Will There Be A More Intelligent War On Drugs On The Horizon? (ethical, border)
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Since fen is so lethal, I'd say let them eat cake. While this may sound cold, you likely haven't had an addict become combative since you saved their life. (I have.)
They only thing they said? "You wrecked my high."
Pretty much all that matters to them. So, give them what they want.
Worst shift? Had the SAME addict, 4 times for OD....
I agree but I'll add that anyone transporting or dealing gets at the minimum long prison sentences. Life sentences for large amounts.
Which border? Fentanyl is streaming down from Vancouver and Toronto as well, through our porous border with Canada. So we should build a wall up there too?
Fentanyl is so lightweight it can be easily concealed on a ship crossing the Atlantic or Pacific and it can be bought on the Dark Web.
Canada really isn't the problem. China, Mexico and India are.
I suffer from chronic pain from a failed L5S1 fusion plus the rest of my spine is going like dominoes. I also suffer from nerve issues, spasms and all sorts of pain from my low back down.
I've been to every type of doctor. You're right copays plus medication costs eat up a lot of money. It gets old, especially when there is nothing any of them can do to fix me.
It is extremely hard to get into a pain management office these last few years, even for people with a clean 20 something year history. Doctors don't want to prescribe, pharmacies don't want to take more patients. It's horrible out there for anyone in pain that actually needs percocet and/or oxycontin to manage pain.
Lots of pain management offices have been closed down by me in the last few years, yet there are still people who manage to find doctors who are willing to be a pill mill, they turn around and sell the whole script. I'd like to know how these fakers are getting the meds that real patients need. That is a huge problem.
If you lived in San Diego, El Paso or even here in Tucson, you wouldn't have written this post. But, unfortunately, you're up in NJ, and I sympathize with you, and your frustrations.
When I retired, I didn't want to go thru potential hassles with meds, which I why I picked Tucson, 65 miles to the Border. There's van service all day long, going back and forth.
I worked in a LTC/Rehab facility and the cutback on pain meds were driving some of the nurses and aides crazy. Why does everything have to go to extremes?
Higher consciousness, when San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to decriminalize magic mushrooms, Peyote, Ayahuasca, and other plant-based psychedelic drugs. Supervisor Dean Preston said the board was simply "following science and data".
I believe psychedelic mushrooms have also been legalized in Denver.
Dr.'s and scientists are rediscovering the benefits of psychedelics for alcoholics, drug addicts and people with PTSD.
Higher consciousness, when San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to decriminalize magic mushrooms, Peyote, Ayahuasca, and other plant-based psychedelic drugs. Supervisor Dean Preston said the board was simply "following science and data".
I believe psychedelic mushrooms have also been legalized in Denver.
Dr.'s and scientists are rediscovering the benefits of psychedelics for alcoholics, drug addicts and people with PTSD.
Now I call this more intelligent!
I have suggested all along that science is showing that there are beneficial uses of certain "illegal" substances. I have also maintained that the biggest lobby for the war on drugs is probably the police union and the prison systems themselves, for the drugs status means job security for all.
However, as a medical professional, I can say that the focus should not be on prisons but on rehabilitation. Those who are addicted to drugs should be offered professional and competent therapy to overcome their addiction.
And worldwide, multiple models of a successful treatment program are available, but due to lack of mental health funding in the good Ol' USA, mental illness including drug addiction is left untreated. Funding that is put to prisons and law enforcement could be diverted to help the mentally ill who are behind many of the crimes.
The USA is a mentally unhealthy Nation.
Drug addiction is a part of that.
The first thing that needs to happen is that the draconian, Nixon drug laws need to be revamped. I would look at an attempted model in other countries, like Portugal for example, and study the how and why of success and failure there. Hint: It is not , nor should it be, and "All or nothing black and white" issue
Second, we need to understand WHY people abuse drugs, why people become addicted and the underlying root causes of drug use. Having studied extensively, I think that a clear and overwhelming correlation to some mental illness, diagnosed or undiagnosed, is present as a major factor.
Then, there needs to be a way to regulate these medications for those who need them.
Example
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roselvr
I suffer from chronic pain from a failed L5S1 fusion plus the rest of my spine is going like dominoes. I also suffer from nerve issues, spasms and all sorts of pain from my low back down.
I've been to every type of doctor. You're right copays plus medication costs eat up a lot of money. It gets old, especially when there is nothing any of them can do to fix me.
It is extremely hard to get into a pain management office these last few years, even for people with a clean 20 something year history. Doctors don't want to prescribe, pharmacies don't want to take more patients. It's horrible out there for anyone in pain that actually needs percocet and/or oxycontin to manage pain.
Lots of pain management offices have been closed down by me in the last few years, yet there are still people who manage to find doctors who are willing to be a pill mill, they turn around and sell the whole script. I'd like to know how these fakers are getting the meds that real patients need. That is a huge problem.
First, let me say that I empathize with you. I see way too many people suffering chronic pain and treatment challenges at the hands of the current system. As an arthritis sufferer, and a THC user (which, I take only orally two hours before bedtime because it is the safest and so far only thing that allows me to get to sleep and sleep through the night)I can say that THC has become the closest thing to a "miracle drug" for my condition.
I wish you all the best in your treatment. I am not going to start dispensing unsolicited advice because I know you are doing the best you can with the resources you have available. I would hope that somewhere along the way, you find the right doctor and the right clinic to meet your needs. Chronic back pain is something that people who do not have often do not understand, but sadly, you, I and many others understand that it basically puts a halt on the enjoyment of life. And that is not something you or anyone really deserves.
Second, if the Physicians and the medical professionals were the ones allowed to research and dictate the treatment, instead of the government, then we would have fewer problems. Not saying we would have no problems, but last time I checked, most Law enforcement lobbies, union members government officials, and such, are not physicians or medical researchers. They really have very limited business dictating to medical professionals what they can or cannot prescribe, and holding the medical system hostage to Medicare, Medicaid and as a result, insurance. I am not saying all medical professionals are top notch, but the treatment models need to be followed out of medical research, not out of political battles.
Case in point, when the Coronavirus pandemic started as a threat, back in 2019/2020, let me remind everyone of how quickly it failed to be the community health crisis that it was and how it quickly, in America , became a political mess, turned promptly into a political issue, thus delaying effective treatment and even dividing the country (which seems to be a pastime/hobby here) to the point that hundreds of thousands of American brothers and sisters died probably needlessly.
But , again, in a nation where insurance and the government dictate medical practices, the trained professionals are limited as to what they can and cannot do, including pain management and mental health treatment.
I am not saying that ALL Drug use will go away with proper mental health treatment, and in America, proper mental health treatment is hard to come by thanks in part to political division and political maneuvering, But I will say that given the high recidivism rates and the limited evidence that proper mental health treatments DO in fact help to some degree (and more research, funding and work is needed) I would say that by fixing the mental health system in this crazy country (the USA) we would probably offer a much more successful treatment model for the decrease in human need and desire for drugs.
From what I understand is forging prescriptions is very hard. Everything is computerized, and there is a lot of checks, and clearances. Its not like you can steal a doctors notepad, and write yourself whatever you want and present to the Pharmacist. You have to hack through a lot of firewalls or get the pharmacist in on the scheme.
Individuals drug abusers get caught pretty quickly, but criminals have set up elaborate schemes including reproducing tamper-proof prescription pads, and phone numbers for their "office" incl a fax line so they can fax prescriptions in, and they sell the prescriptions to users. Not every doctor's office or pharmacy is on a national computer system. People with forged Rx are more likely to get caught after the fact because when the Rx is filled, info on the "patient" and the Rx are entered into a state database (at least in the states I'm aware of) and unusually large numbers of Rx are flagged and the patient investigated.
I agree but I'll add that anyone transporting or dealing gets at the minimum long prison sentences. Life sentences for large amounts.
Such sentencing already occurs at the federal level. Common to hand out 30 + (life is some cases) for those whom they deem at the top. Even the mid-level can get 20 + years. Hasn't stopped anything and in many cases only exacerbates the problem.
Higher consciousness, when San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to decriminalize magic mushrooms, Peyote, Ayahuasca, and other plant-based psychedelic drugs. Supervisor Dean Preston said the board was simply "following science and data".
I believe psychedelic mushrooms have also been legalized in Denver.
Dr.'s and scientists are rediscovering the benefits of psychedelics for alcoholics, drug addicts and people with PTSD.
Now I call this more intelligent!
I don't have a problem with this, as long as the seller confiscates the user's driver's license and returns it to the state. We don't need more drugged drivers on the road.
I have talked before about how I think that it would be really cool if there were places where someone could go and legally do psychedelics, where they would be there for their whole trip. A safe environment with places to chill out if overstimulated, and professionals on site who know how to deal with any crisis. I think that psychedelics should be legal, and yet, I don't think it's a good idea for people on them to be wandering around...definitely not operating any dangerous machinery, or cars.
Well, Denver did decriminalize mushrooms. And I recently found out that the Meow Wolf installation up there has adult only nights where they fully expect people to be high, and they have staff who are trained to help people calm down who are having a rough time, and the way that place is set up...you'll be captivated and a bit "lost" (on purpose) in it for hours. I found that pretty interesting.
I have mixed feelings now about cannabis. I still am generally against the War On Drugs and believe that there are really horrible abuses and excesses in the system that wrongly harm people way out of proportion to users' tendency to be harming anybody else. I don't think that imprisonment of users is a good solution to any problems. But I cannot be as rosy on the subject of marijuana as I used to be when I was much younger. I've personally been way too close to people whose habitual use of it has been inextricably linked to their inability to function and their taking advantage of others, it's damaged or destroyed their lives and relationships. Especially since the legal stuff is astronomically stronger (and seemingly more addictive) compared to what I used to get up to as a teenager.
I mean, that was bad enough...I lost interest in school and other important things I should have cared about. The escapism did take over. But it's like...survival as a functioning adult can be hard enough these days, with the cost of everything so high and all, that those like a few of my family members who can't seem to keep a job or prioritize responsibilities over escape...they don't stand a chance. Are there perfectly functional and responsible cannabis users? Yes. But I think that for every one of them, there's another who is failing to self-support and who thinks that MJ isn't the problem when frankly...it's at least a big part of it. But then of course there is an argument that some of my far left friends make...that a person's value should not be relative to their productivity and participation in capitalism. That cute meme they keep circulating about how humans should just be allowed to "chill out and eat fruit" rather than needing mortgages and credit scores. But it's like...we live in the world we live in, not the world that these folks are imagining. The world we live in, requires a source of monetary income, to afford the basics of survival. America is not very forgiving of those who wish to just...opt out of participation. Right or wrong, it's the way things are.
Though I have to say that sometimes I wonder if the Fentanyl is another case of the CIA or some government entity deliberately pushing poison and harm on people. Like it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if one day we hear that they decided this was the way to trim the "dead branches" of society, people who can't or won't work, earn, and spend the way they want everyone to. And even accepting the realities of our capitalist society as it is, that really does strike me as one hell of an evil notion. I sure hope it isn't true.
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