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Folks....the flu is killing FAR more then opiods. Wheres the national guard for that?
People with the flu don't usually break into peoples' houses for Tamiflu or chicken soup, get into violent altercations over their substances, or throw their Hepatitis C contaminated needles in peoples' yards, so that's not really a good analogy. Whether their goal is doing so or not, or they're indifferent, heroin users and dealers infest everyone around them with an unseemly decay.
I get that calling the National Guard is an unorthodox way to address the problem, and maybe (?) it was only assigned the problem as a dog and pony show, but the bigger question is whether it's going to be one effective way to deal with the problem (although clearly it can't be the only way).
They are handling phone lines, providing helicopter coverage when needed for other escaping criminals, helping investigations of drug dealers and providing support on stings and serving warrants, providing traffic control and a variety of other duties that assist or free up local law enforcement.
Then the freed-up local law enforcement can do what, exactly?
That is how we have been fighting the problem for 50 years and it obviously isn't working.
You have it backwards. The way it actually would work is to get the problem OUT of the criminal justice system, and into the health care system. That really does free-up local law enforcement and allows them to take care of the real criminals like thiefs, rapists, murderers, etc.
Then the freed-up local law enforcement can do what, exactly?
That is how we have been fighting the problem for 50 years and it obviously isn't working.
You have it backwards. The way it actually would work is to get the problem OUT of the criminal justice system, and into the health care system. That really does free-up local law enforcement and allows them to take care of the real criminals like thiefs, rapists, murderers, etc.
The War on Drugs obviously doesnotwork!
I do understand what you're saying in theory, but the "health care system", at least in its current form, isn't exactly the best model to use with all of its blunders and outright corruption. I'm not sure how much I would trust it to deal with such a multi-faceted, morally delicate, and complex problem when it's malfeasant enough to charge someone $629.00 for a freaking Band Aid (with lots of similar atrocities that go on constantly).
I do agree with the objections to the title of calling this a "red state" issue because problems like these are set for failure if people of different political persuasions don't start working together to help solve these kinds of problems. If that doesn't happen, promising solutions are going to fail miserably.
Yep. As long as there are still people in prison sentenced to long terms for crack possession, you're damned right. Why do opioid addicts get the white glove treatment, while others still have their freedom denied?
You probably should think this through.
I am with you that the crack epidemic and subsequent law enforcement crack-down was VERY unfair and racist, and resulted in more damage than the drug itself was doing (as is usually the result every time the government ramps-up the War on Drugs). I agree that mandatory sentencing guidelines has many people unfairly in prison for life for a minor crack conviction. But I also agree with a previous poster that 2 wrongs do not make a right.
Let me ask you this: If you had 2 sons, with one unfairly locked away for life for a crack conviction, and the other one hooked on opioids, would you send your 2nd son to prison as a way of protesting the imprisonment of your 1st son?
I do understand what you're saying in theory, but the "health care system", at least in its current form, isn't exactly the best model to use with all of its blunders and outright corruption. I'm not sure how much I would trust it to deal with such a multi-faceted, morally delicate, and complex problem when it's malfeasant enough to charge someone $629.00 for a freaking Band Aid (with lots of similar atrocities that go on constantly).
I understand what you are saying also, but the current health care system isn't what would process these people.
Instead, all the money that we are currently wasting by fighting the problem through the criminal justice system ($billions) could be used to setup a network of treatment centers. These centers would serve three primary functions:
1) Provide a place where a desperate addict could go for a "fix". That immediately stops 90% of the crime these desperate people commit.
2) To get all these people out of the criminal justice system, freeing it up to work as intended, on real criminals, not sick people.
3) Provide a starting point for treatment/rehab for the people getting their free fix.
You don't like the study from Scientific American, ok then pick one that you find acceptable...there are dozens more out there you could have found them yourself if you had really been interested.
In 2003, Siegal et al. were among the first to suggest the pathway from nonmedical use of opioids to heroin use.34 They found that in Ohio, 50% of persons 18 to 33 years of age who had recently begun using heroin reported having abused opioids, primarily OxyContin, before initiating heroin use.34 A larger study involving young urban people who used injected heroin in New York and Los Angeles in 2008 and 2009 showed that 86% had used opioids nonmedically before using heroin.35 Similar studies conducted in San Diego, Seattle, and New York showed that 40%, 39%, and 70% of heroin users, respectively, reported that they had used prescription opioids nonmedically before initiating heroin use.36-38 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1508490
"Out of 500 participants who initiated heroin use during the study period, more than 75% reported previous or current non-medical use of prescription opioid medications. In the sample of participants who reported new-onset non-medical use of prescription opioids, more than 27% started using heroin by the end of the 10-year study period. “Receipt of a short-term opioid prescription from the Veterans Health Administration increased the hazard of heroin initiation by 65% (adjusted HR=1.65, 95% CI=1.43-1.94),” the authors reported." Non-Medical Use of Prescription Opioids Linked With Heroin Use in Veterans
"The report, titled "Nonmedical Opioid Use and Heroin Use in a Nationally Representative Sample of US High School Seniors," concluded that more than 75% of high school heroin users began experimenting further with opiates after first being introduced to prescription painkillers." https://www.forbes.com/sites/cjarlot.../#36740d1e674b
I understand what you are saying also, but the current health care system isn't what would process these people.
Instead, all the money that we are currently wasting by fighting the problem through the criminal justice system ($billions) could be used to setup a network of treatment centers. These centers would serve three primary functions:
1) Provide a place where a desperate addict could go for a "fix". That immediately stops 90% of the crime these desperate people commit.
2) To get all these people out of the criminal justice system, freeing it up to work as intended, on real criminals, not sick people.
3) Provide a starting point for treatment/rehab for the people getting their free fix.
yep and your approach would probably cost 10% of what incarceration and treating illness and disease resulting from IV drug use does
Then the freed-up local law enforcement can do what, exactly?
That is how we have been fighting the problem for 50 years and it obviously isn't working.
You have it backwards. The way it actually would work is to get the problem OUT of the criminal justice system, and into the health care system. That really does free-up local law enforcement and allows them to take care of the real criminals like thiefs, rapists, murderers, etc.
The War on Drugs obviously doesnotwork!
No kidding and it's not like local cops in the rural areas that are experiencing this problem are really that busy fighting crime, I've been to rural Missouri and seen local cops sitting on the side of the road for 4 hours straight reading a book and hoping someone drives fast enough that they can write them a ticket.
I do understand what you're saying in theory, but the "health care system", at least in its current form, isn't exactly the best model to use with all of its blunders and outright corruption. I'm not sure how much I would trust it to deal with such a multi-faceted, morally delicate, and complex problem when it's malfeasant enough to charge someone $629.00 for a freaking Band Aid (with lots of similar atrocities that go on constantly).
I do agree with the objections to the title of calling this a "red state" issue because problems like these are set for failure if people of different political persuasions don't start working together to help solve these kinds of problems. If that doesn't happen, promising solutions are going to fail miserably.
For heroin addiction there are two treatments that are proven and relatively cheap; suboxone and methadone. They stop the heroin cravings and allow addicts to lead a normal life.
I don't think unless a person really feels that in patient rehab will help that it should be coerced, most rehabs are private and just a huge expensive joke. I have no confidence that NA or AA does anything, usually the meetings turn into 'dopeathons' where addicts outdo each other with stories of how high they got.
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