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I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

m.nautil.us

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Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#41

Post by aminozuur »

coldtea wrote: post #18
aminozuur wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Addiction is rooted in truama. It's almost impossible to become an addicted if you didn't have to endure (childhood) trauma. So addiction is often an attempt of escaping, or soothing that pain.

> Addiction is rooted in truama. It's almost impossible to become an addicted if you didn't have to endure (childhood) trauma. Sounds like pop psychology. There are tons of extremely addictive substances. Try one and you will get addicted after a while, even if your whole childhood was hugs and roses and ponies.

Veterans who are given an opioid for pain, rarely got addicted if they had a warm and loving childhood, and lived a life with community and friends.

Veterans who had many Adverse Childhood Experiences (A high ACE score), such as coming from a broken home, or faced neglect and isolation growing up, were much more likely to become addicted to the opioids they were given to treat pain.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#42

Post by Hnrobert42 »

pfortuny wrote: post #22

But... he gives no counter-research references to the research he critizices... so I’ll pass on this one.

Yeah. I am disappointed in Nautilus presenting such a controversial position with no scrutiny and very few probing or challenging questions.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#43

Post by maccard »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #13
FDSGSG wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he can afford it, a problem may not exist. Heroin use has few if any negative physical effects in the long term.

Death is pretty long term. Pardon me if I’m pessimistic on this topic, I just watched a Janis Joplin documentary.

That's not a side effect of heroin, that's a side effect of overdosing. Death is also a side effect of overdosing on acetaminophen, and alcohol. Imagine if when I went to my local wine shop they made a mistake and sold me something that was 80% abv rather than 12-14% and I drank the bottle. Or my pharmacy gave me 5g acetaminophen tablets instead of 500mg, and I took 2 of them every four hours for a few days. Or my finely ground table salt was cut with some form of rodent poison. I'd be pretty dead in those cases most likely. Most illegal substances you have absolutely no idea what you're buying or how much you're buying unless you test it yourself. Yes, word gets around but that's no use to you if you accidentally take 10x a dose, or something that is just not what you were told it was.

Legal substances also have lots of information readily available around them - if I go to my pharmacy and ask for ibuprofen, they will tell me the dosages in advance. If I go to my doctor and they put me on oxycodone, they will give me a dose that they think is safe, (and in theory, a plan to reduce my dependence on them) without judgement. If you develop an opiod addiction, your support options are much more limited.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#44

Post by recny »

lqet wrote: post #2

> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…

It depends on the drug.

For opiates and benzos it might manifest as stress and depression. For uppers, drowsiness and inability to focus.

It's compounded by the fact that the reason you started is usually that you suffered from those things to start with.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#45

Post by varjag »

arsome wrote: post #24
kenniskrag wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you drink coffee or soft drinks? Try not to drink them for 2 weeks.

I've done this several times, I have a headache for 24-48 hours then pretty much back to normal. Tolerance takes longer to reset obviously and I'm sure I get more energetic in subtle ways I'm unaware of in there... but I don't think it's remotely comparable to a serious addiction, from what I've read tobacco is probably the most widely accepted thing able to cause that level of addiction.

You don't get cramps from nicotine withdrawal, it's more a nagging discomfort and unease.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#46

Post by temp0826 »

aminozuur wrote: post #6

I remember the early days of the Silk Road market. The members posted thoughtful reviews of their orders, sometimes containing lab-tests results of the drugs they'd ordered. It was a small community whose members looked more like the Hacker News crowds than the meth heads you'd see in the news.

Considering how early in the bitcoin days that SilkRoad came along, it makes sense that it was a more technically-minded crowd to begin with.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#47

Post by etempleton »

All the luck to him. I have seen enough of heroin use second hand to know that this is how it starts and is rationalized for many. Some people spiral immediately, others after a few years, others after a decade. Eventually, if you keep using, it will catch up to you and you risk losing everything.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#48

Post by hlasdjlfhalwjk »

JohnJamesRambo wrote: post #13
FDSGSG wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he can afford it, a problem may not exist. Heroin use has few if any negative physical effects in the long term.

Death is pretty long term. Pardon me if I’m pessimistic on this topic, I just watched a Janis Joplin documentary.

Switzerland started a program in 1995 where they give medical grade heroin to people suffering from addiction. From the people taking part in this program, none have died from heroin overdoses or due to toxic contamination in the drug.

So heroin is actually pretty safe if used correctly.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#49

Post by Geee »

lqet wrote: post #2

> One of the major reasons people can’t overcome it is because we’re not very good at treating addiction in this country. I am often wondering about how addiction "feels". I don't consider myself being addicted to anything, and always wonder how an addiction actually manifests itself. Is it a pain? Is it comparable to being extremely hungry or thirsty? Slightly related: a few years ago, I overheard a conversation bet…

I'd say that cigarette addiction doesn't really feel like anything. Mostly it's just like a feeling that you forgot something. Or a feeling that you didn't complete your to-do list. Then you get satisfaction when you're able to complete it.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#50

Post by Etheryte »

Even this comment section alone demonstrates that this is a very loaded topic and that's one of the main reasons purely logical argumentation won't help drive the discussion far. If someone has a person close to them that's had (or has) issues with drug abuse, it won't be easy to have a neutral discussion on the matter. What I find contrasting though, is that this doesn't seem to be the case with alcohol abuse. This probably stems from a number of reasons, normalization of alcohol being one of the largest, but I would also argue that lack of education is probably one of the highest contributing factors. Without delving into the subject of whether regular heroin use is or isn't healthy, as I simply don't know enough about the matter, I think it's good to educate people on the topic. Educated people make better choices, regardless of what they choose to do in the end.
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