It's nice to see an exceptional paper like NYTimes bring this issue to light. I look forward to seeing more ground breaking reporting from them.
The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
101–110 of 211 posts
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually the opposite. Government regulations outlaw cheap non-dangerous alternatives (like cannabis) and create a monopoly by granting patents to a single entity. https://qz.com/1125690/big-pharma-is-taking-advantage-of-pat... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/outdated-treatments-and-dr... The solution is to make cannabis legal for everybody in every state for medical use and since it cannot be patented there will b…
> Actually the opposite. Government regulations... I'm from the Netherlands so you won't hear me disagree with the argument that criminalizing cannabis and drugs is not the solution[0]. Having said that, the typical undertone on HN of "regulation is bad by definition" really irks me. I can imagine that if the only perspective one has is a dysfunctional government, one might think that, but please take a look abroad a…
> Having said that, the typical undertone on HN of "regulation is bad by definition" really irks me.
I think you just notice that undertone more because of your predisposition. I notice just as many pro regulation as anti regulation comments, and I think of myself as a capitalism moderate (since there are negative externalities that do not get included in the price, regulations act as corrective measures to move markets slightly in the direction they would be if those were included correctly, at least when done well).
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Actually the opposite. Government regulations... I'm from the Netherlands so you won't hear me disagree with the argument that criminalizing cannabis and drugs is not the solution[0]. Having said that, the typical undertone on HN of "regulation is bad by definition" really irks me. I can imagine that if the only perspective one has is a dysfunctional government, one might think that, but please take a look abroad a…
I've always observed that HN leans pro-regulation.
IMHO there is a strong slant in both directions. Even HN is not immune from the current political stratification in the US.
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#104I cannot understand why the Government is not acting against the pharmas profiting from this crisis. And why people are not revolting. There is a clear nexus between pharmas and doctors. Something should be done.
There are more people who are dealing with chronic pain who need opioid than people who are using them for "recreational" purposes.
I'd also like to attach some information to your comment for other people that might forget opioids have a valid use.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChronicPain/comments/7k34y7/cdc_gui...
Also reading the comments at https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=25&so=DESC&sb=...
can put things into perspective. I know it's hard for people who have never experienced chronic severe pain to not understand why these medications are needed. the same as I look at normal people and can't remember what it's like to not be in pain.
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
America has plenty of successful examples of government programs; the problem is ideological blinders rather than a uniquely ineffectual government.
I think there is a lot of reason to believe that we have a uniquely ineffectual government. Excluding defense expenditures, and counting all levels of government, Canada spends less public money per capita, while having cheaper healthcare, education, better transit, etc. For example, we spend more per capita on education than any OECD country except Switzerland, and get worse results. Our federal system (where states…
Bad government in the US is a self fulfilling prophecy and has been for close to half a century.
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#106Capitalism is sinister like this. It doesn't intentionally do it, because capitalism isn't a person, but when everything is monetized by our creative entrepreneurs, it grows; our problems being no exception. Once someone makes money, they want more of it. Capitalism demands more of it. And we stretch every line of the law, even cross it, just to get more from where that came from. Unfortunately one person suppressing…
If capitalism is to blame for this profit chase, then who’s to blame for capitalism?
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#107I find it endlessly hilarious that nobody in the US is asking
WHY
Why are people taking drugs?
The country needs to do some serious soul searching. Won't happen though.
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If there was a free market for drugs (legalization), I suspect we would not be in a crisis." If not in direct crisis we'd always be on the knife's edge of one.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radic...
That's actually decriminalization, not legalization.
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#109Somewhat recently I visited a webpage that referenced Gabor Maté's work, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction [0] - my local library had a copy. Dr. Maté spent decades working with the most hopeless of the residents of "the drug ghetto of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside".
[0] https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=editions:4tpUFXvV_8s...
Part I has some anecdotes from patients - virtually 100% of Dr. Maté's patients suffered from childhood trauma. Part II goes into the science of addiction. "'It may be said without hesitation that for man the most important stressors are emotional', wrote the pioneering Canadian stress researcher and physician Hans Selye."
I went to the science library to look up the reference - Dr. Selye discussed how he came to appreciate the general syndrome of being sick, and claimed to have originated the term 'stress' into the medical lexicon. I have to wonder why good science gets ignored, while garbage science [1] persists for decades?
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16020617 (my comment from yesterday about bad science)
This theory of addiction basically matches my observations of my girlfriend's predicament. She had some childhood stress (won't get into here). After six months of my influence she was doing fine, then she got sucked into the mental health system. Her current drug treatment program costs $10,000/month, and is mostly a scam. They try real hard to be helpful, though - I think they want an 'A for Effort'.
Helping people to feel safe is most important intervention of all [2].
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15024780 - my comment from 134 days ago about the importance of helping people feel safe, and how drug rehab helps people feel like failures.
(minor edits)
Edit2: Dr. Maté's book tells of how one of his patients described heroin as 'a hug in a needle'... "Chapter 14: Through a Needle, a Warm, Soft Hug" [3]
[3] https://books.google.com/books?id=Oew75Hp8XP4C&printsec=fron... (pg 156)
Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis
#110Capitalism is sinister like this. It doesn't intentionally do it, because capitalism isn't a person, but when everything is monetized by our creative entrepreneurs, it grows; our problems being no exception. Once someone makes money, they want more of it. Capitalism demands more of it. And we stretch every line of the law, even cross it, just to get more from where that came from. Unfortunately one person suppressing…
Nothing about capitalism demands an ugly lack of proper legislation, regulation, and enforcement. I would not like to write off capitalism on the basis of a rigged system that just uses the name for ideological purposes.