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The initial spike in overdose deaths were largely caused by government crackdowns on pharma drugs.
by greygoo222 9mo ago
The initial spike in overdose deaths were largely caused by government crackdowns on pharma drugs.
- monero-xmr 9mo agoYou can live with a sustained opioid addiction permanently without major issues. That’s the entire basis of methadone clinics - controlled dispersement of opioids at a level that solves cravings and allows the addict to be functional. It is very sad we don’t allow pharmaceutical grade opioids to be given to addicts in a controlled way, it would eliminate the purity variance that causes overdoses, and prevent the poison mixed in to increase street profits from destroying bodies (tranq, etc)
- specproc 9mo agoMethadone is available in the UK, on the NHS. I know at least one person who has been on it for decades. https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/methadone/ https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/methadone/
- herbst 9mo agoIn Switzerland they can get actual, state grown, heroin. Clean heroin is one of the least problematic substances appearantly, less problematic and more "everyday friendly" than Methadon even. And you don't SEE any issues like in the US (or UK) around here at all.
- monero-xmr 9mo agoImagine you are sitting in a room. Your child is in front of you. A scary man sits next to them. The man says: “Your child is a drug addict. They are addicted to opioids. I am the devil, without any care in the world other than making money. The choice is yours. Would you rather they inject clean heroin made by a pharmaceutical company in your country, or banish them forever as street addicts slavishly doing what it takes to score their fix?” When facing the devil I’m voting for my tax dollars to give them clean heroin made by my country. That is what every parent wants when faced with an addicted child
- lolive 9mo agoI switched from my Twitter addiction to a Bluesky addiction. Still scrolling to death, but now my opinion is mine again. #dontDoGrok
- znpy 9mo agoThat’s a fake dichotomy btw, a sadly very common logical fallacy. You (wrongly) assume there’s no way out of an addiction, for example.
- acessoproibido 9mo agoIts definitely easier to beat addiction if you aren't living on the street, selling everything you have and are injecting one of the most horrible shit substances but instead you are using a clean, safe alternative that is provided by the state together with prevention programs (which is usually the model for this) - how is it a false dichotomy? Or are you someone who assumes you just need to "use willpower" and "stop" being an addict? I assure you its not so easy with opiates.
- dostick 9mo ago[flagged]
- spacecadet 9mo agoDefined as addiction... You ever struggle with one, loose a loved one to it? Comment comes off stupid.
- threethirtytwo 9mo agoInteresting fact: Hordes of American soldiers were doing heroin in the Vietnam war. When they came back to America we were expecting a massive addiction epidemic. It never happened. Overall, all the soldiers who came back lost the addiction. Little known phenomenon about addiction that can’t be fully explained yet. What you say is true, but the person you responded to, what he says has an aspect of the truth as well. Look into it.
- Tom1380 9mo agoI live in Zurich. I spent 5 minutes waiting at a bus stop in Langstrasse and I was offered cocaine and marijuana by a thug
- herbst 9mo agoSounds like you have easy options for some common drugs. Not a bad thing perse and sounds like they didn't offer any opioids
- fennecbutt 9mo agoLmao as a kiwi living in UK it's definitely a bad thing. Can't go on a night out in London without half dozen dudes trying to sell you coke. Same dudes who are waiting in alleys waiting to mug people when they get the chance. If you ever see >1 person just standing around and not walking somewhere in London early in the morning just stay the fuck away from them. And if they start heading your way, run.
- herbst 9mo agoI know how annoying this can be, especially in some countries this behaviour is often directly associated with criminality. Here in Switzerland dealers are often (not always) just that, they make enough to not bother with anything else. They don't look like "dirty" junkies, they don't bother stealing from tourists, they basically don't look for any extra attention when the business is rolling anyway.
- Aurornis 9mo ago> Clean heroin is one of the least problematic substances appearantly, less problematic and more "everyday friendly" than Methadon even. Least problematic is too strong of wording. Consistent opioid use will take a large toll on the body and mind. A therapeutic level of dosing could possibly be better than severe chronic pain depending on the situation, but even chronic pain patients have to deal with a range of negatives and side effects that are only tolerable because they’re less bad than their severe chronic pain. Chronic opioid use induces a lot of changes in the body and mind. The initial euphoria isn’t sustainable, as everyone knows, but long term use induces even further changes that predispose users to deeper depression and can even begin to augment pain signals. Opioids are in a class of drugs that are unusually deceptive because users who more or less control their dosing will talk themselves into thinking they can do this forever without real negatives. They can go for years before the cumulative negatives become too obvious to ignore. For addicts deep in cycles of rehab-relapse extremes, going to a maintenance program and achieving stability is definitely better than continuing the cycle indefinitely. However it comes with a high price relative to sobriety. I think it’s important to not downplay the effects of being on opioids for years and years.
- F7F7F7 9mo agoYour response reads like status quo par for the course. The same thinking that fueled the "Just Say No" and "this is your brain on drug's" campaigns in the 80s/90s. Because we all know that cutting off access via stone cold sobriety and absolute illegality under the law is the right solution.
- Aurornis 9mo agoStraw man response. I didn’t say anything about that. I’m trying to counter the idea that a consistent heroin dependence is the “least bad substance” when there are clearly numerous drugs that are much less toxic over the long term. I said nothing about best techniques for dealing with people who have addictions. My goal is to avoid having being read these comments and think that because they’re smarter they’ll be able to handle and benefit from a stable opioid dependence. It’s exactly how one of my friends got started
- mmooss 9mo ago> You can live with a sustained opioid addiction permanently without major issues. To me that seems to say cause of the opiod crisis doesn't exist, which probably isn't what you mean. But what do you mean?
- monero-xmr 9mo agoThe problem is not the opioids themselves as a chemical. They are tolerated well and have minimal side effects. The main issue is that street opioids are of uncertain purity, and cut with toxic chemicals. This causes overdoses when a batch is too strong, and various health issues from the harsh toxins. A properly managed opioid addiction can be permanent. For a decade millions of Americans were addicted to opioids (OxyContin, Vicodin, etc.) prescribed by doctors. When the state cracked down they were forced to go on the street to get their medicine, which is when the opioid crisis exploded
- Veliladon 9mo agoAnd we learned zero from the change after shutting down the Purdues. The electorate just wants to see drug users punished, not treated. Even though treating cheaper, more humane, and has way better outcomes.
- gruez 9mo ago>When the state cracked down they were forced to go on the street to get their medicine, which is when the opioid crisis exploded. What's the data corroborating this theory?
- mmooss 9mo agoThat's completely counter to the very well-researched and reported, and proven in court, narrative that people suffered greatly from opiod addictions due to those doctor's prescriptions. What is the basis for your narrative?
- brewcejener 9mo ago[dead]