The Opioid Epidemic is Just Out of Control

[Mikeoxenormous]

I don't know, I have been prescribed Hydrocodone and similar things many times for various pains, after surgery, my back, etc. It was always effective and caused no problems. I took the pills as needed, got better then went on with my life. No harm, no foul. Good stuff. People don't get hooked or whatever because the doctor prescribed it, it messed them up because they abused it and messed themselves up. Everyone taking it has the power, if they want to, to simply STOP TAKING IT, if it starts having more control of their lives than desired.

Heck, when I was a kid and got earaches, my pediatrician always prescribed Paregoric! That is a tincture of opium! Real good stuff, it really worked, took the earache right away, not like most modern medicines. I don't think you could abuse it anyway as it was camphorated.

The problem isn't the drugs, it is the people taking them.

Heroin is much much much more different than hydro.

I can't understand the need to prescribe heroin. I believe heroin was "created" specifically for getting wasted on AND being very addictive! It is like "concentrated opium! I want to meet the doctor who prescribes heroin; can I pick it up at my pharmacy? I can't even get shit pills off of my doctor.

Can you tell me where I said heroin was prescribed?

They are trying to say that both substances are the same.

But, like it's been pointed out before.............people get prescribed opiates by the doctor and when their treatment is over they are addicted. Since they can't get any more opiates from the doc, they turn to heroin because it's chemically similar and produces a similar effect.

Quickest way to get a handle on the heroin epidemic is to tell the docs to be a bit more careful in how they prescribe opiate drugs so that people don't get addicted in the first place.

Another interesting sidenote.................there is a new cable channel called VICE, and they have a series on there called "Weediquette", which shows various people who use marijuana and how it affects them. In one episode, they showed a place where they were using marijuana to treat heroin addiction. Now, when a person is going through withdrawl on heroin, they have joint pain, are nauseous, and are generally pretty jumpy and jittery. Guess what? Marijuana can relieve pain, stimulates appetite, soothes nausea and can also relax you. Best part? Marijuana isn't addictive, so when they get off heroin and have used marijuana for a bit and are off of it, they can stop using cannabis if they so choose without any ill side effects.

I think Cory Booker has the right idea, because he's looking to decriminalize it at the federal level and leave the states to decide what they want to do.

Marijuana isn't addictive

You may not believe it. But you can get addicted to THC. In fact, the addictive properties of weed are well known and documented. Withdrawal symptoms such as panic attacks, anxiety, depression, and aggression can occur when you stop taking THC suddenly.
Is THC addictive? - Addiction Blog
drug.addictionblog.org/is-thc-addictive/

Before you make a bold statement, better make sure your statement is a FACT.....

 

[Moonglow]

I don't know, I have been prescribed Hydrocodone and similar things many times for various pains, after surgery, my back, etc. It was always effective and caused no problems. I took the pills as needed, got better then went on with my life. No harm, no foul. Good stuff. People don't get hooked or whatever because the doctor prescribed it, it messed them up because they abused it and messed themselves up. Everyone taking it has the power, if they want to, to simply STOP TAKING IT, if it starts having more control of their lives than desired.

Heck, when I was a kid and got earaches, my pediatrician always prescribed Paregoric! That is a tincture of opium! Real good stuff, it really worked, took the earache right away, not like most modern medicines. I don't think you could abuse it anyway as it was camphorated.

The problem isn't the drugs, it is the people taking them.

I remember my first visit to my wifes doctor, I was getting bad headaches. He prescribed a couple of products and the pharmacy was conveniently located on premise. When I left his office I had forms in hand and the pharmacist smiled at me as I walked towards them. In one motion, I crumpled up the prescription and threw it out in the garbage bin nearby. She gave me a puzzled look as I walked out.

Bottom line, I don't like stuff in my body, I am a firm believer in the bodys natural ability to protect, defend and heal. Obviously there are times it is unavoidable, such as when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. Even then, I halfed the dose given to me and didn't finish the entire prescription (which I am told is a no-no, but regardless).

I think everyone has a vice whether they have found it or not, I am not going to ever tempt these demons if I can avoid it.

You don't like stuff in yer body? When did you drain all the fluids?

 

[Moonglow]

I don't know, I have been prescribed Hydrocodone and similar things many times for various pains, after surgery, my back, etc. It was always effective and caused no problems. I took the pills as needed, got better then went on with my life. No harm, no foul. Good stuff. People don't get hooked or whatever because the doctor prescribed it, it messed them up because they abused it and messed themselves up. Everyone taking it has the power, if they want to, to simply STOP TAKING IT, if it starts having more control of their lives than desired.

Heck, when I was a kid and got earaches, my pediatrician always prescribed Paregoric! That is a tincture of opium! Real good stuff, it really worked, took the earache right away, not like most modern medicines. I don't think you could abuse it anyway as it was camphorated.

The problem isn't the drugs, it is the people taking them.

Heroin is much much much more different than hydro.

I can't understand the need to prescribe heroin. I believe heroin was "created" specifically for getting wasted on AND being very addictive! It is like "concentrated opium! I want to meet the doctor who prescribes heroin; can I pick it up at my pharmacy? I can't even get shit pills off of my doctor.

Can you tell me where I said heroin was prescribed?

Because that has been the general THRUST of the opioid epidemic, that doctors and pill companies have been over-medicating, pushing this stuff on people like crazy. If you are talking about illegal use, then we have an opioid epidemic, a heroin epidemic, an LSD epidemic, a barbiturate epidemic, a coke epidemic, and a pot epidemic.

We also have an poor education epidemic, a government waste epidemic, an over-population epidemic, and many others to follow.

Where's the LSD?

 

[Moonglow]

All the drugs you listed are physically addictive. Marijuana isn't.

Marijuana might still be considered an epidemic, especially now that it is being widely legalized with whole cities full of people walking around in public openly smoking it and always stoned. No, it isn't physically addictive but it is psychologically addictive, which might be even more insidious, and some say it is a gateway to the harder stuff.

The majority of users don't walk around all day getting stoned..We do work and do it after work, just like imbibing...

 

[IsaacNewton]

You have to notice there isn't anyone demanding the drug dealers be held accountable. They're free to rake in the billions, while 130 Americans die every day from being hooked on their drugs.

 

[badger2]

The border wall will assist, though we wish it was simply drones instead. Yes, most disgusting is a young female jonesing and in your face with anxiety and violence because she needs her Cannabis and you're a convenient scapegoat.

 

[pismoe]

All the drugs you listed are physically addictive. Marijuana isn't.

Marijuana might still be considered an epidemic, especially now that it is being widely legalized with whole cities full of people walking around in public openly smoking it and always stoned. No, it isn't physically addictive but it is psychologically addictive, which might be even more insidious, and some say it is a gateway to the harder stuff.

------------------------------------------ walking around stoned with both eyes on their electronic device [chuckle] .

 

[toobfreak]

Where's the LSD?

Which kind? Window pane, orange sunshine, blotter or microdot?

 

[Lewdog]

Here is an article about a town I grew up close to, lived in and worked at for many years, and how the heroin problem has just devastated it to the point they were considering a three strikes rule. If you overdosed three times, after that they would no longer send the EMS to you and save your life, you'd just die.

Middletown, Ohio, a city under siege: “Everyone I know is on heroin”

Three people OD'ed in Toronto this weekend, hundreds, maybe thousands a year OD in Vancouver each year. It's sad, and I wish people would resist the use of these killers. The worst are those who encourage others to try out these killers and get them hooked, to hell with all of them!

Well a large part of the overdoses these days is when the dealers add things to the drugs and the people doing them don't know it. Right now for some reason dealers keep adding Fentanyl into stuff and it is flat out killing them. Not to mention, there is a lot of people that die the first time they ever even do drugs... where they fall into peer pressure from repeat drug users and they just can't take it and die.

Or the people are overdosing where they don't come back from death. Blame someone else for the immoral actions of the left. Hillary would be proud of you... At this point what difference does it make that liberals are killing themselves by overdosing?...

WTF does politics have to do with this? I just showed you the states with the largest drug problems are RED STATES... and you keep blaming liberals.

I love it when a liberal says it is a red state, but the cities in those red states are liberal with liberal mayors, who don't give a shit about the voters except when they need the vote. Too funny, about how stupid liberals are.

Uh yeah first I'm not a Liberal, and secondly Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia ARE red states. Nice to see you only like to claim red states when it is convenient for your argument.

 

[Lewdog]

No. I did not say heroin was prescribed, but you thought you would be cute, and you're not. You're just being disingenuous.

Screw you, moron. Don't for one minute try putting words in my mouth or think for one second you can second guess what I "thought" or what I intended, or what I was "being." I don't play those games and I won't play them with you.

I don't need to put words in your mouth, you sound like an idiot all on your own.

 

[ABikerSailor]

All the drugs you listed are physically addictive. Marijuana isn't.

Marijuana might still be considered an epidemic, especially now that it is being widely legalized with whole cities full of people walking around in public openly smoking it and always stoned. No, it isn't physically addictive but it is psychologically addictive, which might be even more insidious, and some say it is a gateway to the harder stuff.

If it's legal, how can it be an "epidemic" in places where it's legal?

As far as things that are psychologically addictive, you might want to look into stuff like shopping, gambling, and co dependency. Just about anything can become psychologically addictive if you let it rule you. Even sex can be addictive. And exactly how is marijuana "even more insidious"? By the way, you can't become psychologically addicted to something if you don't have an addictive personality in the first place.

As far as the gateway to the harder stuff? Apparently you don't know much about substance abuse because you wouldn't have made such a stupid statement. Anything you would do sober, you will probably do if you are stoned, and anything you WOULDN'T do sober, you probably won't do if you are stoned. Granted, marijuana produces good feelings and puts you in a slight daze, but your inhibitions are for the most place, intact.

If you want to know what the TRUE gateway drug is, it's alcohol. Why? Because people who drink too much alcohol lose their inhibitions, and things they wouldn't do normally, they are open to trying while drunk. Think of all the stories people have about doing stupid stuff while drunk that they would never do sober.

How do I know all this stuff? I was a Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor for the last 8 years of my Navy career.

 

[toobfreak]

If it's legal, how can it be an "epidemic" in places where it's legal? How do I know all this stuff? I was a Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor for the last 8 years of my Navy career.

First thing Jackass, Marijuana ISN'T legal. Check the federal register. Just because a state rules it legal there, it is still an illegal controlled substance at the Fed and they could crack down on any of this if they want to. As to the rest of your bogus assertions and that this was your career, just one more thing to worry us all at just one more inept and uninformed government agency that doesn't know shit from shinola.

 

[badger2]

When the Asian triads came to Madison, Wisconsin in a big way, displaying their chicks, buying real estate and peddling drugs, Catholics were genuflecting on the sidewalk. We think that the traffic is coming from the river as well, because the traditional pharmaceutical district was the Cincinnati waterfront. A map is here:

Behind White Picket Fences
Behind the white picket fences, heroin

To tranq-down the prisoners in the West, followed by splitting via heavy drugs in the Midwest, is the modus operandi of the smuggling machine.

Toxic Waste U.S. Pot Farms

Buddhism favors tranquilization (samatha).

 

[badger2]

Toxic waste from U.S. pot farms alarms experts

 

[Si modo]

Fatal ODs are across the USA. Saying they happen more in red or blues states is such bullshit from irresponsible hacks.

They are dropping like flies in some areas.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Toxic waste from U.S. pot farms alarms experts

If people are to read your link, they would see that these pot farms that are toxic are illegal grows that are being done by people who don't know what they are doing because they are using too many pesticides.

No. There is no danger from legal grows, because they are highly regulated and checked.

 

[AnomalousMaterial]

Having lost three close friends to heroin, and knowing many more people who do this, I've reached a point where it seems most salient to just let them rot in their own hell.

The major tri-county area of Ohio is swimming with addicts, the hospitals spend more and more of their time dealing with them, and the cycle is not abating. Friends in the medical industry are losing hope, tiring of dealing with fentanyl ODs, tired of seeing the same people come through the doors for the same thing, with no apparent end.

I say at this point let them rot. A very close lifelong friend lost a brother last year, whom OD'd for a 4th time passing out in his basement bathroom cracking his head on the toilet, bleeding out, dying, only to be found by my friend's SO 18 hours later.
He still would have died like this, no matter the support we had all given him, if never had my close friend held out his hand as a life line, if they never struggled to help him better himself. He still would have killed himself through the addiction.

The whole heroin ordeal has left me jaded, more cynical and I refuse to believe that the way out is more support. I've seen first-hand, that this will not stop.
Overloading treatment centers and personnel and the court systems because of acceptance simply is not doing anything positive.

Instead, why are we not asking where the heroin is coming from (*cough* Afghanistan *cough*), who is bringing it in (*cough* [conspiracy for profits] *cough*), and how to brutally, mercilessly stop the epidemic from destroying families.

 

[ABikerSailor]

You know, when CO legalized marijuana for recreational use, opiate overdoses went down 25 percent the first year, and have continued to decline since.

The main cause of the heroin epidemic is the over prescribing of opiates by doctors.

Interestingly enough, on the VICE channel, they have a show called "Weediquette", that shows marijuana users and why and how they use it. One show centered on a heroin treatment center that was using marijuana as a way to treat heroin addicts going through withdrawl. Some of the hallmarks of heroin withdrawl are joint pain, nausea, feeling jittery, and loss of appetite. Marijuana (especially Indica strains) relieve pain, stimulate appetite, gets rid of nausea, and calms you down to the point where you can sleep.

The treatment center had been in operation for around 10 months to a year by the time the show filmed them, and their success rate of keeping people off of heroin was around 60 percent.

Think about that number...............60 percent..................I worked as a Drug and Alcohol Program Advisor for the last 8 years I was in the Navy, and I can tell you that recovery numbers for even 6 months for a heroin addict is only in the single digits.

LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!

And, before you say that they are swapping one addiction for another, consider this.............heroin is highly physically addictive. Marijuana is not physically addictive in the slightest. Once they have successfully kicked the heroin habit, they would have no problem stopping marijuana if they so chose.