4 ms·

Just because a drug doesn't kill you physically, doesn't mean it doesn't harm you in other deeply profound ways. Related: Nuggets[1] 1. https://www.youtube.com

Just because a drug doesn't kill you physically, doesn't mean it doesn't harm you in other deeply profound ways. Related: Nuggets[1] 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUngLgGRJpo

worik 3y ago
Opiates, and many classes of illegal drugs, do very little harm. Addiction is the main feature, and if the substance has no artificial scarcity, addiction is easy to manage. There is no basis on harm reduction for the drug policies being pursued in most of the world
- FredPret 3y ago
  Tell this to the addicts who live on my sidewalk. Many of them got started on pain killers, and now they're permanently bent over in the fentanyl flop; I'd be astounded if any of them ever get better.
  - throwaway74432 3y ago
    Worik's argument appears to be, if people had an unlimited supply of drugs, things would be better than a limited supply. It sounds a lot like the perspective of someone who has never listened to a recovering addict.
    - worik 3y ago
      > sounds a lot like the perspective of someone who has never listened to a recovering addict. Many I came of age in a culture awash with herion I have first hand knowledge of the harms done to drug addicts by criminalising them
- ProjectArcturis 3y ago
  Long-term opiate use can really mess up your bowels. Matthew Perry nearly died of a perforated colon a couple years before he finally died from other drugs.
  - Slava_Propanei 3y ago
    [dead]
- robwwilliams 3y ago
  The definition of harm is context-dependent. I think you mean that opiates and other drugs, addictive or not, when “taken at a safe dose in a health young adult” will not significantly degrade basic body function.” But opiates taken over a relatively short time can and often do greatly impair CNS neurotransmitter systems and downstream behaviors—-in some cases causing almost irremediable dysfunction. This happens to a sizable subpopulation of humans; more than 10% of physician-prescribed oxycontin users. Genetics and social context modulate vulnerability. This is definitely not “little harm”.
  - worik 3y ago
    > opiates taken over a relatively short time can and often do greatly impair CNS neurotransmitter systems That is untrue https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted is a counter example "Throughout his professional life, he was addicted to cocaine and later also to morphine...."
    - robwwilliams 3y ago
      You link for support for your opinion thar all drugs are benign to a Wiki entry if a scientist who died in 1922—-before there was a field of neuroscience? My rejoinder could be 10,000 peer-reviewed papers in this millennium.
      - worik 3y ago
        > You link for support for your opinion thar all drugs are benign to a Wiki entry if a scientist who died in 1922 Who pioneered keyhole surgery > rejoinder could be 10,000 peer-reviewed papers in this millennium. Nonsense.

worik 3y ago

Opiates, and many classes of illegal drugs, do very little harm. Addiction is the main feature, and if the substance has no artificial scarcity, addiction is easy to manage. There is no basis on harm reduction for the drug policies being pursued in most of the world

FredPret 3y ago
Tell this to the addicts who live on my sidewalk. Many of them got started on pain killers, and now they're permanently bent over in the fentanyl flop; I'd be astounded if any of them ever get better.
- throwaway74432 3y ago
  Worik's argument appears to be, if people had an unlimited supply of drugs, things would be better than a limited supply. It sounds a lot like the perspective of someone who has never listened to a recovering addict.
  - worik 3y ago
    > sounds a lot like the perspective of someone who has never listened to a recovering addict. Many I came of age in a culture awash with herion I have first hand knowledge of the harms done to drug addicts by criminalising them
ProjectArcturis 3y ago
Long-term opiate use can really mess up your bowels. Matthew Perry nearly died of a perforated colon a couple years before he finally died from other drugs.
- Slava_Propanei 3y ago
  [dead]
robwwilliams 3y ago
The definition of harm is context-dependent. I think you mean that opiates and other drugs, addictive or not, when “taken at a safe dose in a health young adult” will not significantly degrade basic body function.” But opiates taken over a relatively short time can and often do greatly impair CNS neurotransmitter systems and downstream behaviors—-in some cases causing almost irremediable dysfunction. This happens to a sizable subpopulation of humans; more than 10% of physician-prescribed oxycontin users. Genetics and social context modulate vulnerability. This is definitely not “little harm”.
- worik 3y ago
  > opiates taken over a relatively short time can and often do greatly impair CNS neurotransmitter systems That is untrue https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart_Halsted is a counter example "Throughout his professional life, he was addicted to cocaine and later also to morphine...."
  - robwwilliams 3y ago
    You link for support for your opinion thar all drugs are benign to a Wiki entry if a scientist who died in 1922—-before there was a field of neuroscience? My rejoinder could be 10,000 peer-reviewed papers in this millennium.
    - worik 3y ago
      > You link for support for your opinion thar all drugs are benign to a Wiki entry if a scientist who died in 1922 Who pioneered keyhole surgery > rejoinder could be 10,000 peer-reviewed papers in this millennium. Nonsense.