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America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

economist.com

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Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#291

Post by tagawa »

padobson wrote: post #12

I live in Trumbull County in Ohio, the dark red county in North East Ohio. We recently had 23 (non-fatal) overdoses in a two-day period[0]. That's roughly .01% of the county's total population - so yeah, it's getting bad here. There were recently two shootings within a mile of my house. Several people dead. Both shootings were drug related. I can't help but look around and believe that the needs these folks are tryin…

You may be interested in Portugal's drug policy which has become an example of what you're suggesting. Laws were relaxed in 2001 together with increased support and therapy. Statistics suggest that drug use and related problems have reduced since then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#292

Post by foldr »

pjc50 wrote: post #288
foldr wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Alcohol will be abused by highschool kids. It's a given But in the UK it's not even regarded as "abuse". It's perfectly normal for 15 year olds to drink alcohol with their friends. (And not against the law, if they are doing it in private.) There may be benefits to legalizing drugs, but the idea that it will reduce usage of them is a fantasy.

It's in that strange area between normal and looked down on that depends on the class background of the observer. It is a problem, but a slowly declining one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31452735 And it seems that US drug legalisation has resulted in small decreases of use: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/colorado-s-teen-m... The only thing that's clear is that viewing drug and alcohol usage strictly…

Cannabis is effectively legal in the UK now, but there's no evidence of a decline in use as far as I know. Certainly not a precipitous one.

I'm not sure what you mean about class background. There must be very few 15 year olds in the UK, from any class background, who haven't used alcohol. I wasn't really referring to binge drinking. My point was that the fact that it's easier for young people to legally drink alcohol in the UK than it is in the US seems to have an effect.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#293

Post by mholmes680 »

golergka wrote: post #270
mholmes680 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think its more dissatisfaction with life in general, with unemployment maybe being one of many triggers. You're probably right about addressing at the demand level. But, I see the problem being more societal - think no one really understands everything. You take away self-reliance of people (whether they realize it or not) at many levels... its cheaper to get some good-enough quality food at 13 places near my home,…

> And, now capitalism has made all margins of businesses so slim that there's no real way to enter a business and still have a safety net in case you fail. You either need to disrupt an industry, create a marketplace, find a niche, or fail hard. While this is true, phrasing it like a critique of capitalism seems very, very weird. As if in a socialist or communist society starting a business is supposed to be easier a…

Fair enough, I think I mean distribution of wealth. Capitalism is VERY good at moving money up. But, lately, in America, there's been not enough ways to get money going back down.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#294

Post by distances »

oxide wrote: post #117
DanBC wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you want to keep drugs out of the hands of kids, make them all legal and watch the usage numbers fall. Doesn't the UK experience with alcohol counter this? (I am strongly in favour of legalisation of all drugs).

Amphetamine will be abused by college students. Alcohol will be abused by highschool kids. It's a given. The allure of stuff like cocaine, with the "what else was I lied to about, what am I missing out on" mindset goes out the window when you stop lying and start letting people make their own choices.

> Amphetamine will be abused by college students.

I found this a very peculiar claim. Is amphetamine misuse in colleges a big thing in the US?

Edit: never mind, I see this was already discussed.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#296

Post by pjc50 »

foldr wrote: post #292
pjc50 wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's in that strange area between normal and looked down on that depends on the class background of the observer. It is a problem, but a slowly declining one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-31452735 And it seems that US drug legalisation has resulted in small decreases of use: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/colorado-s-teen-m... The only thing that's clear is that viewing drug and alcohol usage strictly…

Cannabis is effectively legal in the UK now, but there's no evidence of a decline in use as far as I know. Certainly not a precipitous one. I'm not sure what you mean about class background. There must be very few 15 year olds in the UK, from any class background, who haven't used alcohol. I wasn't really referring to binge drinking. My point was that the fact that it's easier for young people to legally drink alcoho…

Ah right, I was referring to distinction between "problematic" and "non-problematic" use. People generally accept that you can have a "non-problematic" use of alcohol but not everyone accepts that for the other drugs. Although you'll still find newspaper editorials concerned about teenage drinking. And in the really regressive papers, concern about women drinking.

While cannabis simple possession is very rarely prosecuted the police are still going after grow houses. I think it would have to be legitimised (properly legal) to see a decline due to losing the "rebel" factor.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#297

Post by LordKano »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #244
pfortuny wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, as long as you are willing to wait about six months for knee surgery, yes, it is free. Or for any other type of intervention.

Vs in the US where specialists just tell you that your problems are chronic, are pre-existing so not covered by insurance, and that nothing can be done for you.

Both chronic and pre-existing conditions are now covered by insurance.

Granted, a large number of the chronic conditions people face are caused by lifestyle choices and doctors don't have the power to make people want to change how they live their lives.

Not smoking, eating less crap and exercising more would drastically reduce the amount of chronic health conditions Americans face.

High blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, COPD and a host of other problems would drop dramatically if people lived healthier.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#298

Post by foldr »

pjc50 wrote: post #296
foldr wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cannabis is effectively legal in the UK now, but there's no evidence of a decline in use as far as I know. Certainly not a precipitous one. I'm not sure what you mean about class background. There must be very few 15 year olds in the UK, from any class background, who haven't used alcohol. I wasn't really referring to binge drinking. My point was that the fact that it's easier for young people to legally drink alcoho…

Ah right, I was referring to distinction between "problematic" and "non-problematic" use. People generally accept that you can have a "non-problematic" use of alcohol but not everyone accepts that for the other drugs. Although you'll still find newspaper editorials concerned about teenage drinking. And in the really regressive papers, concern about women drinking. While cannabis simple possession is very rarely prose…

Well, maybe. I don't think smoking cannabis is really seen as rebellious these days, though.

I don't see any reason to believe that legalizing a drug will stop people using it, or cause them to use it more responsibly than they do currently. We have a case study in the form of prohibition in the US. There's certainly no evidence that alcohol use declined following the repeal of prohibition.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#299

Post by Pigo »

dsmithatx wrote: post #67
jbooth wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you give them free H, they'll be a lot less desperate and a lot less violent, presumably. And.. why not? I've got multiple friends in my age group prematurely dead from overdose. It's not like prohibition is accomplishing anything.

Checkout Denmark. They had a huge problem with robberies and started giving legal pure Heroin shots to users. They also helped them find jobs. No more deaths and no more black market for Heroin. Hence burglaries also went away. It looks like our current President is looking at cracking down on pot again though so, I don't imagine we'll have a sensible drug policy anytime soon. Only one motivated by profits.

Trump should be taken to task for illogical stands, but you're dreaming if you think things would have been better under Hillary. Pharma was paying her to help keep pot illegal. At least Trump is capable of bending since he serves no one but Twitter.

Re: America’s opioid epidemic is worsening

#300

Post by rev_null »

kevinmchugh wrote: post #150
tptacek wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand that it's difficult to avoid litigation of decriminalization (or, apparently, subsidization) in discussions about illegal drugs. I'm generally receptive to decriminalization. But I'm not making a point about decriminalization. In the same way that it's counterproductive to spend a lot of time talking about prohibition in mass incarceration discussions (significant reduction in incarceration --- which is…

Are prescription opiate users as likely to overdose as heroin users? My understanding is that they are not. If you're buying oxycontin at CVS, you're getting oxycontin in the dosage prescribed. At least once a year in Chicago we see a news story about dozens of people hospitalized after using what they bought as heroin but which was not. Making heroin available to those who want or need to use it may reduce deaths or…

You are assuming that the people prescribed oxycontin are following the label.

If they go through a months supply in a week, then suddenly heroin is the next best option.

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