How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US • Hacker News Board

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#161

Post by WaxProlix » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:08 PM UTC

alikoneko wrote: post #27

vinhboy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think so. I enjoyed Reddit a lot, despite people complaining about it. Then /r/the_donald happened. Now I tread carefully because you never know what kind of propaganda is being spread around. People say stick to the subreddit. But I think that's silly. If the core of Reddit is rotten, then the subreddit themselves will be affected. It has happened to places I visit like /r/environment. There is a constant…

How is /r/t_d different from /r/theredpill or any of the other racist/sexist/terrible subs? I haven't really seen any overflow in a lot of the not-default subs, but it could also be the subs I visit. I mostly stick to subs for games I play, programming, and a couple BP support subs. For me, the crucial change of how I curate my subs happened when 2x became a default. I hated the sudden influx of bad posts, mansplaini…

t_d is different because they actively organize to interact with other subs, whereas TRP, mensrights, etc mostly operate in their own worlds. T_D is sort of like /pol/ in that they see themselves as propagandists and influencers more than just participants in a movement.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#162

Post by rhizome » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:09 PM UTC

pyre wrote: post #116

rhizome wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Short of a drug that provided a permanent cure for opioid addiction itself, I'm not sure what sort of solutions can be pursued by scientific/tech research Along with its therapeutic cousins Cannabis and MDMA, look what else we have on the list of substances for which federal research funds are banned (Schedule I): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibogaine

> Ibogaine causes long QT syndrome at therapeutic doses, apparently by blocking hERG potassium channels in the heart. Yea. That doesn't necessarily sound good: > Clinical studies of ibogaine to treat drug addiction began in the early 1990s, but concerns about cardiotoxicity led to termination of those studies. There is currently insufficient data to determine whether it is useful in treating addiction. I'm not really…

I'm not really sure this is some sort of miracle drug that the establishment just doesn't want us to know about

The thing is, it doesn't matter if you're "sure" or not, because while it's on Schedule I there can be no federal funds used for research into whatever degree it may be a "miracle" (nirvana fallacy) drug. I hope we can agree that therapeutic substances have been derived from harmful ones.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#163

Post by bduerst » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:10 PM UTC

traverseda wrote: post #43

ant6n wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Lots of downvotes here but no comments, so I gotta ask. What do people who disagree actually think?)

Rule of charity. If you don't understand why hitler wanted to kill all the jews, or more importantly why people voted for him on that platform, you can't keep it from happening again. No "these people are evil" is not an acceptable answer. The people who voted for trump may be wrong, but they are still perfectly understandable humans , doing what they think is right. Or at least what they think they have to do.

I don't think OP has said "these people are evil".

It's understandable that people who post in the_donald are heavily biased and even think they are doing the right thing.

This American Life had a podcast where they interviewed these people at the DeploraBall, and one of them even said that he "Memed Donald Trump into the presidency". For some it seems this is part of their identity.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#164

Post by NOSHSHNACKERS » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:12 PM UTC

lsmarigo wrote: post #24

icpmacdo wrote: post #2

I think Reddit is interestingly a net social positive. For all the bad things that come out of it you can often see users helping others in a pretty significant way.

Reddit has some fantastic and fascinating communities and really interesting cult-like ones (/r/nofap) However I'd like to point out the admin policy towards hate groups and speech on reddit is in my opinion incredibly dangerous and damaging to our society. They will take action against subreddits like FPH (fat people hate) because of "real life" actions, meawhile there are thousands of highly upvoted calls to violen…

the ignore button works wonders.. I see so little crap now. I would pay for a curated ignore list

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#165

Post by JTon » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

mherdeg wrote: post #70

Not covered in this Guardian article: the somewhat scarier /r/opiaterollcall (recently banned) and /r/cripplingalcoholism (not scary, just a discussion forum). I have been consuming reddit via the https://www.reddit.com/r/all/gilded/ feed and it is just WILD what kind of weird and worrying stuff is going on.

What took place in /r/opiaterollcall and why was it banned?

EDIT: Looks like it was a place to connect opiate buyers and sellers

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#166

Post by bduerst » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

vkou wrote: post #117

pat_space wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you and think the hubbub around r/the_donald is amusing. In my opinion, r/the_donald is a "beautiful" example of mob trolling. If a subreddit doesn't interest you, just unfollow it. If you are browsing /r/all, you're probably procrastinating anyways!

> I agree with you and think the hubbub around r/the_donald is amusing. In my opinion, r/the_donald is a "beautiful" example of mob trolling. If a subreddit doesn't interest you, just unfollow it. The problem with having something r/the_donald on reddit is that its posters don't stay in r/the_donald. They go out to other reddits, and post hateful shit. It's like having a shared space for clubs, that also includes a l…

Yep, I agree. The users that infiltrate other subs don't announce they're from the_donald, but their rhetoric is still the same.

Someone wrote a script that would res tag the_donald posters in other subs, and it's very noticeable how they're the ones derailing discussions that just involve a keyword like immigration, Islam, Europe, race, healthcare, or other hot button issues for them.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#167

Post by unabridged » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:15 PM UTC

pyre wrote: post #131

unabridged wrote: post #97

>The obvious counter-argument is silencing them strengthens their argument and makes them a martyr. I don't buy that argument at all, it's far more dangerous to allow them to indoctrinate and appeal to all the fringe disenfranchised youth which they've become frighteningly effective at. In any case it's clear reddit can be used for good like in this article, I'm just not so sure it's a net positive to society as anot…

> You can only fight ideas with better ideas. The problem with this is that human beings will reject ideas that don't agree with what they want to hear, like the populations of coal towns in Appalachia that want to blame "Liberals" for their lot in life because they've hitched their wagon to the (dying) coal industry and don't want to change. It's like the Simpsons Principal Skinner meme. "Could I be wrong about some…

Empty charismatic leaders only work when there is no good alternative offered. People are rational, they rejected Clinton because her policy was a continuation of Obama's 8 years. And in those 8 years the quality of life in Appalachia has not improved.

Coal to them is a dream, its the last time people in their family and towns had money to spend and were happy. Telling them their glory days ruined the planet is not a way to convince them of anything.

The problem with Appalachia is that nothing short of basic income will save them. No rational investor is going to build any new manufacturing there. And even if they extract natural resources, it will be done with 1/1000th of the workforce and the value will flow right to the pockets of a large corporation with shareholders far, far away. So in effect almost every major politician is lying to them (and they know it) so they are willing to try anything.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#168

Post by sethjgore » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

Kalium wrote: post #122

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

There are a number of factors at work. One of them is existing factions. There are existing political power blocks that stand strongly against "solutions" to "the gun problem". What do you want to see? What would you consider an ideal world here? I know how you feel. It's utterly ridiculous that a society should so heartlessly abandon the most vulnerable among us who struggle so needlessly. We should do better! We ca…

Resources are not limited. It is plentiful, except that society sees the resource of human labor and love as only valuable when it is profitable.

If corporations found it profitable to ensure everybody was happy and living well, I can guarantee you that the vulnerable would be taken care of very well.

It is just a matter of perception. By graviating towards money and profit, we undermine the worth of all humans and hence you asking "would you be happy if all Medicare funding for the elderly was stripped away in favor of treating opioid addiction?".

Of course nobody would be happy! :)

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#169

Post by borne0 » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:19 PM UTC

traverseda wrote: post #32

quchen wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s /r/the_donald, and how did it »then happen«?

/r/the_donald is a subreddit devoted to donald trump. Reddit didn't ban it. It follows the "safe-space" "you're not allowed to dissent" model pioneered by some "leftist" subs, and will ban people for having perfectly legitimate dissent. It managed to exploit some loopholes in how reddit works to take-over the front page. The most interesting one was "stickying" new posts so they were shown on their front page. They d…

reddit works much better if you unsubscribe from all the default subs, then subscribe to ones that interest you. Discovery is a bit harder but much of the reddit 'culture' is absent if you choose wisely.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#170

Post by acover » Wed, Jul 19, 2017, 6:20 PM UTC

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

Is the opioid crisis largely caused by prescription opioids getting people addicted?