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Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

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Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#61

Post by snrplfth »

Avshalom wrote: post #58
snrplfth wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but what I'm saying is that once the tools are in place to ban various substances for personal consumption, and make those bans stick through enforcement, then that's all the tools you need for a War on Drugs. I mean, at that point, it's just "ban this thing, and not that thing, because it's what I want." What takes doublethink is imagining that, once these powers are in place, they won't be used against one's…

racism and guns are the tools you need for the War on Drugs, laws prohibiting some drugs are just there to make it easier to claim a veneer of legitimacy.

What makes a War on Drugs doable is the laws prohibiting drugs. It's literally what makes it legally possible. You'll note that very few adults are arrested for "possession of alcohol".

Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#62

Post by bopcrane »

SmkyMt wrote: post #16
snrplfth wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, 433 over six years, 2007 through 2012. Which is about 72 per year, per person. I mean, what is supposed to be done about this? Cut off WV from painkillers? Have the DEA raid a bunch of pharmacies?

Wouldn't it look different if you adjusted for the number of persons who take none ? [disclaimer - self: none] What percentage of the population 1) is taking any? 2) needs to be taking any? Not everyone has had accident/surgery/cancer/etc.

As a WV resident well aware of the drug problem (In the 'major' WV city I live next to, 28 people OD'd in one day recently), I'm wondering what this would look like if it DID in fact account for people that take none, myself included. I know of TONS of families around me that have been torn apart from opioid addiction. It is hard to describe the impact because to be an addict in this area especially, is to be stigmatized and essentially cast out from the society. I'm not sure if it's due to the prevalence of fire-and-brimstone religious folk in this area, but a lot of the folks around here would rather lose the drug addicts completely than rectify the problem and help them. The only input I can offer is that the current model of Rx drug abuse can't be sustained and is ruining lives while certain people/organizations are profiting greatly...

Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#63

Post by chillwaves »

bopcrane wrote: post #62
SmkyMt wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it look different if you adjusted for the number of persons who take none ? [disclaimer - self: none] What percentage of the population 1) is taking any? 2) needs to be taking any? Not everyone has had accident/surgery/cancer/etc.

As a WV resident well aware of the drug problem (In the 'major' WV city I live next to, 28 people OD'd in one day recently), I'm wondering what this would look like if it DID in fact account for people that take none, myself included. I know of TONS of families around me that have been torn apart from opioid addiction. It is hard to describe the impact because to be an addict in this area especially, is to be stigmat…

Just wanted to add the explosion in fentanyl and other synthetic heroin ODs in your community is also related. I'm not going to pretend the users are innocent, maybe they a teenagers who start off buying pills to get high -- point being that RX drugs are a very real and literal gateway drug to street narcotics, which are cheaper and far more dangerous.

Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#64

Post by bopcrane »

chillwaves wrote: post #63
bopcrane wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a WV resident well aware of the drug problem (In the 'major' WV city I live next to, 28 people OD'd in one day recently), I'm wondering what this would look like if it DID in fact account for people that take none, myself included. I know of TONS of families around me that have been torn apart from opioid addiction. It is hard to describe the impact because to be an addict in this area especially, is to be stigmat…

Just wanted to add the explosion in fentanyl and other synthetic heroin ODs in your community is also related. I'm not going to pretend the users are innocent, maybe they a teenagers who start off buying pills to get high -- point being that RX drugs are a very real and literal gateway drug to street narcotics, which are cheaper and far more dangerous.

I agree, it was never clearly divulged if the ~28 OD's were fentanyl-related (I assume the majority were), or for anything else - I can attest that the lion's share of people I have known to have opioid drug problems did start out with Rx abuse and progressed from there. As much as it pains me to say it, the culture around my area seems to perpetuate the idea that doctors generally do no wrong unless they botch a surgery, in which case, you sue.

Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#65

Post by Pigo »

blawson wrote: post #33
Pigo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I think there will be movies like 'Blow' in 20 years that will be about the wild west times of prescription drugs, and the kingpins who had houses filled with money from the proceeds.

There is already a pretty good book on the subject: https://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-True-Americas-Opiate-Epidem...

I will try to give it a look through. For me, it's hard to absorb material so depressing and discouraging as this appears to be.

Re: Drug firms poured 780M painkillers into WV amid rise of overdoses

#66

Post by mhuffman »

GordonS wrote: post #43
mhuffman wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there is also information asymmetry at play here. Patients could have legit pain, and then go to multiple doctors, without the others finding out. Then they could sell those to other people, or use them all themselves. On the other hand, the pharmacies might know, but that could be worked around by a motivated pill-obtainer. The pharma companies, however, definitely know that they sent 780 million painkillers t…

> Patients could have legit pain, and then go to multiple doctors, without the others finding out. Then they could sell those to other people, or use them all themselves I can't imagine many people that have real pain bad enough to need opioids are going to be selling them to other people. For people that really need them to manage pain, they can literally be a live saver.

Opioids are worth lots on the street. Even people with "real pain" still need money right? Especially in a state like WV.

So if you can get enough pills to cover your own pain management (meaning you likely can't work anyway), and you know you can get and sell more pills by going to other doctors, why not?

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