This is postmodernism 101, "there is no objective truth, we are shackled by subjectivity"
This is dangerous!
I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
221–230 of 692 posts
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#222Earlier quoted context omitted.
> His assertion the 70% of all drug users including alcohol and prescription users aren't addicted if anything seems extremely low to me. I'd say the vast majority of my friends drink alcohol and are more than likely on prescription drugs but I don't think any of them are addicts Actually, I'm not sure. 30% of alcohol drinkers being addicted might be roughly right (though surprising to me as well). In the US, 50% of…
I'll admit that is an insane amount that I wasn't expecting, but something about those numbers just feels off. Like 10 drinks a day? Many people don't even drink that much water Maybe we're getting a very different view of the US from the UK, but despite all of America's flaws and how weak the beer is, it seems so unexpected to me that 1/10 of people are opening a new drink every 90 minutes and somehow managing to ho…
> Maybe we're getting a very different view of the US from the UK, but despite all of America's flaws and how weak the beer is
[laughs in Belgian Trappiste at the English ales]
Is beer in the US still as bad as it was 10 years ago? I understood it now has a huge craft-/micro brewery scene with some very drinkable APA/IPA's? Or is this just a tiny fraction of the market still?
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fully agree. Carl is a white collar professor. The worst thing that can happen if his drug indulgence becomes a problem is he knocks over the water cooler or loses his job. I work a blue collar job servicing heavy diesel engines. Casual hard drug users are aggravatingly cavalier to work alongside. They forget important things constantly. They show up late and lose things often. You'll spend all day repeating things t…
Well, how many people will see this headline and rush off to a back alley to buy a shot of heroin from some junkie?
That's not the problem though.
The issues is "drug decriminalization" people treating addictions like it's not a real problem for many people.
Many of these folks want it to get to a point where you can quite easily buy heroin and suffer no legal consequences.
I'm not saying our drug laws are just or can't be reformed but the fact that heroin is illegal prevents a LOT of people from using it. How many people will then use, aided by these pronouncements that "Heroin isn't actually that addictive!" and ruin their lives?
We already have an opioid epidemic in this country that has destroyed communities.
There's a middle ground between our terrible war on drugs and the naive "make it all legal and experiment with heroin!"
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#224This is legitimately dangerous reporting. Heroin is ranked in the top 3 of addictive chemicals and all this article reports about is this anecdotal nonsense. I've too many friends to Heroin to know the reality of the drug.
I think you're missing the point of the article a bit. Everyone knows Heroin is dangerous and it's iterated on in the article as well. Only responsible and healthy individuals should self-use drugs, generally speaking. Then you can also argue that you might not have lost your friends only because of Heroin the substance, but also how people with heroin addiction is "treated" and frowned upon in society. I think what…
What is the success rate of folks who use heroin with some effort to not be addicted ... and what is the cost of getting them out of the cycle of addition? and what is even the success rate of getting them out of that cycle?
The impact of failure to somehow prevent yourself from being addicted can be catastrophic ... even if you are successful in getting them out of the cycle of addition. And that impact can extend WAY beyond the individual.
I'm open to the possibility that some drugs really can't be used responsibly by enough people that they absolutely should not be legal.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#225Earlier quoted context omitted.
Opioids are insanely and ~~instantly~~ quickly addictive. I accidentally became addicted after knee surgery. When the pain subsided, I stopped taking them, and within a day I found myself curled up in a ball and wanting to rip my own skin off. It's really true when addicts describe it as "being uncomfortable in your own skin". The moment I realized I was experiencing withdrawal, I flushed the meds down the toilet and…
I can't confirm your experience at all. I've had a serious car accident after which they kept me on opium in the hospital for three days. After they replaced it with weaker pain treatment compounds I didn't have any desire to go back, despite how I was feeling when taking opium. I wouldn't say they're instantly addictive.
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Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll admit that is an insane amount that I wasn't expecting, but something about those numbers just feels off. Like 10 drinks a day? Many people don't even drink that much water Maybe we're getting a very different view of the US from the UK, but despite all of America's flaws and how weak the beer is, it seems so unexpected to me that 1/10 of people are opening a new drink every 90 minutes and somehow managing to ho…
> Maybe we're getting a very different view of the US from the UK, but despite all of America's flaws and how weak the beer is [laughs in Belgian Trappiste at the English ales] Is beer in the US still as bad as it was 10 years ago? I understood it now has a huge craft-/micro brewery scene with some very drinkable APA/IPA's? Or is this just a tiny fraction of the market still?
The perception from the UK is despite what seems like a growing trend in microbreweries, Americans still don't venture out much further than IPAs
Edit: And as a lover of belgian beers I can only agree. I wonder why people even drink so many IPAs when there's so many different and delicious varieties of beers around.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#227This is legitimately dangerous reporting. Heroin is ranked in the top 3 of addictive chemicals and all this article reports about is this anecdotal nonsense. I've too many friends to Heroin to know the reality of the drug.
I think you're missing the point of the article a bit. Everyone knows Heroin is dangerous and it's iterated on in the article as well. Only responsible and healthy individuals should self-use drugs, generally speaking. Then you can also argue that you might not have lost your friends only because of Heroin the substance, but also how people with heroin addiction is "treated" and frowned upon in society. I think what…
> Only responsible and healthy individuals should self-use drugs, generally speaking.
This not a very helpful observation, as we all know that this is far from what happens and is not going to become the norm.
Furthermore, quite a lot of people became addicted to opiates through acting seemingly responsibly (at least initially taking the drugs under the supervision of a doctor whom they could reasonably assume was looking out for their best interests) and in the persuit of better health.
I should add that Hart himself punted on this issue when the interviewer touched on it. In the interview, he does this a lot - for example, when the interviewer raised the question of physical addiction, Hart merely discussed the physiological basis, without touching the obvious issues it raises for the concept of responsible use. It may be telling that, in his description of himself as a responsible user, he avoided saying anything about this particular issue.
> Then you can also argue that you might not have lost your friends only because of Heroin the substance, but also how people with heroin addiction is "treated" and frowned upon in society.
This is also rather beside the point, as, while the way addiction is treated is also a problem, it is not an issue except where there is already a problem with addiction.
That aside, there is such a thing as responsible addictive-drug use (including, but not necessarily limited to, people with chronic pain that only responds to such drugs) and the way we respond to addiction today is in many ways ineffective and in some ways very harmful. One cannot make a very good argument for reform, however, on the basis that some people can use some of these drugs responsibly.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, after all, interviewing a sex worker is dangerous too. People might have a bunch of sex and catch some nasty diseases. I think that's the logic, anyway. It's ironic that most people here are in the camp of "decriminalize drugs! Oh wait, no, not these drugs, just some drugs."
As Portugal shows, decriminalizing drugs reduces their use. The position you are mocking is actually consistent.
Portugal has a much more comprehensive set of programs to get people off hard drugs than any of the US jurisdictions that have decriminalized (or stopped enforcing through executive action) hard drugs.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#229This sounds like dangerous clickbait. It's entirely expected that someone whose job it is to study the effect of drugs would have a much better understanding of how to not become addicted His assertion the 70% of all drug users including alcohol and prescription users aren't addicted if anything seems extremely low to me. I'd say the vast majority of my friends drink alcohol and are more than likely on prescription d…
This is like the textbook overconfidence that addicts have. They all think they have a complete understanding of their body and the chemicals they use.
A few years ago, right here on HackerNews, I made some comment about heroin being extremely dangerous and addictive. I had a gentleman with a Throwaway account come at me with a "cool story bro, but I use heroin often, and I hold down a high-paying job" response. Basically, he told me that I'm an idiot and I should stop spreading FUD. I looked at his other threads like a year later, and the poor dude, sure enough is hopelessly hooked. I'm never one to say, "I told you so", especially not to someone who's now in such dire circumstances... but, WHY do people think that THEY are going to be the one to beat the odds? If you use a horribly addictive substance, don't be surprised when you become...addicted! The risk/reward is just too big.
Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
Fully agree. Carl is a white collar professor. The worst thing that can happen if his drug indulgence becomes a problem is he knocks over the water cooler or loses his job. I work a blue collar job servicing heavy diesel engines. Casual hard drug users are aggravatingly cavalier to work alongside. They forget important things constantly. They show up late and lose things often. You'll spend all day repeating things t…
Well, how many people will see this headline and rush off to a back alley to buy a shot of heroin from some junkie?
Dunno about you, but I have never bought drugs from a junkie, but, of course, through dealers, who - in my experience, more often than not - do not actually use many of the substances they sell.