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How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

theguardian.com

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Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#331

Post by thirdsun »

phil21 wrote: post #295
gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

It's really simple. Addicts don't make good customers.

Well...depending on what you're selling they are probably excellent customers. Sorry, couldn't resist.

On a more serious note however, I understand what you mean. I think there's also the perception that significant cases of drug abuse, addiction and the crimes related to this are something that seems to happen far, far away for most people in a position to offer help. Something you see in movies and dramatic VICE documentaries, but not in your own backyard. If you're not confronted with the problem it's easy to not perceive it as one.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#333

Post by uiri »

NumberCruncher wrote: post #265
Torai wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm interested in what ideas others might have though. I'm not from the US, but I think there is enough people already, all pointing out in the same direction: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/opioid-lobbying-... Over the past decade, pharmaceutical companies have spent more than $880 million on lobbying and political contributions at the state and federal level. That’s more than eight times what the gun…

The United States alone holds over 45 percent of the global pharmaceutical market [1]. And less then 5 percent of earths population. Welcome to the society of pharmaceutical addiction. [1] https://www.statista.com/topics/1719/pharmaceutical-industry...

You're comparing a measure in dollars with a measure in people. Yes, per capita expenditure on prescription medication is high in the US. Most other countries have a national health care system which negotiates the price for the whole country. The US market is where pharmaceutical companies expect to recoup their R&D costs, which makes drugs more expensive in the US than anywhere else. This effectively means that the US subsidizes drug prices for the rest of the world in exchange for determining which drugs are safe for humans (via the FDA) and getting slightly earlier access to newly developed drugs.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#334

Post by vog »

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

> millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws

Wait, what? This is a "lobby"?

I thought the NRA with their even larger resources, backed by industrial interests, is the actual lobby. You know, the one who pushed forward those laws into insane directions, which you'll find almost nowhere else in the world.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#335

Post by mobiletelephone »

gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

Autonomous cars have benefits beyond being safer, which would explain why the investment outweighs the deaths/year

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#336

Post by [deleted] »

VonGuard wrote: post #322

I am almost ashamed to admit I have read these forums for years as a sort of exercise in voyeuristic schadenfreude. I just love reading about drug culture, watching drug movies, etc. Just like I love gangster movies. I can't explain it. A few things I have learned: /r/glassine is probably the most interesting. They rate heroin bags in the Pittsburg area. It's supposed to be for everywhere, but it's mostly Pennsylvani…

[deleted]

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#337

Post by nyolfen »

awkwarddaturtle wrote: post #224
gooseus wrote: post #62

What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Billions of dollars of private research being poured into self-driving cars by our greatest minds and millions of dollars in lobbying against gun laws all in the name of preventing unnecessary human deaths... yet according to Ben Bernanke (and his references), opioid ove…

> What I find fascinating and disappointing is how much the opioid crisis isn't being talked about or addressed proportional to other societal issues. Actually, it is the opposite. Gun violence, opioid crisis, etc are given too much attention. The deaths of opioid crisis and gun deaths are minuscule compared to the deaths cause by obesity, sedentary lifestyle, cancer, heart disease, etc. Take the top two killers in a…

i find it difficult to believe anyone could believe that the negative health effects of obesity and cancer in particular are under-reported

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#338

Post by RealityNow »

What is the solution to this opioid epidemic?

As an outsider not well-versed in this topic, my guess is that the root cause here is hopelessness, struggle, and boredom caused by poverty and unemployment.

The solution then would be to employ people and give them a sense of purpose, or at least get them out of poverty.

I'm a huge proponent of a universal basic income (UBI), though I'm not sure that a UBI would fix this problem. Thus it seems as if some sort of government jobs program may be necessary. Giving people meaningful well-paying jobs in science and technology would do wonders in getting people off these ridiculous addictions.

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#339

Post by dynamoa »

nextlevelwizard wrote: post #328
vinhboy wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, even the military monitors reddit to keep on top of new trends and ideas. It has really become a social force, and that's why I agree with you, it is ripe for manipulation. > Reddit is a net-negative to society in my opinion. I did not agree with this before, but after /r/the_donald, I am re-considering my position.

I do not get this opinion at all. Just because there exists a thing you do not agree with does not mean it should not exist. It seems like many people on HN are for free speech as long as it's speech they agree with. There will always be people who do not think like you and do not believe in same things as you, but you are not helping any situation by no platforming them. Join the debate and use your words, like adul…

>It seems like many people on HN are for free speech as long as it's speech they agree with.

Sounds exactly like Reddit

Re: How a Reddit forum has become a lifeline to opioid addicts in the US

#340

Post by zer0tonin »

RealityNow wrote: post #338

What is the solution to this opioid epidemic? As an outsider not well-versed in this topic, my guess is that the root cause here is hopelessness, struggle, and boredom caused by poverty and unemployment. The solution then would be to employ people and give them a sense of purpose, or at least get them out of poverty. I'm a huge proponent of a universal basic income (UBI), though I'm not sure that a UBI would fix this…

> The solution then would be to employ people and give them a sense of purpose, or at least get them out of poverty.

The jobs are gone. Now it's time to stop marginalizing and treating jobless people like parasites. This would help more.

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