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Yes I have followed the opioid crisis, Ive also lived it...I was a heroin addict up until 4 years ago, like many other people, I got started on prescription painkillers, but once the govt cracked down on opioid prescription drugs, those who were addicted, just switched to heroin (which was mysteriously available everywhere and VERY cheap at that time).
You do not have to be rocket scientist to recognize prescription opioids are MUCH safer than street heroin! Street heroin could be cut with just about anything, toxins, poisons, elephant tranquilizer!
As an addict I knew many drug dealers in those days, I heard firsthand from them, what they were seeing, ALOT of heroin being pushed on them and to sell it for half price...this was done to hook all the former pill addicts, of course, the price went back up a month later.
Basically what our Govt did, was to criminalize the 'safer' drug and push addicts to the MUCH more dangerous Heroin, which also boosted the drug cartels profits astronomically.
From what Ive seen and experienced, I truly believe the DEA is in collusion with the drug cartels and its main objective is to ensure the drug cartels have the best marketplace possible and to help grow their profits...That is precisely what the prescription drug laws accomplished, thankfully there are some media outlets that are starting to put 2 and 2 together, and see whats really going on with this.
You could have gone to rehab. The gov. is not to blame for your heroin habit.
You could have gone to rehab. The gov. is not to blame for your heroin habit.
You are right, the Govt is NOT to blame for my decision to use drugs, I fully admit it was my own choice to start ABUSING the drugs...
However, the fact that SO MUCH heroin (and other drugs) are so easily accessible in literally every city in the country...NOW THAT IS the govts fault.
In that they knowingly fund a federal agency that directly benefits these drug cartels, our own tax dollars are being used to fund these terrorists for petes sake!
The purpose of federal agencies like the FDA, CDC, DEA, and others are to PROTECT American citizens, (NOT to protect foreign terrorist organizations or to provide them with the perfect 'climate' and marketplace in which to sell their deadly drugs)!!
Furthermore, they have US military forces PROTECTING Afghanistan poppy fields!! Can you rationalize the purpose of this? (when these plants will produce deadly heroin that is destined for the US). They SHOULD be destroying poppy fields...(no poppys....NO HEROIN).
This is why Suboxone is a miracle drug, I can honestly admit it saved my life!
In my opinion, they should standing on street corners and handing it out for free!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovorlando
But Suboxone is an addiction!!
The seriousness of an addiction comes from the deleterious effects on the individual and the costs to society. Many are addicted to caffeine...what is the degree of harm to either the individual or society - pretty minor. What about nicotine - quite minor if associated only with vaping but more serious if the vehicle is cigarette smoking. That's why I'm for vaping (with approved substances and devices) especially if it reduces addiction and reliance on tobacco.
Opiates - pretty bad! Suboxone? Relatively speaking it is so much better than opiates both in health effects and in other "costs". It is the moral Puritanism and desire to punish the "low morals" of addicts that argues against something like Suboxone. If it allows more people to become contributing members of society and reunites families or allows new families to form, I'm all for it. So sorry it is technically an addiction and isn't free of cost, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater - and certainly don't say you care about people in the same breath you're speaking against Suboxone.
The seriousness of an addiction comes from the deleterious effects on the individual and the costs to society. Many are addicted to caffeine...what is the degree of harm to either the individual or society - pretty minor. What about nicotine - quite minor if associated only with vaping but more serious if the vehicle is cigarette smoking. That's why I'm for vaping (with approved substances and devices) especially if it reduces addiction and reliance on tobacco.
Opiates - pretty bad! Suboxone? Relatively speaking it is so much better than opiates both in health effects and in other "costs". It is the moral Puritanism and desire to punish the "low morals" of addicts that argues against something like Suboxone. If it allows more people to become contributing members of society and reunites families or allows new families to form, I'm all for it. So sorry it is technically an addiction and isn't free of cost, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater - and certainly don't say you care about people in the same breath you're speaking against Suboxone.
in terms of whats actually 'safer' for the individual and society as a whole...it would be MUCH safer for addicts to use prescription opioids, versus going to shady drug dealers on the street, who are selling drugs, that they have no idea what could be mixed in with them ( in the attempt to increase weight/ value). many people have died after using street drugs, due to them not knowing what other drugs were mixed in before it got to them. At least with prescription opioids, they are made in controlled labs, that adhere to quality control and strict standards.
Plus the societal cost of having to deal with criminal drug cartels, who only exist thanks to the drug laws being in place, this makes it much more dangerous for society as a whole, all the used needles lying around today...didnt see much of that back when people were using prescription opioids!
I find myself a "victim" of the opioid epidemic.
What started as recreational use has become a outrageous habit. 10 grams a day of fentanyl. Not straight fent, I cut it 100:1. So 1/10th of a gram a day. I can't function without it. I'm out of control. I've been to aa and na but I just couldn't stomach some of the things I heard.
If aa works for people I think it's great. But it will never work for me.
What other options are there?
People don't try NA and find it lacking.
They find it difficult and don't try it.
Will power does in fact work for many people. But you have to make yourself strong enough. No one is ever forcing you to take the physical action to put substances into your body. It’s always a choice, and the opposite choice is always available. The victim business has been created to make lots of money off people being weak. The reality is alcoholism is a choice. We need to teach people to think, and to embrace reality at all times, rather than evading it and running away from it. This has to start at childhood. Getting rid of all forms of mysticism from childhood is also a good idea.
Addiction means beyond human aid, beyond the power of the will.
The ability to make a sane choice is gone,thats addiction.
You just don't know because you aren't an addict.
I'm a recovered alcoholic, alcoholism is the loss of choice.
There is a way out, its not the way you propose.
Only 10% of everyone in AA tries to work the steps.
The steps are the program.
Meetings are not the program, meetings are just the fellowship.
The success rate is closer to 4%, it can't be 7 to 14%.
Early AA was closer to 75% success because it was a requirement alcoholics had to work the steps before being allowed to attend meetings.
AA has excellent success rates for those who actually work the steps completely,
half measures yield zero results.
AA states it cannot work for everyone, there are those who lack the constitution to live life on a basis of rigorous honesty, they seem to have been born that way.
Having studied neurology for the past couple of years, I can tell you that the addiction has created a circuit of neurons in your brain (from the extreme overload of dopamine) that can never be removed completely. The key is you have to weaken those circuits and replace them with newer, stronger ones by creating new habits for yourself such as music, sports, etc.
SS
The 12 steps accomplish that.
God provides an end around.
The steps reduce ego and break the grip of the established neural circuits.
12 Step groups are great for people who resonate with the Christian based programs - even though they say your higher power can be anything, the basis of the program is rooted in Christianity and it is very paternalistic.
I despise Alanon . . . lol
When I started in AA I was atheist.
Today I have no religion.
God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.
"Reefer Madness" was sensationalism and mostly falsehoods. If you took a puff of a joint you'd supposedly end up a hopeless heroin addict.
I laughed at my friend 50 years ago, he said it would lead to stronger drugs.
I quit smoking weed, he is a heroin addict still today, how he's lived this long is a mystery.
He looks like life has been drained from his body.
You never know.
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