It's mostly people that started medicating for chronic pain.
That's not recreational use.
That's just the problem isn't it? People are prescribed a drug for medicinal purposes that is so addictive and so readily distributed for minor ailments that medicinal use inevitably turns to recreational use after the prescription runs out.
Louis Theroux's "Dark States: Heroin Town" is a good account of how these addictions progress in the US, and some of the reasons for the growing numbers we are seeing.
I'd appreciate it if you'd remove your comment since I tried to back out immediately from that line of conversation. Would you mind agreeing? If so, edit your comment to [removed] and I'll delete this one. Otherwise, I can try to explain my original motives, and what I observed. But it's a tricky conversation to have, and there's a high chance people's tendency to instantly turn to hatred will focus on me. I'd rather…
> I'd appreciate it if you'd remove your comment since I tried to back out immediately from that line of conversation. Would you mind agreeing? Two days ago, I saw you post something asinine and I tried to respond. You deleted your comment before I could hit the reply button, and I lost the opportunity to quote and refute you. If this is a recurring problem (that you change your mind about statements on a public foru…
If I delete my comment and you can't respond, that's a feature, not a bug. This kind of comment is best left to an email.
The reason I backed out of this subthread is very simple: the first few replies were vaguely insinuating I might somehow be sympathetic to neonazis. That was enough for me to hit the "forget this" button.
Why did you delete your comment? I'm compelled to hold you in a negative light just based on principle that you don't stand behind your own words.
It may be worth examining that tendency. I elected to take the Kolmogorov option: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=3376 The question of whether or not your arguments have merit won’t even get entered upon, nor will the authority ever be able to repeat back your arguments in a form you’d recognize—for even repeating the arguments correctly could invite accusations of secretly agreeing with them. Instead, the sole…
Personally, I appreciate your efforts at discussing sensitive topics. I encourage you to keep doing so, as honestly but sensitively as you can. While the "Kolmogorov option" might maximize your personal outcome, this doesn't mean it's best for the group to encourage you to take it. You probably already read the recent discussion by another Scott A? https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/10/23/kolmogorov-complicity-...
> Local jails have been overrun with people locked up and in need of treatment Why. Do. People. End. Up. In. Jail. Seriously this one is beyond my comprehension - they need treatment, not jails filled with hardened criminals, rapists and probably more (and nastier) drugs than on the street.
Like my uncle says, a cop, "what would we do then". Drug & alcohol related arrests are 99% of their work.
People I know went into policehood to help their community. If that's the goal, they could be put to better use instrumenting more effective policy.
These types of policies should be data and analysis questions, not based on politics and world view. Some of them inarguably work better than others.
We need to exit the theater of unfounded opinion when it comes to these things. It's not useful.
Serious questions...if you’ve used an opioid more than once for recreational purposes, I’d like to hear (1) what prompted you to try it (2) how old you were (3) cost (4) where did you get them (5) why did you stop Treat me like an idiot, I don’t understand this stuff and I’d like to know more. * obviously feel free to use a burner account if you’d rather not speak publicly.
1) In college, I discovered I loved recreational substances. My best friend was a closet heroin addict and convinced me to try it.
2) 19 or 20
3) 90 to 200 USD per gram. Towards the end, I was spending upwards of 3000 a month.
4) Through my friend at first, but I quickly developed a network of dealers.
5) My entire life had been reduced to obtaining and consuming heroin. I didn't stop when my best friend died, I didn't stop after three overdoses throughout the years. It took an indescribable amount of self-loathing, loneliness, financial insecurity, and general misery for me to realize I couldn't go on like this. I sold almost everything I owned and moved a thousand miles away to live with my parents and try to get my shit together (still a work in progress)
What makes you say that? It's trivial to get opioids on the streets and it's common to be introduced to them as a recreational drug, as I know first hand. In fact, I don't know anyone who got addicted to opioids due to overprescription, but I know several people who didn't get prescribed opioids they needed because of the fears of overprescription, and thus were left in terrible pain. I don't know how you draw the li…
I went through open heart surgery two years ago April and opioid over-prescription was already a concern. After discharge I received a six day script for the lowest dose of fentanyl and a month of Lyrica. I have a freakishly high pain tolerance so I managed to 'stretch' the fentanyl patches out to nearly one month (each patch lasted roughly three days). Hindsight being what it is - I obviously made it through. Being…
Agreed.
I too have had a major surgery several years ago. I was given morphine and than Oxycodone when discharged, but not at high enough dosage for adequate relief - 3 or 4 days of pure misery. There is no reason, when short-term opiate use is easily available, for patients to suffer like this.
It seems like the medical establishment was really pushing opiates for years, even when they probably weren't needed. Now they're swung too far in the other direction: under-prescribing them for fear of overdosage, addiction, and even punishment by the DEA and government. Wish we could find some middle ground.
Interesting coincidence that Richmond in Melbourne, Australia, has just been announced as a location for a supervised injecting room. This Richmond is also a hot spot for heroin usage, dealing, and overdoses.
Serious questions...if you’ve used an opioid more than once for recreational purposes, I’d like to hear (1) what prompted you to try it (2) how old you were (3) cost (4) where did you get them (5) why did you stop Treat me like an idiot, I don’t understand this stuff and I’d like to know more. * obviously feel free to use a burner account if you’d rather not speak publicly.
1. Sounded like a laugh
2. 23 to 25
3. $8 for a packet of paracetamol/codiene plus a few dollars for coffee filters, $10 for 10 tramadols
4. Pharmacy for the codiene, friend gets the tramadol online from India
5. I didn't really get what the whole fuss is about, it wasn't that fun, and I know anything harder than those is a dark dark path that I have no interest in travelling down.
That's just the problem isn't it? People are prescribed a drug for medicinal purposes that is so addictive and so readily distributed for minor ailments that medicinal use inevitably turns to recreational use after the prescription runs out. Louis Theroux's "Dark States: Heroin Town" is a good account of how these addictions progress in the US, and some of the reasons for the growing numbers we are seeing.
Opioid prescription has tripled from 1999 to 2015. Meanwhile, deaths only started to skyrocket very recently (starting in 2010-2011), probably mostly due to cheap heroin being adulterated with fentanyl.
Opioid abuse is mostly flat or (among youth) decreasing:
Yep. My uncle died from an OD earlier this year. Drugs cut with fentanyl. It's truly a terrible epidemic.
Sorry to hear. Partaking in heavy drugs to any degree invites those dark unknowns. The number of hands these drugs pass through to reach the end-user is more than a couple. I recall on average it's 8 different turnovers. Each time, likely being cut down. They operate a margin business without concern for where it ends up. It's likely safe to say that a vast majority of drugs are cut these days. A friend I grew up wit…
I can see how people move to something like heroin after being on pain meds and getting addicted, but who really just 'tries' heroin? At this point, the mix danger and addiction danger is well known and publicized. I'm asking, because I cannot mentally put it together, particularly if someone has life going in the right direction.