4 ms·

To be honest I would prefer addicts could get heroin prescribed. The primary danger of street drugs is the inconsistent purity and chemicals it’s cut with. If i

To be honest I would prefer addicts could get heroin prescribed. The primary danger of street drugs is the inconsistent purity and chemicals it’s cut with. If it was pharmaceutical grade and everyone prescribed was on a list, we would have fewer overdoses and a better understanding of who to put in treatment

cluckindan 7mo ago
Most heroin overdoses happen either from a sudden increase in supply purity, or from an abstinent addict relapsing and taking their regular dose without realizing they have lost their tolerance. Any kind of rational change in policy is not happening as long as entire lucrative industries of policing, health care and religion-as-a-social-service are dependent on the dependent.
- alphawhisky 7mo ago
  This cuts to one of the more important points here. Rent seeking behavior in public health is crazy to witness.
- apothegm 7mo ago
  Don’t forget for-profit prisons!
tokai 7mo ago
It's such things that reveal the cruelty in our sociaties. The evidence is very clear; it reduces deaths and improves health, while also reducing crime. But its still not the default the world over because its apparently a hard sell to give addicts anything for free. The other comments here show the sentiments nicely.
- mothballed 7mo ago
  There is no need to give it for free. It costs very little to produce, most of the cost is just risk and irregular logistics. Just sell it over the counter at walmart for $5 just like they do rat poison, bottles of vodka, and ammunition. You might say they won't be able to sell enough foodstamps or welfare even then to come up with the money legally, but it'd still be way less crime.
  - nextaccountic 7mo ago
    People don't get addicted to rat poison or ammunition (usually). But you have got a point on vodka. There is little reason to treat alcohol (and worse, nicotine) as any different than most addictive substances. Drug policy is totally irrational
    - saidnooneever 7mo ago
      alcohol is a far cry away from opiates. they should just allow everything. its actually effective in drastically reducing abuse. since use is normalized it become easier to have social control form peers etc. and that works really well actually. Additionally it would allow for stable products which means more safe products.
pooooka 7mo ago
The US did this dance with the devil in the pale moonlight before anyone, way back in the 19th century. Tens of thousands (millions) of wounded soldiers came back from the civil war in chronic pain and addicted to morphine. They put them on "lists" and prescribed them dope and it spiraled out of control. It got so bad that they engineered Heroin to be a safer alternative. And people forget, but the temperance movement wasn't just focused on alcohol. They were the primary forces behind the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. And these people weren't bible thumping crusaders, many were like early feminists that lost children\husbands to drugs and alcohol. I think Europe eventually comes around to this same conclusion when enough damage has been done. Metering out hard drugs has always been a road to ruin.
- ubercore 7mo ago
  > I see Europe eventually coming to this same conclusion when enough damage has been done. I'm curious about this sentence -- to what are you referring, and where specifically in Europe?
  - ThrowawayTestr 7mo ago
    Portugal decriminalize d all drugs a little while ago
    - chrisldgk 7mo ago
      Notice the word „decriminalize“, not „legalize“. It’s about not throwing people already struggling with addiction in jail but rather offering safe alternatives (counseling, safer use, etc.). The government‘s not passing out drugs in the street, like US media likes to suggest.
    - ubercore 7mo ago
      And they have very low drug mortality rates. Opiates are prescribed _way_ less than in the US. This really feels like a strawman comparison.
- mothballed 7mo ago
KellyCriterion 7mo ago
Im alwys stunning about the story that Heroin was market as non-addictive product by Germany Company BAYER: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#/media/Datei:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#/media/Datei:Bayer_Hero...
herbst 7mo ago
Welcome to Switzerland. Where this exact approach is working well for many many years now.

cluckindan 7mo ago

Most heroin overdoses happen either from a sudden increase in supply purity, or from an abstinent addict relapsing and taking their regular dose without realizing they have lost their tolerance. Any kind of rational change in policy is not happening as long as entire lucrative industries of policing, health care and religion-as-a-social-service are dependent on the dependent.

alphawhisky 7mo ago
This cuts to one of the more important points here. Rent seeking behavior in public health is crazy to witness.
apothegm 7mo ago
Don’t forget for-profit prisons!

tokai 7mo ago

It's such things that reveal the cruelty in our sociaties. The evidence is very clear; it reduces deaths and improves health, while also reducing crime. But its still not the default the world over because its apparently a hard sell to give addicts anything for free. The other comments here show the sentiments nicely.

mothballed 7mo ago
There is no need to give it for free. It costs very little to produce, most of the cost is just risk and irregular logistics. Just sell it over the counter at walmart for $5 just like they do rat poison, bottles of vodka, and ammunition. You might say they won't be able to sell enough foodstamps or welfare even then to come up with the money legally, but it'd still be way less crime.
- nextaccountic 7mo ago
  People don't get addicted to rat poison or ammunition (usually). But you have got a point on vodka. There is little reason to treat alcohol (and worse, nicotine) as any different than most addictive substances. Drug policy is totally irrational
  - saidnooneever 7mo ago
    alcohol is a far cry away from opiates. they should just allow everything. its actually effective in drastically reducing abuse. since use is normalized it become easier to have social control form peers etc. and that works really well actually. Additionally it would allow for stable products which means more safe products.

pooooka 7mo ago

The US did this dance with the devil in the pale moonlight before anyone, way back in the 19th century. Tens of thousands (millions) of wounded soldiers came back from the civil war in chronic pain and addicted to morphine. They put them on "lists" and prescribed them dope and it spiraled out of control. It got so bad that they engineered Heroin to be a safer alternative. And people forget, but the temperance movement wasn't just focused on alcohol. They were the primary forces behind the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. And these people weren't bible thumping crusaders, many were like early feminists that lost children\husbands to drugs and alcohol. I think Europe eventually comes around to this same conclusion when enough damage has been done. Metering out hard drugs has always been a road to ruin.

ubercore 7mo ago
> I see Europe eventually coming to this same conclusion when enough damage has been done. I'm curious about this sentence -- to what are you referring, and where specifically in Europe?
- ThrowawayTestr 7mo ago
  Portugal decriminalize d all drugs a little while ago
  - chrisldgk 7mo ago
    Notice the word „decriminalize“, not „legalize“. It’s about not throwing people already struggling with addiction in jail but rather offering safe alternatives (counseling, safer use, etc.). The government‘s not passing out drugs in the street, like US media likes to suggest.
  - ubercore 7mo ago
    And they have very low drug mortality rates. Opiates are prescribed _way_ less than in the US. This really feels like a strawman comparison.
mothballed 7mo ago

KellyCriterion 7mo ago

Im alwys stunning about the story that Heroin was market as non-addictive product by Germany Company BAYER: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#/media/Datei:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin#/media/Datei:Bayer_Hero...

herbst 7mo ago

Welcome to Switzerland. Where this exact approach is working well for many many years now.