Narcan in Cambridge?

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by timberline742

People were dying way back. Uppers./speed were common. Opiate use was heavy in the 1800s and early 1900s (laudanum, etc). Addiction was common. There was no lack of addicts in the 30s, 50s, 70s, 90s, etc. It just wasn't talked about.


Well, by criminalizing it we've made it worse. Much much worse. That promotes crime to get money for the overpriced drugs. It promotes overdoses by not having quality control. It prevents people from getting treatment.


Iceland, the country I mentioned earlier, cut teen drink from the 40% range, to low single digits. Drug use as similarily been slashed. How? Invest in stress relief activities and creative healthy outlets, and situations where they can get natural, healthy "highs" such as through art and exercise.


We don't want to spend that money. We want to cut those expenses. We want to blame blame blame.


There is more money for corporations to make through treating the problem than through preventing it, plus, we have this idiotic mindset in this country that's is a moral issue, or if you punish people enough they'll get "scared straight". It doesn't work, it has never worked. We need to change our mindset and stop trying to threaten people into compliance.

And this isn't just with drugs. We don't subscribe to prevention in our society with health care. We promote treating the problem after the problem is created.

Finally I agree with you on something. This country isn't providing much for outlets anymore. Art and music have often been striped away from the schools. Outdoor activities aren't emphasized as much. And greedy corporations are always wanting to make more money no matter what it does to anyone else.

I don't know how health care could prevent it but I'm certainly in favor of health care. As for Iceland, the country has a lot of offer just by virtue of its natural resources: things like hot water outdoor pools in the middle of a freezing winter. Apparently the entire community gets together in these pools, people relax together, talk about things.

We don't have that here but we should get back to the arts as an outlet for emotions, and sports and other outdoor activities too. People who think those things don't matter, don't realize how important they are to many people.

When we still had those outlets, any drug taking occurred on the fringes of society, not in the mainstream like today. To be honest, I had never made the connection but it's common sense and thank you for pointing it out.