Claiming that the horrifying near-death experience really put things into perspective, area man Leo York announced Tuesday that a recent heroin overdose served as a wake-up call to keep on doing heroin but just be smarter about it. “That’s it. Tomorrow I’m buying a digital scale, and from now on I’m only using on weekends or after work if it was a super hard day,” said York, explaining that the close call had provided him with the clarity to realize he needed to do the hard work of finding a more trustworthy dealer instead of shooting up whatever sketchy back-alley stuff he could score. […]
As far as I know the risk comes from suppliers stretching the drug. Users compensate, which becomes lethal if they get a pure sample. So the sketchy dealer doesn’t kill but going back to the trustworthy one does.
Drugs should be legalized to remove that risk. There is a smart way to do drugs. It is one law away.
From what I’ve read, opiod users are often forced into taking fentanyl, either knowingly or not. Fentanyl is addictive, has a short high, and concentrated. It’s amazing for dealers. They can smuggle and hide the drugs easily, as well as sell it quickly due to users blowing through their stash as soon as they get it. Some dealers even cut their other drugs with fentanyl to make them addictive.
It’s terrible for users though. Fentanyl being so concentrated makes it incredibly easy to overdose. Opiod users develop a tolerance very quickly and need to take larger doses to feel to same high. The combination of taking higher doses and a drug that is easy to overdose on is deadly. The concentration also means cutting it into other drugs makes it easy to miscalculate dosage. I’ve heard of a study where seized MDMA pills cut with fentanyl were tested and 20% contained a fatal dose.
Opioid users having access to controlled doses of a less deadly opioid would drastically reduce overdose deaths. Often users are taking it just to stave off the absolutely terrible withdrawal symptoms rather than to get high. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who believe anyone who does drugs deserves to die.
Fent has pretty much taken over what is called heroin
Yeah, there no longer really is heroin on the east coast. The west still has tar, although it’s fallen out of popularity. But even that has been known to been spiked with fent.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
I think there’s also been an issue of people getting off it, then relapsing and overdosing because they used to take a bigger dose, but their body isn’t prepared for it the same way
Well that sounds nice and all but people accidentally overdose all on their own frequently enough when it comes to opiates. Legalizing them wouldnt make a whole lot of difference in most cases, in my opinion.
It would make all the difference. People overdose on Fentanyl because it wasn’t mixed correctly when dilluted. Pharmacists wouldn’t make that mistake.
Thats not the only reason they overdose and I’d argue not the main one. Besides that though, making opiates available to everyone would produce more harm than the current system has, as more people would use it as its normalized. We have already tried that before and it didnt work out well, see early 1900s history if you are interested.
For what do I have to look? This is earlier and not so bad.
And another clown take.
I’ll reply just so you aren’t talking to yourself like a crazy person. How’s your day going?
Okay but heroin is a shit drug and should remain illegal (just way less criminalized)
You do know that everything that people are willing to buy will create a market. You have the choice to legalise it and supply them with high quality pure heroin, or make them dependent on The black market with all the insane risks and downsides it brings.
This is stupid. I’d have a lot of trouble imaging a recovered opiate addict talking like this. The main problem with heroin isn’t that sometimes its potency varies, although it would be nice if it was.
That’s true, but you always have to remember, that for the ones who are already addicted the black market is an insane risk. Of course we should invest into prevention of addiction and legalizing heroin does not mean, that it should be as easily accessible as alcohol. It should only be accessible in specialised shops. Also the ones who are interested in trying out certain drugs will do it. People have never and will never care if the drug of their choice is legal or illegal. Legalising drugs lessens the stigma around these drugs and makes prevention and recovering from addictions easier, since people dont have to fear to get prosecuted if they seek help.
Opiates have a stigma for good reason. This isn’t legalizing marijuana where its hard to find impactful negative consequences of using it. Opiate use very quickly turns to dependence, and most people aren’t ready to deal with that even if they think they are. Thats why most people won’t touch the stuff in the first place, its far too risky.
We already have legal opiates for addicts, methadone and its shitty cousin suboxone, the only issue there is they aren’t free.
What i meant with the stigma is not, that people should think, that they are substances to play with, but that a society that tolerates people no matter what drugs they use create an environment for people who have problems with certain drugs to actually seek help, since they do not have to face discrimination or being seen as an outsider.
I could see that being a help for some addicts reluctant to get help, but the social stigma helps prevent people from underestimating the risk. I’d rather err on the side of preventing new addicts over assisting current ones if I have to choose between the two. In the end, I’m not sure if either of our ideas would result in less suffering but its good to talk about it in public spaces like this.
No. People have quit smoking in droves as smoking becomes more and more illegal.
Overall, this suggests that removing criminal penalties for personal drug possession did not cause an increase in levels of drug use. This tallies with a significant body of evidence from around the world that shows the enforcement of criminal drug laws has, at best, a marginal impact in deterring people from using drugs
I can really suggest reading the whole paper (its only four pages). Lot of good information is to be gained.
No, people quit smoking because decades of campaigning on smoking is stupid, and makes you gross, worked. We saw each generation after that started smoke less, and less. Soon as they put out a way to get nicotine that wasn’t smoking, and didn’t make you smell repulsive, the use of nicotine shot way up again.
Mandatory rehab w/ methadone treatment as an alternative sentence
Methadone is just a substituted addiction, one that can be regulated to keep it as safe as possible. Maybe we should just do that with heroin, if we are mandating methadone.
Heroine you need to take every few hours, easy to overdose. That’s the whole reason methadone exists. To keep you sooted just enough that you can function.
The reality is that methadone gets sold, gets used in a way that bypasses the extended release, or they dose you at the place, and then everyone stops going there for a place that doesn’t work that way.
Sentance for what?
What makes it shit?
* People can use heroin for years without severe consequences, like other pain killers. The impurities of street drugs and the crimes kill people. It should’t be sold like candy, and it is dangerous but criminalizing its usage is more dangerous.
You really think it would be safer if you could get heroin at the corner store? Great theory!
It’s a tradeoff. It massively reduces risk for the addicts but exposes the non-addicts.
Of course corner store is hyperbole, I had already commented on that.
It should’t be sold like candy
I think it would be free enough if doctors can prescribe it like any other medical drug, and then users buy it in a pharmacy.
This is already a thing though. If you go to a doctor and say you are an opiate addict they will start you on a treatment plan involving suboxone or methadone. The main problem is its not free and addicts dont tend to have extra money. I’d imagine the same problem would happen if doctors were to prescribe heroin to addicts as you had said.
Fentanyl is cheap. Of course the prices have to be regular prices without the usual pharmacy markup.
You misunderstood me. Fentanyl addictions usually are more expensive than it would cost to pay for methadone treatment. Most addicts measure in dollars per day, and methadone is about 10$ a day without insurance. Addicts with a 10$ a day habit don’t need methadone to quit. The main problem is that a lot of addicts dont earn money in a legal way, and dont have health insurance. Its actually more convenient to continue abusing a hard drug even if it costs more money in many cases. Addiction treatment could be improved a lot in most areas of the US, but its underfunded.
You are responding to an idiot.
They don’t care about proper social policy, they are larping regimes propaganda to feel morally superior.
Just an NPC doing some bootlicking really.
🤡
You are the hero we needed! Thanks Sun Tzu* Jr.!
I’ve a friend of 30+ years that subscribed this ideology. He overdosed two years ago. There’s nothing funny about. It just sucks.
Well did he OD on the H or a bad cut?
Dirty drugs is the real consequence of failed war on drugs.
But the regime never cared about the people and so here we be.
dint work on RFK JR, he got dumber.
