it is something to consider.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  Didn't this construct recently become, like, accepted English grammar or something? Or was it the "because <noun>" thing?
  - wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
    It wasnt any one colloquialism that made it annoying, but the whole phrasiology package combined with the moral high ground. "so like, folks, you know like, heres the thing, here we are, puttin out there, the fact that we are actually," Its my bias of course, but I have never respected anyone who speaks that way, nor have I been given reasons to do so. If its not a critical context, its fine. But this was, so it came off very karen.
    - bigbillheck 3y ago
      > I have never respected anyone who speaks that way, nor have I been given reasons to do so. Who are you that pksebben or anybody else should care?
      - wegfawefgawefg 3y ago
        I may be an asshole but atleast I am a well spoken asshole.
        TeMPOraL 3y ago
        Elegant trolling... for a more civilized age.