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The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

nytimes.com

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Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#51

Post by emp44 »

arjie wrote: post #19
twblalock wrote: post #11

This opioid epidemic has made me question my position on legalization of drugs. I had believed that, in general, legalization of drugs would be a good policy -- it worked fine for marijuana where it has been tried, and I doubted that very many people who don't take hard drugs would start doing so if they were legalized. Now, I'm not so sure. It seems to be the case that some opioid addicts transition from using presc…

Why shouldn't we let them die? One in six base jumpers will die young while jumping. We don't make that illégal. I mean, everyone knows you can overdose. So that makes it a conscious choice, and we should preserve people's ability to make an informed choice to put themselves in danger.

Come on, these are real people. Have some respect.

Addiction changes the brain, there may have been a day when they made a choice but soon it was made for them.

Several of my former classmates have died from heroin/fentanyl. They were looking for help, they were trying to get clean, they were good kids. It destroyed their families and has put enormous strain on our police and ems.

Talk about legalization, fine, but "let them die" is just callous.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#52

Post by brainfire »

marindez wrote: post #35
brainfire wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those are some... pretty strange views. Where do you see them expressed?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15418764

I think you might be... extrapolating a lot from this.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#53

Post by othersideofcoin »

greggarious wrote: post #44
njarboe wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you read up on Oxycontin, it was formulated and prescribed in a particular way that created many addicts[1]. In particular it was claimed to work for 12 hours when in some people worked for much less. Being on an opiate for pain and then having it wear off and being forced to wait in pain for sometime before taking it again, is a recipe for creating addiction. Many people also were less wary of taking the opiates…

I have zero background in chemistry, so this may be a dumb question: but if the issue is it not lasting 12 hours, why can't doctors halve the dose and prescribe it twice as often per day?

Because the 12 hr formula was part of a huge marketing push to reduce doctors' "opiphobia" and get them to prescribe more. Doctors were likely unaware of the roller coaster ride of withdrawal they were sending patients on.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#54

Post by arjie »

cottonflop wrote: post #50
arjie wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why shouldn't we let them die? One in six base jumpers will die young while jumping. We don't make that illégal. I mean, everyone knows you can overdose. So that makes it a conscious choice, and we should preserve people's ability to make an informed choice to put themselves in danger.

Should we then also legalize all forms of suicide, so long as the person has made an informed choice?

Yes. And I think we will, in my lifetime.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#55

Post by arjie »

mschuster91 wrote: post #33
arjie wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why shouldn't we let them die? One in six base jumpers will die young while jumping. We don't make that illégal. I mean, everyone knows you can overdose. So that makes it a conscious choice, and we should preserve people's ability to make an informed choice to put themselves in danger.

> Why shouldn't we let them die? One in six base jumpers will die young while jumping. We don't make that illégal. Well, a base jumper is, well, dead when the parachute fails. You maybe need someone to scrape the remains off the ground, but that's it. Drug addictions and ODs, as well as the side effects from criminalization (prison/judicial costs, drug related crime) end up costing a boatload of money, plus a highly…

Ah, the problem is that they don't, in fact, die. That's fair.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#56

Post by hansthehorse »

othersideofcoin wrote: post #53
greggarious wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have zero background in chemistry, so this may be a dumb question: but if the issue is it not lasting 12 hours, why can't doctors halve the dose and prescribe it twice as often per day?

Because the 12 hr formula was part of a huge marketing push to reduce doctors' "opiphobia" and get them to prescribe more. Doctors were likely unaware of the roller coaster ride of withdrawal they were sending patients on.

I believe the patent extension to keep it from going generic was predicated on the 12 hour, slow release, dosage.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#57

Post by golergka »

justinmk wrote: post #37
golergka wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This kind of argument could be used to argue for legalization of absolutely everything.

Not "absolutely everything", but certainly many things. It's on you to make the case that "saving a drug user's life" is achieved by sending them to the worst place on earth.

Why is it on me? I'm not arguing for any position here, just analyzing your arguments.

Re: The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies

#58

Post by foxyv »

vixen99 wrote: post #10

So what effect would drug decriminalization have on this situation?

Open supervised drug injection in clinics would be an excellent mitigation scheme if it were legal. Canada has been demoing such clinics with a lot of success.
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