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I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

m.nautil.us

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Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#671

Post by bostonsre »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #634
bostonsre wrote: post #615

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the interview, it sounds a lot like he got them from his personal experience. He mentions percentages, but I see no references to any sources. It matters what those sources are (e.g. if they are from Purdue pharma or the sacklers, it's probably BS).

Then buy his book, how is he supposed to cite his sources in an interview?

He could mention an institution and professors that ran the studies like other people I've seen interviewed. It is an incredibly dangerous assertion he is making, it seems like the readers shouldn't be the ones that need to investigate and you certainly shouldn't need to buy his book to investigate it. Denial is an incredibly huge problem with addiction, stuff like this could be used by those with bad addictions to stay in denial and maintain their addiction.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#672

Post by roguas »

minitoar wrote: post #608
throwawayboise wrote: post #569

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on what they are responsible for. Airline pilots, I believe, have a no-drink-within-X-hours rule. I'm not sure whether X is 12, 24, or more. So even one drink the night before a morning flight would be prohibited, even though logically a single drink with dinner the night before should be a non-issue.

“8 hours from bottle to throttle”

ok, so 8 hours from vaping in the evening should also not impact your next day

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#673

Post by bostonsre »

jm__87 wrote: post #649
boomboomsubban wrote: post #633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is how they would get reliable numbers for high functioning opiate addicts. He's very clearly advising against getting addicted, something most opiate users accomplish.

So the article states that Carl Hart makes a claim that 70% of drug users don't meet the criteria for being a drug addict. I'm wondering how you could even get a reliable number for this for a drug like heroin, given the stigma attached to this drug and the fact that users themselves may be in denial that they are dependent on the drug. Someone can be meeting all their obligations in life and still be struggling with…

Yea, I would be very interested in the methodology they used to come up with that 70% and I am wondering if that is a snapshot in time or is that over someone's entire life. Addiction almost always starts out in a more controlled manner until its not. So if 50% of those 70% of drug users become full blown addicts, then its a BS number. I'm also really curious how they found those high functioning drug users, because I can't imagine anyone that is successfully hiding their use from the world would divulge it to anyone they don't know or trust ("hey, are you a high functioning drug user?" sounds like something a cop might say).

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#674

Post by gonehome »

thedmstdmstdmst wrote: post #653
Treblemaker wrote: post #651

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's reading too much into it. One can care about meeting their responsibilities because they love their family. And "being a great parent and partner" can be one of those responsibilities.

I feel this is just word play but being a great parent and partner is not a responsibility in so much as it is a goal.

It might be a burden or responsibility to meet if what you really get pleasure out of in life is your next heroin fix.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#675

Post by eurasiantiger »

filleokus wrote: post #553
TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Several years ago, I read about the significant nootropic effects of nicotine and spent time on forums that downplayed the potential negative impacts. I ended up trying it and became addicted for years. Social contagion can have significant effects on social issues like this.

Heh, same happened to me. I managed to get hooked on Nicotine gums after reading about the nootropic effects. After a while I moved on to snus (Swedish smokeless tobacco) due to expense/hassle of getting the gums. Nowadays I have a pretty big nicotine consumption and probably extremely marginal nootropic effects.

At least you don’t need to worry about dementia, alzheimer’s and parkinson’s, as well as many other degenerative diseases. It’s pretty well documented that specifically Swedish snus prevents them effectively.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#676

Post by JoelMcCracken »

aphextron wrote: post #583
JoelMcCracken wrote: post #542

I read this a few hours ago and didn't decide to comment then. But I just have to. I just lost my brother-in-law to heroin overdose. He overdosed because he went into rehab, came out, and then used far more than his body could tolerate. This is unfortunately common. Not because he mixed it with alcohol or antihistamines or whatever. Overall, his entire life has been extremely tragic. He was a good guy at heart. He wa…

More lives have been destroyed by alcohol than have ever even tried heroin. What you are describing sounds no different than an alcoholic. The whole point of this article, and Dr. Hart's research in general, is that it's not ok to demonize some drugs over others just because they are culturally accepted. Addiction is addiction, and there's zero evidence to support the fact that heroin is any more addictive or dangero…

Sure, I also think the way alcohol is treated is problematic too! This article was about Heroin, though.

(Alcohol) prohibition ended, not because people changed their minds about alcohol being problematic, but because it failed, basically, and I think such an arrangement is politically unpalatable in today's world.

I think that Dr Hart makes a lot of good points, but he also makes some dubious ones. For example, his point about the "normal range" of height. Its a fine thing to point out, but it is such an incomplete picture that its borderline preposterous.

Lets say you are 6'5". If I take a chainsaw and cut off 7 inches of your feet/shins, does that mean you are just fine? You would still be within the normal height range, after all! In fact, theoretically you might be better off, because before you were outside of the normal range!

This is intentionally absurd, so no need to point it out, but that is my point; the way some points in this article are made, it really makes me worry how many people who are on the border of being sure they have a problem are going to keep going down their destructive paths.

To be honest, I bet my brother in law would have said the same thing about himself -- he is "fulfilling all of his obligations", after all! He did work, aside from periods when he was homeless/unable to hold down steady work/keep himself from spending literally all of his income on drugs. But, the last few years, he has been working and had an apartment, all while using.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#677

Post by JoelMcCracken »

tigershark wrote: post #620
JoelMcCracken wrote: post #542

I read this a few hours ago and didn't decide to comment then. But I just have to. I just lost my brother-in-law to heroin overdose. He overdosed because he went into rehab, came out, and then used far more than his body could tolerate. This is unfortunately common. Not because he mixed it with alcohol or antihistamines or whatever. Overall, his entire life has been extremely tragic. He was a good guy at heart. He wa…

I can feel your pain. I flagged the parent post because I think that it’s extremely dangerous and I have no idea how it’s still on the top of the front page given the mountain of falsehood written by what is clearly a disillusioned, high functioning, heroin addict that can’t accept his condition. You, guys, are literally killing people every minute that this shit is up, believe me.

This is how I feel tbh.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#679

Post by tanseydavid »

memorysafety wrote: post #527
tanseydavid wrote: post #402

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> This isn't addiction, nor is it anything uncontrollable in general. With as much respect as I can offer I think you should consider the following notion, which in my personal experience is an actual fact: "Until and unless you have been an addict you truly cannot understand the experience. And subsequently you are not able to point out what is and is not addiction."

Asking for opinion: can one transfer experiences with non-drug addictions (videogames, promiscuity, social nets, etc) to the substance-abuse kind? How similar are these?

I think this can be done reasonably.

I believe the most-essential factor is this: loss-of-control over the behavior in question.

IOW, when the behavior takes places in spite of the individual wishing to stop, or committing to stopping -- then it is almost certainly "an addiction". It is the behavior that is most important, not 'substances' particularly.

The trouble is that it is very, very difficult for someone to recognize AND admit that they are unable to control some aspect of their behavior.

Most of us will create elaborate explanations to avoid admitting (to ourselves mostly) that sometimes we window up in a situations where we are completely powerless to control our behavior.

Re: I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem

#680

Post by boomboomsubban »

bostonsre wrote: post #673
jm__87 wrote: post #649

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the article states that Carl Hart makes a claim that 70% of drug users don't meet the criteria for being a drug addict. I'm wondering how you could even get a reliable number for this for a drug like heroin, given the stigma attached to this drug and the fact that users themselves may be in denial that they are dependent on the drug. Someone can be meeting all their obligations in life and still be struggling with…

Yea, I would be very interested in the methodology they used to come up with that 70% and I am wondering if that is a snapshot in time or is that over someone's entire life. Addiction almost always starts out in a more controlled manner until its not. So if 50% of those 70% of drug users become full blown addicts, then its a BS number. I'm also really curious how they found those high functioning drug users, because…

Both the "snapshot" studies and the lifetime studies find similar rates of addiction, I went and found part of what he's referencing.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/...

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