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My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

mattlakeman.org

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Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#41

Post by chiefalchemist »

8bitsrule wrote: post #29

My condolences to anyone who's lost a friend or relative to addiction - thanks to the human vultures who reap the rewards. It's possible that by vigorously pursuing and prosecuting the people who can afford to purchase and disseminate hard narcotics - instead of the users and a pusher or two - most of the problem would dry up. I'm not optimistic about that happening. The little guys are easier to catch, and caps are…

I lost a sister to a drug OD close to 15 yrs ago. My belief is she suffered from depression, among other things, and self medicated.

That said, the opioid crisis in the USA has been largerly fueled by prescription drugs. If by little guys you mean doctors, and big guys you mean the manufacturers;well there's been some progress on that. But obviously and certainly not enough.

Let's also not overlook the convenient blind eye of regularors (read: government).

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#42

Post by TimTheTinker »

wespiser_2018 wrote: post #24

Good write up. The US is really grappling with diseases of despair, and heroin/fentanyl addition is on of the biggest ones impacting the wellbeing of our society. A massive slice of talent and raw human resource is just dying every year, but the solutions that have worked in other countries are just impossible to implement here due because the the methods that are known to work are politically dead on arrival. I'm a…

> we seem to have this huge moral hang up in the US about giving addicts drugs

For many people, what you're describing all comes down to the law of love. It is not loving to give a person more of the thing that is destroying them.

Perhaps free methadone would be a better option?

EDIT: care to comment? I'd like to know why people disagree.

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#43

Post by short12 »

8bitsrule wrote: post #29

My condolences to anyone who's lost a friend or relative to addiction - thanks to the human vultures who reap the rewards. It's possible that by vigorously pursuing and prosecuting the people who can afford to purchase and disseminate hard narcotics - instead of the users and a pusher or two - most of the problem would dry up. I'm not optimistic about that happening. The little guys are easier to catch, and caps are…

After talking to a recovering addict regarding heroin, fentanyl and the such. I did some research and found I could get half a kilo of iso (stronger than fentanyl) by the end of the week. It took me 20 minutes

My point is that stuff is so widely available and easily accessible that no sort of enforcement against the higher ups will do a damn thing

Treating the addict with compassion and diligence will be far more effective than attempting to dry up the supply. It of course won't be easy and actually will require a mental shift regarding users

Instead of headlines of law enforcement patting themselves on the back about some meaningless bust

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#44

Post by abrichr »

twofornone wrote: post #8

>Then there were the migraines. Even after he died, I never got a straight answer as to the cause or truth of this problem. All I know is that he often complained about getting debilitating migraines that forced him to stay in the quiet dark of his room, sometimes for days straight. Jack’s parents took him to doctors and specialists trying to get to the bottom of it, he tried numerous treatments and medicines, but I…

> Maybe ML will help here with the right data.

Can you please elaborate? What kind of data would you need? What would be the learning task?

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#45

Post by beebmam »

8bitsrule wrote: post #29

My condolences to anyone who's lost a friend or relative to addiction - thanks to the human vultures who reap the rewards. It's possible that by vigorously pursuing and prosecuting the people who can afford to purchase and disseminate hard narcotics - instead of the users and a pusher or two - most of the problem would dry up. I'm not optimistic about that happening. The little guys are easier to catch, and caps are…

It's not popular here on Hacker News due to its libertarian bent, but I'm of the opinion that we should even more brutal to illegal drug production, trafficking, and selling than what we currently are.

I've lost 2 friends to fentanyl poisoning in the last 3 years, and I lost my brother 10 years ago to chronic meth use. I'm so utterly sick of this.

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#46

Post by giantg2 »

"But other kids know from day-one that they have no future."

A lack of hope is a crushing thing. It can lead to drugs, crime, etc. It seems to get worse the more intelligent one gets (why am I a failure if everyone says I'm so smart? Or just being smart enough to know just how hopeless things are). It can be even worse if you know you'll never live up to your parent's level of success (look at all the sons of the older movie stars).

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#47

Post by nwienert »

dustintrex wrote: post #31
costcopizza wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he’s implying if he had that outlet, maybe heroin would have never been encountered.

He was first prescribed opiates for an injury.

Just to throw in my 2c, I’ve had dilaudid a few times for an injury and other opiates for various reasons, and while they feel great, they really never cross my mind much and I don’t hold them close to many sober experiences. Not even as good as other drugs, of which I could list 3-4 I’d consider as or more enjoyable.

The above comment feels like a really dramatic description of opiates. I don’t think most anyone with a moderately stable life is at risk of addiction trying them.

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#48

Post by karlmdavis »

ioseph wrote: post #38
colinmhayes wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure you understand how good heroin feels. Nothing comes close, especially not Tennis or a wonderful community. I tried heroin once, and I regret it every day, because I am 100% positive that I will never again be as happy as I was that day. If I didn't have what is effectively a dream job I'm sure that I'd be a heroin addict.

That was certainly not my experience, it was an intense physical pleasure but ultimately devoid of mental depth. Having tried most drugs I really think the whole addicted after one dose is bullshit and it's far more about your social economic circumstances. It's much more tempting to seek out another hit if you have nothing better to do that day.

This seems to rather callously disregard the parent commenter’s lived experience. Perhaps, just maybe, not everyone is like you; it might be different for different people? Just a thought.

Re: My experience of losing a friend to heroin (2020)

#49

Post by SuoDuanDao »

aazaa wrote: post #4

> I wish I had a happier note to end this on, but honestly, my biggest takeaway from the whole experience is that maybe some puzzles just can’t be solved. We can try to attribute Jack’s problems to intrinsic biological/psychological issues (social phobia, migraines, etc.) or to environmental causes (super high rate of heroin use and OD in the community), but both sides seem fundamentally lacking in explanatory power.…

I heard a story - can't find the reference now - of a doctor who got addicts to replace their drug addiction with exercise addictions. From what I recall the program was quite successful at making the patients functional, but didn't really do much for the underlying issues - just made the addiction itself less damaging.
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