Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could take a look at the results in Portugal: https://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decr...
The "Drug-induced deaths" plot from the link is very telling.
it is.
Fentanyl, a stealth killer
71–80 of 153 posts
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#72Opiate addiction is a serious problem that affects people from all walks of life. My mother has had rheumatoid arthritis for decades. She was prescribed Fentanyl patches for the pain at one point, but the strength was too high. One day she wound up passing out in her kitchen after applying a patch. After that she stuck the patches in a drawer, intending for them to never to be used again. She was fine after this inci…
If someone was suffering from pain and couldn't even buy Ibuprofen due to an oppressive government and shitty societal view, one might not be surprised if they steal to get life-changing medicine. The fact a "normal" person would rob an older woman for an essential medicine should reflect more on the society than the patient.
I'm pretty sure the only pain she was suffering from was that of not having enough drugs in her system at any given time.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#73Opiate addiction is a serious problem that affects people from all walks of life. My mother has had rheumatoid arthritis for decades. She was prescribed Fentanyl patches for the pain at one point, but the strength was too high. One day she wound up passing out in her kitchen after applying a patch. After that she stuck the patches in a drawer, intending for them to never to be used again. She was fine after this inci…
If someone was suffering from pain and couldn't even buy Ibuprofen due to an oppressive government and shitty societal view, one might not be surprised if they steal to get life-changing medicine. The fact a "normal" person would rob an older woman for an essential medicine should reflect more on the society than the patient.
That doesn't make any sense. Having seen a fair amount of shit, I go back and forth. Should heroin be legal? It would certainly lower the price, but it would definitely create more addicts. This isn't a headache, that is theft.
Clearly, there is a difference between opportunistically taking a few pills and working your way into someones life to rob them repeatedly. This reflects on the person and while I don't know if I made up my mind, I can certainly intellectually understand why society has banned this.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#74Just because fentanyl has a shit therapeutic index doesn't mean it has a high body count (it gets used just fine even in tandem with other depressants in clinical circumstances...) - I would say the problem is more in the hands of the tough-on-crime lawmakers who seem to lack, at least in my neck of the woods, remorse. Also, look up sufentanil, and once you feel you're ready, carfentanil.. Also, yes, yes, fentanyl is…
Also, look up sufentanil, and once you feel you're ready, carfentanil..
So I did. And now my browser history is filled with random message boards of people discussing their tripping experiences with various chemicals.
Also learned that most people consider Carfentanil crazy dangerous. And his bigger brother Ohmefentanyl is straight up poison.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
If someone was suffering from pain and couldn't even buy Ibuprofen due to an oppressive government and shitty societal view, one might not be surprised if they steal to get life-changing medicine. The fact a "normal" person would rob an older woman for an essential medicine should reflect more on the society than the patient.
I'm pretty sure the only pain she was suffering from was that of not having enough drugs in her system at any given time.
And that's not legitimate? Withdrawal is probably one of the worst physical experiences someone can go through.
On top of that, do you know why she was on the medication in the first place? Would you have the same attitude if she was taking SSRIs for depression, couldn't afford them (or wasn't allowed to have them!), and stole them instead?
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#76This was a well-written story but I could've done without: A. The "MARIJUANA, THAT DEVIL WEED, STARTED HIS DESCENT INTO HELL" routine. and B. The "truth" anti-drug ad campaign-style video overlays
Frankly, virtually everyone I've known who ended up in drug 'hell' did start with pot; so while correlation does not equal causation, the belief or concern it's a gateway drug really should not be mocked. Questioning, debating, fine - but mocking people's concern, is frequently about friends and family who are in trouble.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure the only pain she was suffering from was that of not having enough drugs in her system at any given time.
And that's not legitimate? Withdrawal is probably one of the worst physical experiences someone can go through. On top of that, do you know why she was on the medication in the first place? Would you have the same attitude if she was taking SSRIs for depression, couldn't afford them (or wasn't allowed to have them!), and stole them instead?
I don't know all of the details as to how she became addicted to them, but it certainly wasn't a financial issue. Her husband owned a chain of auto body shops and was by all accounts worth at least a few million dollars.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#78Sad that the message of this piece will likely be discounted and discredited. It amazes me the blasé attitudes towards drugs in the tech world. Hearing even high-profile tech leaders extoll the 'virtues' of getting high while ignoring the huge toll it takes on individuals and their families seems selfish to me.
The issue here was not caused by the actual substance. It was caused to due to terrible social and legal attitudes that encourage mislabeled medicines to be sold. If anything else in our society was mislabeled by a factor of 50, there'd be outrage over the vendor, regulators, etc. But with drugs, it's always "user error". Opiates are extremely well tolerated, with basically no upper bound on use. They are incredibly…
As much as I want to agree with you, the story of the two dudes losing their jobs and constantly being broke says otherwise. I know there are lot of functioning addicts, and I have seen them in life. But the two guys in the article are anything but functioning. Their education suffered, their job prospects suffered.
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#79I've read a fair amount online about ibogaine, derived from iboga root, as a treatment for addiction, and opiate addiction in particular. It doesn't seem to be very well-known, but everything I've read makes it seem like a miracle cure. It is a schedule 1 psychedelic in the US, but there are apparently clinics/retreats in Mexico and Canada where it is used to treat addiction.
Reportedly, withdrawal symptoms immediately begin to subside when the trip hits and then disappear completely, never to return. Cravings don't return either. The success rate is incredible--one study I read about from ~2011 followed up with its participants, and 30/30 were still not using, and they and their partners reported a much higher quality of life. All from a single six-hour trip (though it seems like these places want people to hang out for a week or so afterward, too).
When I say "miracle cure" and "incredible" I mean them in the superlative sense, but these kinds of claims also make me suspicious because I'd expect to hear more noise about them if they worked as well as advertised. So consider this post both a plea to share more info if anyone has it, either for or against, as well as a jumping-off point for further research for anyone who is personally or knows someone who is suffering from an addiction. On the one hand, it sounds too good to be true, but on the other hand, psychedelics are so demonized that I could believe the word just hasn't gotten out yet. (After all, clinical LSD treatment showed a lot of promise in curing/greatly reducing alcohol addiction 50 years ago, among a host of other things, but you wouldn't know it unless you go looking yourself.)
Re: Fentanyl, a stealth killer
#80The mention of Fentanyl here is pure clickbait. Fentanyl is pretty well known amongst opiate addicts (and has been for a while). Everyone knows it's dangerous, including dealers, who like to avoid killing their customers and catching murder charges, believe it or not. Aside from that and a bit of gateway drug BS towards the beginning, this is a solid and somewhat moving, if long, account of the standard Heroin story,…
Couldn't agree more with the characterization of this article as sensationalist. Also, why post this to a forum such as Hacker News? If I wanted to read "news" of this nature, I'd go to Fox or Yahoo!