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The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

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Re: The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

#191

Post by posterboy »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #68
throwaway2016a wrote: post #44

This is probably pop psychology but it always struck me that if you legalize marijuana you go a long way to solving the problem. My thoughts are... 1. It is reportedly a better pain killer in some cases than opioids so it keeps people off of the prescription opioids 2. It is nowhere near as addictive (possibly not addictive at all) 3. When people are already criminals (because they smoke weed) I think they are more l…

> I'm actually for legalizing all drugs like several other posters but I don't think society is ready for that. If society isn't ready for that, why are you for it? (fwiw, I'm with you on marijuana, and hope to see the day when it's as legal as cigarettes - but people have been optimistic about marijuana for decades :/)

Really? Sometimes, especially when I'm trying to quit, I wish cigarette smoking was forbidden in more places.

Re: The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

#192

Post by John_Cena »

senorjazz wrote: post #93
throwaway2016a wrote: post #44

This is probably pop psychology but it always struck me that if you legalize marijuana you go a long way to solving the problem. My thoughts are... 1. It is reportedly a better pain killer in some cases than opioids so it keeps people off of the prescription opioids 2. It is nowhere near as addictive (possibly not addictive at all) 3. When people are already criminals (because they smoke weed) I think they are more l…

> 1. It is reportedly a better pain killer in some cases than opioids so it keeps people off of the prescription opioids No it isn't and no it won't. If you have serious pain issues, then cannabis will not help at all. If you are just referring to a slight ache in your back in the morning, ok there is some research (clinical and anecdotal) that cannabis can be useful as as anti inflammatory. But you should not be get…

I've Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis in my late 20's. Anecdotally I can say I never believed the hype about the effect of marijuana use on inflammation. After going straight in the past 30 days (job hunting), I can say I thoroughly miss not itching over my entire body 24/7 and not feeling fire in my hands. To quantify I have decided to only pursue jobs in legalized jurisdictions.

Re: The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

#193

Post by baldfat »

msmm wrote: post #187
baldfat wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with your point 100% BUT there is one point to be made. Prosecute the Pharm Execs, Doctors who broke the law. There is a smoking gun! Look at West Virginia and the pills that were prescribed. I am talking about 780,000,000 pain meds. In a state of 1.84 million residents, the shipments amount to 433 pain pills for every man, woman and child in West Virginia. The death toll for this 5 year time between 2007-201…

It is not going to happen, because they have politicians in their pockets and nobody will investigate that.

I sadly also agree with you 100%

Re: The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

#194

Post by logfromblammo »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #180
logfromblammo wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on how you perceive the two phrases to differ in their meanings?

To me, decriminalization of personal use means that I can smoke weed, or maybe even meth or shoot heroin, and not be punished for it. This would minimize the harms that come directly from the government enforcing drug policy, for something that typically is not going to hurt anyone but myself. Whereas legalizing it would mean that I'm free to manufacture meth and heroin and market it, and sell it to others; I would s…

I don't think you can kill the black markets unless you allow anyone [that can meet the regulatory burden] to manufacture and distribute.

And you can't tax them too highly, either, or those black markets spring right back into existence. See moonshining or cigarette smuggling for examples. A 25% excise tax at the point of sale to the consumer is probably the highest you can go. Taxation is, after all, one of the ways in which prohibition was backdoored into existence, and the amount of the tax is the maximum possible profit margin for someone whose sole business is evading the tax.

That leaves open the question of how you keep the most dangerous drugs--generally the opioids--from ruining people. That's really a moot point until the end of prohibition seems imminent. If certain people won't consider any other option, it's useless to throw one out there for discussion.

Re: The Heroin Business Is Booming in America

#195

Post by Pigo »

dave_sullivan wrote: post #57
Pigo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People throw out legalization because they're used to the marijuana debate. But how do you legalize a drug like fentanyl? How do you pretend you're here to protect and serve when you legalize a drug that seems like it was designed to kill people in a single use? We need to rethink the laws, and have some effective changes lead by people who understand the problem and have nothing to gain financially. But there's neve…

> But how do you legalize a drug like fentanyl? No one is doing fentanyl by choice. People are doing fentanyl on accident because it's in the heroin they're buying on the street. This really drove it home for me: https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/29/fentanyl-heroin-photo-fa... That being said, I still don't think we should put people in jail for using it. Fentanyl is known to kill you. So is rat poison. Buyer beware.

It said in the article that people search it out.
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