Biologically, drug addiction is a brain disease that physically changes one’s brain chemistry over time to a point where a person has to challenge to urge to take drugs or give in. However, addiction is as much of a societal issue as it is an individual one. While it is certainly uplifting to see that politicians are showing more empathy and encouraging rehabilitation, very little discussion is being directed towards the reasons why people would turn to drugs in the first place. There should focus on the mental and socioeconomic factors related to addiction in order to fully address the problem. In doing so, it opens the conversation to all the people that suffer addiction, especially those outside of white communities.
4
Amazing...where was this care and concern when drug addiction was destroying African American communities. ..rather than compassion and calls for drug addiction as a disease, politicians and white Americans called for mandatory sentences and more prisons.
7
In the 90's of the previous century, there was a movement in the medical community towards liberal pain management with the use of opiates. The physician that was not buying this notion and refused to prescribe opiates even for the management of low back pain was scorned by colleagues that considered it was inflicting undue suffering in our patients. I did not join the joy ride of liberal opiate prescribing, because it seemed to me it was letting the lion out of its cage. Time has proven I was not wrong in this perception, but it is sad to see that we who took the oath that states: "First, do no harm", are in part to blame for this epidemic. There are other culprits here: the pharmaceutical industry and the regulatory agencies are two of them. It will take a long time before this epidemic is controlled and many lives will be lost in the future. How sad to know this situation was preventable.
3
Although it is good to see that the consequences of the war on drugs are being examined and discussed at a more public and national scale, I must echo Kasich’s sentiments on the fact that is has only become an issue once it starts affecting white people. Especially here in Massachusetts, where heroin addiction has run rampant, the face of addiction has increasingly become whiter, and with it, the empathy given to the sufferer and buzz about what can be done. It is frustrating and disheartening to see that people of color who suffer from addiction, and who are in fact, statistically less likely to do so, are not given the same consideration and empathy as are white people and that policy that does not criminalize addicts only comes in the wake of white addicts.
10
We especially -- being exceptional and all -- can't solve the drug problem as long as religion is involved: viz. "it's not according to god to take drugs (or anything else for that matter)", or "taking drugs is a sign of moral weakness!" or etc., etc.
Instead, we have a WAR on Drugs. One of our many unsuccessful wars on something or other. And to stray from the subject for a moment: most of our wars have been unsuccessful. Think Vietnam.
Instead, we have a WAR on Drugs. One of our many unsuccessful wars on something or other. And to stray from the subject for a moment: most of our wars have been unsuccessful. Think Vietnam.
1
I don't wish to be or seem to be insensitive to what is perceived as a major social problem, but it could just be nature at work. We are, whether we want to be or not, part of the natural world and in that world there is a balance. We talk about that balance when it comes to animals and their means of survival but for some reason we are never willing to include ourselves--we are the human ANIMAL. It could be that people who are prone to abusive use of drugs of any kind, or people who are prone to violence are part of nature's means of balance, since eventually those people will remove themselves from the "system"
Prevention hasn't worked, education seemingly doesn't work, self control doesn't work, laws to allow certain drugs to be used hasn't worked so maybe there is another reason that we either haven't figured out or haven't accepted.
Prevention hasn't worked, education seemingly doesn't work, self control doesn't work, laws to allow certain drugs to be used hasn't worked so maybe there is another reason that we either haven't figured out or haven't accepted.
2
A good start would be to ban all the creepy drug ads on TV, and they're all creepy. A second action would be to prosecute doctors whose patients become addicted to opiates. There's even creepy ads on TV now for drugs that specifically target opiate-induced constipation. What a creepy cash cow when a drug like this is a hot ticket on TV.
4
Pardon my cynicism, but I have a theory on the "War on Drugs." It will never be won. There is too much money tied up in the hardware and soft costs associated with the battle and the failure to win only increases the funding. Imagine something that hasn't worked for 30 years and we are just going to do the same strategy only more of it. Unfortunately it has the unintended consequences of putting the smugglers and the users in the same building, criminalizing both, and attaching the same stigma to each of the them - "ex Con." Nancy Reagan had it right - reduce the amount of usage and the narcotic suppliers won't have the critical mass of customers necessary to fund their activities. When are we going to learn?
I have not lost anyone in my family, but I've had two cousins who took every possible chance and survived by purest luck. Family was worried sick about them for years.
That too is part of the price we pay for our drug laws. It isn't just those who die. It is those who come so close, and all those who worry helplessly about them.
It is a lot more people, on top of those who die. Don't forget all of those too.
That too is part of the price we pay for our drug laws. It isn't just those who die. It is those who come so close, and all those who worry helplessly about them.
It is a lot more people, on top of those who die. Don't forget all of those too.
3
Well, they can talk, with genuinely sad looks on their faces, about ADDICTION in their own families, while ignoring discussion about the lack of health care, malnutrition, poor job opportunity, and the absence of dignity among America's poor, to mention only a few of the important issues that face many more millions of Americans.
8
We would save money and lives if we would "medicalize" the hard drugs and give them, inject them at FREE clinics. Pot should be sold as it is in Colorado. Hard-drug addicts would be given the proper dose for their addiction and there could be medical people there to assist any person who wanted to get off drugs in doing that. We spend more than 60 BILLION dollars a year on the "Drug War." That is, of course, why we continue this fool's errand - BECAUSE people make money from the drug war. The people who make wars own and operate this country ..its jails, its BANKS, its weapons manufacturers. These drug war profiteers pay our elected people well to make sure the money continues to flow to the drug war.
4
LESS empathy, MORE scolding.
Southern-border wall.
Drug-addiction is NOT a disease.
1
Decriminalize and tax Drugs. Abolish the DEA. It will not cure addiction, but save Money that could be used to cure addiction.
3
If Jeb Bush's daughter was addicted to drugs, then at some time she must have possessed a quantity of drugs that would have sent a minority kid to jail. Same for all those other relatives and friends of politicians. So why are we still sending and keeping minority kids in jail for "crimes" that are health issues for upper and middle class white people?
9
The responsibility lies with the addict, both for becoming addicted and getting clean.
2
Please have your facts checked. There is no recorded case of death that can be attributed to Valium overdose. Valium overdose can induce a coma-like state, but not death.
1
The single fact that marijuana remains a schedule 1 drug the very heart of the DEA's credibility problem. If they can't be bothered to fulfill their legislative mandate to maintain a scientifically accurate schedule of drugs based on real data and research, they should be disbanded. Nobody under the age of 45 takes the DEA seriously at all. Case in point: marijuana does not turn your brain to scrambled eggs. Opiates don't either, but they are seriously toxic and addictive. What happened to the childhood truism that "honesty is the best policy"?
6
We are talking about symptoms not root causes.
Drugs are used by people to self-medicate and/or as a coping mechanism. Hollywood glamorizes it and makes jokes but again they don't see/understand the root causes which are not so glamorous or funny.
If we want to understand drug use/abuse we need to understand why people use them and address those issues.
Drugs are used by people to self-medicate and/or as a coping mechanism. Hollywood glamorizes it and makes jokes but again they don't see/understand the root causes which are not so glamorous or funny.
If we want to understand drug use/abuse we need to understand why people use them and address those issues.
12
Most politicians and judges NEVER act on any common sense social measure until they or their personal family or friends are affected.
Problem is when you're high up on the economic totem pole you're usually buffered and last to be affected directly by anything negative if ever.
Plus the Bush and Fiorina families could afford very expensive rehab centers, ongoing treatment and an army of lawyers if necessary. The rest of us get to go to prison and/or die.
Problem is when you're high up on the economic totem pole you're usually buffered and last to be affected directly by anything negative if ever.
Plus the Bush and Fiorina families could afford very expensive rehab centers, ongoing treatment and an army of lawyers if necessary. The rest of us get to go to prison and/or die.
5
People still don't realize the danger of the overprescription of opioids, benzodiazepines, and other drugs for conditions that really don't require them. I recall a "Behind the Music" episode with Stevie Nicks talking about her crippling Klonopin addiction, and how it began with her doctor prescribing the drug for her so she could sleep on tour. The drug took over her life. People think that if a doctor prescribes it, it must be healthy and safe. Prescribers must play a leadership role in this effort by not prescribing these drugs to people who do not need them.
3
For far too long society looked the other way and ignored (even celebrated) rampant drug abuse in predominantly white colleges and high schools and suburban communities, while persecuting inner city black youth for relatively minor (or made up) drug offenses. Why pretend to be horrified now?
As for Bush's daughter, did she ever spend a day in prison - or court - or did a highly paid lawyer bale her out? And what excuse did Fiorina and her husband have to offer while failing their daughter as parents, while relentlessly pursuing big payoffs?
As for Bush's daughter, did she ever spend a day in prison - or court - or did a highly paid lawyer bale her out? And what excuse did Fiorina and her husband have to offer while failing their daughter as parents, while relentlessly pursuing big payoffs?
3
The pharmaceutical industry has made billions from the sale of painkillers. They are the biggest drug dealers on the planet. Let's talk about their shady advertising/sales practices as part of this problem.
4
Absolutely cannot equate a "war" on illicit anything with a danger caused by abuse of technology and medical knowledge. Obviously prescription pain control abuse affects folks of all stripes, every socioeconomic condition -- our doctors follow the same regime. Maybe they should be held responsible as we did the tobacco industry?
1
Maybe this is the for time big Pharma to be investigated as they are basically the drug manufacturers that contribute to the death toll. I doubt that will happen because big Pharma are major contributors to the political machine. Do I hear campaign finance reform?
4
Politicians were also worried about connecting with voters on drug policy and politics in the 1980s, but in a very different way when drugs addiction was seen as a problem of the Black and Latino communities Their tune has changed now that addiction has a White face. How cynical, but also how transparent. Shame on them.
2
There are many people, in particular older Americans, who have endured the vagaries of life, whose quality of life is enhanced by pain reduction; what right do law makers or commenters have to pontificate about what is good for whom? M.D. Stands for medical doctor and the knowledge imparted to those with the credentials that those letters behind their name connote, they and their patients should be the "deciders" about what is in the best interest of their patients: not publicity seeking lawmakers or elected officials or goody two shoes types with no life experiences; my impression of many of these holier than thou types is that the would sell their mother for a dollar all the while having a condescending little smirk on their face.
4
I'm glad some candidates are opening up their experiences with drugs. But it's going to take a huge amount of money and effort to stop putting drug addicts in prison, instead of treatment programs. I have lost 1 family member to an overdose, and another has been in and out of treatment for 15 years. In both instances deep psychological problems were involved. Both family members were victims of sexual abuse as children, although not from the same situation. It's taken a huge effort to help the one who has survived and after treatment, is now in a half-way house. Democrats and Republicans are going to need the support of both constituencies to resolve this problem.
5
This is the generational "disease of prosperity." As one ethnic group achieves success and affluence, their children and grandchildren lose the necessity of drive and ambition and fall into substance abuse and disillusion. The success of the white baby boomers has created a bubble and this is the aftermath. Now, immigrant citizens with the newfound ambition and drive will fill the "success void" and in several generations, their children will experience the same challenge.
(a study of the Mongul empire and their rise and fall from power offers an interesting case study on this phenomenon)
(a study of the Mongul empire and their rise and fall from power offers an interesting case study on this phenomenon)
1
It is surprising to me that the role "Big Pharma" played in prescription pain killer addiction is often overlooked. All too often doctors, who were and are not pain specialists, were urged to give these drugs to their patients for everything from back to post surgical pain. These providers were neither educated as to the true dangers of the addictive nature of these drugs, nor the warning signs of a problem and how to intervene. Instead, like "Big Tobacco" in their time, the overwhelming driving force of these companies has been making money and downplaying the obvious health risks.
There must be a rational way of making sure those with true chronic pain do not suffer and others are prescribed more suitable relief.
There must be a rational way of making sure those with true chronic pain do not suffer and others are prescribed more suitable relief.
2
The losses to drugs of so many people are tragic, and it's long overdue that the problems are being treated more from a public health perspective and less from a criminal justice point of view. But it's not the case that no one was watching when large numbers of blacks were ravaged by crack. Police, judges, and wardens were, and largely still are, fully attentive. The changes that are under way now are motivated by the fact that too many precious white lives are also being destroyed. What was earlier seen as a frightening menace to society is now seen as the human tragedy that it is. The change in attitude is not limited to racists, and it includes some blacks (many of whom supported lengthy prison sentences for crack back in the day) as well as whites. There's a lesson here for all of us about how we perceive and respond to problems when they present themselves through different groups of people.
2
The fact is that this nation's reaction and response to the issues raised by alcohol and drugs has been a joke since before Prohibition and the Harrison Act cum Harry Anslinger.
Drugs are drugs, they can be used beneficially or they can cause harm depending on individual, dosage, and interactions with other drugs. Addictive substances such as caffeine and nicotene are among the hardest to quit using, witness the fact that many alcoholics and ex-drug addicts substitute and compensate by substituting such socially acceptable 'crutches' as cigarettes and coffee.
Our society distorts and destroys economies and governments over drugs. It uses drug laws as a screen to pursue its retrogressive racist and economic agendas. The unintended consequences of a century of stupidity is just beginning to dawn on a portion of those who have inflicted these mistaken policies on the rest of us.
This latent bout of confessional 'second thoughts and sharing' by the conservative right on the subject of drugs is hypocritical, useless, and nauseatingly self-serving. It is also being seized upon by all indications given outside accounts of candidates like Fiorino, in a self-serving, history altering manner. No surprise and completely consistent with their other lies and distortions.
Time to stop moralizing and wasting money on a 'war' and start delivering health care for all.
Drugs are drugs, they can be used beneficially or they can cause harm depending on individual, dosage, and interactions with other drugs. Addictive substances such as caffeine and nicotene are among the hardest to quit using, witness the fact that many alcoholics and ex-drug addicts substitute and compensate by substituting such socially acceptable 'crutches' as cigarettes and coffee.
Our society distorts and destroys economies and governments over drugs. It uses drug laws as a screen to pursue its retrogressive racist and economic agendas. The unintended consequences of a century of stupidity is just beginning to dawn on a portion of those who have inflicted these mistaken policies on the rest of us.
This latent bout of confessional 'second thoughts and sharing' by the conservative right on the subject of drugs is hypocritical, useless, and nauseatingly self-serving. It is also being seized upon by all indications given outside accounts of candidates like Fiorino, in a self-serving, history altering manner. No surprise and completely consistent with their other lies and distortions.
Time to stop moralizing and wasting money on a 'war' and start delivering health care for all.
5
Along with discussing medical treatments and more effective legal responses to drug addiction, we also must ask ourselves why this is happening. We can't just stand poised, waiting with band-aids, as new lesions continue appearing.
Do people really think it's as simple as availability or curiosity or for kicks? There's an epidemic of desperation spreading through this country. If politicians were to simply find a way to cut off people's access to these addictive drugs, the desperation people are feeling would find another, perhaps even more destructive, way of manifesting itself.
We have a society in which there are a lot of requirements placed on its people, and by design meeting those requirements takes money. These monetary requirements continue to burgeon while at the same time most people's income either remains stagnant or declines. There's no easy way out. No one should be surprised at the rising rate of drug addiction in the United States. We have to do a lot more than just change drug policy.
Do people really think it's as simple as availability or curiosity or for kicks? There's an epidemic of desperation spreading through this country. If politicians were to simply find a way to cut off people's access to these addictive drugs, the desperation people are feeling would find another, perhaps even more destructive, way of manifesting itself.
We have a society in which there are a lot of requirements placed on its people, and by design meeting those requirements takes money. These monetary requirements continue to burgeon while at the same time most people's income either remains stagnant or declines. There's no easy way out. No one should be surprised at the rising rate of drug addiction in the United States. We have to do a lot more than just change drug policy.
6
Drug addiction is both pervasive and entrenched in our society. While this issue is starting to get publicity and attention from politicians, I am wary of the ways we have tried to grapple with the mixed bag of ingredients that compose this ubiquitous illness. At its core, addiction is a manifestation of very tenacious human behaviors. It is a physical illness that has grave social consequences, and this dynamic works inversely. We must revise our approach to both individual mental health and the infrastructure that dictates our socio-political policies.
Unfortunately human behavior is not calculated rationally. Most of our policies are based on cut and dried assumptions rather than living and breathing, visceral understanding. I realize that we are predisposed to protect our individual interests in order to survive, but this self-centered attitude exacerbates the issue. We must feel empathy to truly comprehend the forces that compel people to engage in this kind of risky behavior.
I, too, have been touched by the pernicious cycle of mental illness. I have been institutionalized and told that I would never live a "normal life". I have been over-medicated, and misdiagnosed. People gave up on me, I gave up on myself. I dragged on. Pity was not enough to save me from myself. I needed hope. I am extraordinarily lucky because of the healthcare I was able to receive. But it was not enough to break to cycle of hospitalization after hospitalization. We need to fix this system.
Unfortunately human behavior is not calculated rationally. Most of our policies are based on cut and dried assumptions rather than living and breathing, visceral understanding. I realize that we are predisposed to protect our individual interests in order to survive, but this self-centered attitude exacerbates the issue. We must feel empathy to truly comprehend the forces that compel people to engage in this kind of risky behavior.
I, too, have been touched by the pernicious cycle of mental illness. I have been institutionalized and told that I would never live a "normal life". I have been over-medicated, and misdiagnosed. People gave up on me, I gave up on myself. I dragged on. Pity was not enough to save me from myself. I needed hope. I am extraordinarily lucky because of the healthcare I was able to receive. But it was not enough to break to cycle of hospitalization after hospitalization. We need to fix this system.
5
When the suddenly human politicians work to see that everyone has medical coverage for all problems, and stop threatening to defund Medicare and Medicaid, and destroy the Affordable Care Act without a better replacement, I'll believe they "care" about people outside of their own - well insured - family members. They are just actors, and not quite as good as Reagan.
But if anyone them win, let's hope that people who believed them push to see that they don't forget all that they used to gain votes.
But if anyone them win, let's hope that people who believed them push to see that they don't forget all that they used to gain votes.
2
I was dismayed by the accompanying graphics and the comparison of the painkiller/heroin epidemic to the rates of deaths due to H.I.V.
Why? Why H.I.V. and not traffic deaths, gun violence, or smoking? Cancer due to environmental causes? What about something more comparable, like alcohol?
It seems to me the only similarity between the two is the sharp rise in death rate over time. But the similarity between HIV and drug overdose deaths stops there. HIV is an organic pathogen that was previously unknown and spread in the early years in ways unknown. The widespread use of narcotics is a function of medical practice, big pharma, and market forces, among other factors. Totally different situations.
The danger of this kind of apples to oranges comparison is the inference that some may draw that stigmatizes the victims of either or both HIV or narcotic addition: that the blame lies in individual willpower or moral character. While this is not true in either case, it is an especially odious inference in the case of HIV transmission.
Why? Why H.I.V. and not traffic deaths, gun violence, or smoking? Cancer due to environmental causes? What about something more comparable, like alcohol?
It seems to me the only similarity between the two is the sharp rise in death rate over time. But the similarity between HIV and drug overdose deaths stops there. HIV is an organic pathogen that was previously unknown and spread in the early years in ways unknown. The widespread use of narcotics is a function of medical practice, big pharma, and market forces, among other factors. Totally different situations.
The danger of this kind of apples to oranges comparison is the inference that some may draw that stigmatizes the victims of either or both HIV or narcotic addition: that the blame lies in individual willpower or moral character. While this is not true in either case, it is an especially odious inference in the case of HIV transmission.
So after the erection of a fence to keep deer from plundering our garden, the squirrels began to raid the place. No vegetable was off limits or too heavy to haul away. Never in 25 years of gardening had they ever bothered the vegetable patch. It was hilarious to watch! It is also the same way with drugs. Add to this phenomenon societal enablements like free needles, help centers & the like, and no one should be surprised we are awash in addictions!
2
Over the years the war on drugs has seemed to have turned to a war on people.
I hope this dialogue continues, and does not end with the election.
I hope this dialogue continues, and does not end with the election.
3
25% decrease in prescription drug overdoes in states that legalize cannabis...
just saying..
http://www.newsweek.com/states-medical-marijuana-painkiller-deaths-drop-...
just saying..
http://www.newsweek.com/states-medical-marijuana-painkiller-deaths-drop-...
15
Recent research into the long term effects of psychedelic drug experiences (psilocybin and LSD in particular) has shown remarkably positive results for experimenters and lab patients. It has helped end addictions, increased empathetic responses, provided solace to terminally ill patients, and provided the majority of users a peace and well being that had eluded them in the past. Perhaps Ram Dass was right; in a country like the US, with so much spiritual unhappiness, bitter and ruinous politics, rampant and mindless materialism, LSD is Christ in America.
10
Did we not learn anything from the prohibition debacle?
9
More Americans die from legal drugs than from illegal drugs. The pharmaceutical industry makes and markets these drugs, often illegally. (See recent $2.2 billion fine to J&J, as one of many examples.) The business model is to do the crime and pay the fine: it's extremely profitable.
Big Pharma is the nation's #1 lobbyist. Drug ads are on TV, drug salespeople in doctors' offices. Drug trials are done by pharma companies, and expert panels and regulatory agencies (see NY Times on new proposed head of F.D.A) are comprised of doctors with financial ties to Big Pharma.
People die directly of opiates, of course. But follow this: 1/4 of Americans over 40 are on statins; 1/4 of these statin-takers report muscle pain. Pain? Hey, opiates would help with that. (See http://statinvictims.weebly.com/)
1% of adverse effects from medications are reported to the F.D.A. Pharma companies make this process onerous to doctors; and doctors are neither paid for nor required to report adverse effects. This is corrupt madness.
Opiates are the evil poster children for the over-prescription of drugs. But amphetamine-type drugs for ADHD are also vastly over-prescribed.
When was the last time you left your doctor's office without either a prescription or a "free" drug sample? How many drug dealers (sales reps) did you see in the waiting room?
Big Pharma is the nation's #1 lobbyist. Drug ads are on TV, drug salespeople in doctors' offices. Drug trials are done by pharma companies, and expert panels and regulatory agencies (see NY Times on new proposed head of F.D.A) are comprised of doctors with financial ties to Big Pharma.
People die directly of opiates, of course. But follow this: 1/4 of Americans over 40 are on statins; 1/4 of these statin-takers report muscle pain. Pain? Hey, opiates would help with that. (See http://statinvictims.weebly.com/)
1% of adverse effects from medications are reported to the F.D.A. Pharma companies make this process onerous to doctors; and doctors are neither paid for nor required to report adverse effects. This is corrupt madness.
Opiates are the evil poster children for the over-prescription of drugs. But amphetamine-type drugs for ADHD are also vastly over-prescribed.
When was the last time you left your doctor's office without either a prescription or a "free" drug sample? How many drug dealers (sales reps) did you see in the waiting room?
5
Better education about the dangers of opiates is needed, along with decriminalization, as they have successfully done in Portugal. And of course, legal marijuana gives people an infinitely safer, non deadly, non addictive alternative. Better education regarding alcohol(also a hard drug) is also needed.
As opiates are superb pain relievers for the people who do need them, clamping down on their access to them is the wrong way to go, and draconian.
As opiates are superb pain relievers for the people who do need them, clamping down on their access to them is the wrong way to go, and draconian.
10
Call me cynical. No, call me angry at the white politicians and white conservatives who have for decades now led the cheering for the "war on drugs" - and who now have begun to see the chickens coming home to roost. And why have they begun to realize the emptiness of this war? Kasich deserves some credit for his belated awareness of the racial aspect of the war: "Sometimes I wonder how African-Americans must have felt who were awash in their community and nobody watched [he should have said, cared]".
Results of the war? Massive incarceration rates - disproportionately inflicted. Poor, even non-existent treatment of addiction. Crime - not just here in the US, but afflicting "supplier" nations around the world. Oh, my. Aren't we proud? So we lock away the casualties of the war, or bury our war dead.
Let's learn from our history (alcohol, tobacco), and implement regulated legalization, with non-censorious treatment availability, and realistic education programs. Learn; what a concept.
And our politicians continue to pander. Truly, God help us.
Results of the war? Massive incarceration rates - disproportionately inflicted. Poor, even non-existent treatment of addiction. Crime - not just here in the US, but afflicting "supplier" nations around the world. Oh, my. Aren't we proud? So we lock away the casualties of the war, or bury our war dead.
Let's learn from our history (alcohol, tobacco), and implement regulated legalization, with non-censorious treatment availability, and realistic education programs. Learn; what a concept.
And our politicians continue to pander. Truly, God help us.
10
If you have a brain, you're a potential drug addict. Period.
It's the feel good life-altering aspect of drugs that the human brain gets addicted to. Life is difficult, more for some than others. More at certain difficult times in one's life than other times. Altering the brain and improving one's ability to better cope, is seductive.
Only thing is the brain builds up tolerance. So to get the same benefits requires more of the same drug or moving on to one that's more powerful. And that can lead to a dangerous out of control cycle that destroys lives.
Thus, it's easy to see, from this perspective, just saying no and the "war on drugs" can't possibly work. Few can just says no to feeling better; to being able to better cope.
In movies and on TV, it's common to see people reaching for alcohol when they are feeling anxious or down. That's a common example of what many of us automatically do when, likewise, we want to alter out brain and feel better. Drugs can follow.
So it's a good thing that (even if self-serving) politicians are beginning to discuss their family run-in's with drugs and thus humanizing it; putting a face on it. As a result, maybe sooner than later our criminal system will too.
People who misuse drugs or take the use too far need help to heal not only their addicted brain but also the personal issues that started it all. They don't need incarceration or more humiliation and shame they already feel but without help can do nothing about.
It's the feel good life-altering aspect of drugs that the human brain gets addicted to. Life is difficult, more for some than others. More at certain difficult times in one's life than other times. Altering the brain and improving one's ability to better cope, is seductive.
Only thing is the brain builds up tolerance. So to get the same benefits requires more of the same drug or moving on to one that's more powerful. And that can lead to a dangerous out of control cycle that destroys lives.
Thus, it's easy to see, from this perspective, just saying no and the "war on drugs" can't possibly work. Few can just says no to feeling better; to being able to better cope.
In movies and on TV, it's common to see people reaching for alcohol when they are feeling anxious or down. That's a common example of what many of us automatically do when, likewise, we want to alter out brain and feel better. Drugs can follow.
So it's a good thing that (even if self-serving) politicians are beginning to discuss their family run-in's with drugs and thus humanizing it; putting a face on it. As a result, maybe sooner than later our criminal system will too.
People who misuse drugs or take the use too far need help to heal not only their addicted brain but also the personal issues that started it all. They don't need incarceration or more humiliation and shame they already feel but without help can do nothing about.
4
It's funny how that now we have a "white people's drug problem" that we see the politicians lining up to push for treatment instead of jail time. I spent most of my life hearing about locking up those dirty drug users, and watching as lives were ruined and untold billions spent.
However, if this is what it takes to get the drug war over and done with, I'm happy to see it go.
However, if this is what it takes to get the drug war over and done with, I'm happy to see it go.
11
Sadly, we've built a for-profit prison system, so, even if we solve the drug problem, the prison industry will demand inmates, in the name of supporting the jobs they provide in impoverished communities.
7
In addition to rating marijuana as more dangerous than the opiates, DEA also ranks it as being worse than cocaine or meth, both of which are in Schedule 2, while marijuana is in Schedule 1. And the two drugs that kill by far the most people, tobacco and alcohol, (respectively, 480,000 and 88,000 deaths annually, according to CDC) don't even make it into Schedule 5. This would be comical, if the results weren't so tragic.
25
A well opened mind being necessary to the exercise of a free religion, the right of the people to keep and bear bongs, shall not be infringed.
8
The solution is Marijuana legalization. My god, we have just got to get these kids hooked on something nice, clean, and safe like cannabis before they get hooked on the junk or the smack. Marijuana. To save the children.
8
Great ironic comment. But there could actually some truth to it. After saying there's some indirect evidence from lab rats that marijuana might (MIGHT) enhance the experience of other drugs, the government's own website at the National Institute on Drug Abuse says, "most people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, 'harder' substances." A number of studies I've read show no solid indication that marijuana is a "gateway drug". And the number of deaths ascribed to marijuana overdose remains at zero, or very close to it (like two... maybe). For kids, and adults, alcohol remains a much, much, much bigger problem. So, while I'd rather that growing brains stay away from drugs altogether, given a choice I'd much rather see kids involved with weed than booze.
8
Only at the bottom of the article is the point made that ":The Drug Enforcement Administration still considers marijuana more dangerous and more addictive than the prescription painkillers and sedatives that accounted for more than 25,000 overdose deaths in 2014." It doesn't add to that 25,000+ the tens of thousands of heroin ODs--neither does it make the point that the total number of overdose deaths from cannabis has been precisely *zero*. Nor does it make the all-important point that if cannabis were freely available for self-medication to alleviate the physical pain and/or mental suffering that drives so many to opiate and opioid abuse the number of lives saved would reach easily into the tens of thousands every year!
11
We must legalize drugs but restrict their use, first by taking prescription power out of the hands of individual doctors, and then by requiring patients to go to dispensaries for each dose. That is what is done for school children on medications, and our addicts are irresponsible children. The reasons are what we should be looking for. Poverty and lack of education are two huge ones.
So, I'm sick and in pain from radiation and chemo treatments for my bone cancer, and my "dose" has worked its way out of my system, and I need another once-every-8-hours "dose" and it's 3 am and YOU want me to get out of bed (if i can) and haul my carcass to your "dispensary" for my "each dose"?
Please, I am too weak to do it myself: would you call a cab; I think the round-trip fare is ONLY $21.
Please, I am too weak to do it myself: would you call a cab; I think the round-trip fare is ONLY $21.
12
I do not want to be insensitive to the fact that more white people are ruining their lives with drugs, or deny that the changes people are advocating in this article aren't worthwhile, but if you look at mortality rates due to different causes death by opiate is very low on the list. For that matter, drug overdoses in sum are relatively low on the list.
so why are we focusing so much on this and not other things, such as the economy, or barriers to voting, or if we have to focus on drug deaths why not alcohol or tobacco? That's the question I'm puzzling over. One thing I do know is we won't see an editorial on that in the NYTimes.
More info on relative mortality rates can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf
so why are we focusing so much on this and not other things, such as the economy, or barriers to voting, or if we have to focus on drug deaths why not alcohol or tobacco? That's the question I'm puzzling over. One thing I do know is we won't see an editorial on that in the NYTimes.
More info on relative mortality rates can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_02.pdf
6
Mortality is only one measure of the harm brought about from drug abuse, which destroys many lives before it ends even one.
I think you need a different metric to support your argument...whatever it is.
I think you need a different metric to support your argument...whatever it is.
To me the question that should be addressed is why do we have so many people who feel marginalized, disconnected, ignored and in such physical, emotional or mental pain that they need drugs to get rid of that pain. After all if there were no market for drugs they wouldn't be a problem. No one seems to want to talk about this. Until we try to understand the dynamics fo drug abuse better, no War on Drugs will ever be successful.
4
Opioids are a godsend for alleviating pain that otc drugs won't touch. I hope that the medical establishment is not coerced into not prescribing them. But this is already happening. Just take two aspirin and don't call me in the morning.
5
This is most apparent when dealing with patients who are in extremis wth terminal cancer and other conditions. The medical literature is very clear on this; people taking opiates for genuine, severe pain do not become addicted.
Yet the DEA intimidates physicians from affording their patients adequate pain relief.
Yet the DEA intimidates physicians from affording their patients adequate pain relief.
4
Thanks Gov. Kasich for injecting an ounce of compassion into the group of chest-thumpers called Republicans. Are you feeling the Bern, or just feeling? Feeling, unless it is a sneer of anger, will get you nowhere in your current quest. It makes you sound like a Democrat.
May I suggest talking to Bernie about his V.P. slot. Make America Great Again; Make America Human Again.
May I suggest talking to Bernie about his V.P. slot. Make America Great Again; Make America Human Again.
3
Governor Kasich? Compassion?
"Since entering office in January 2011, John Kasich, Ohio’s governor and now a GOP presidential hopeful, has signed every abortion and women’s reproductive health provision that has landed on his desk. In four and a half years he has enacted 16 legislative proposals related to family planning funding and abortion access across the state.”
More telling, it has been Kasich’s aides who have written most of the proposals---acting as both the legislative and executive branch!
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/john-kasichs-quiet-campaign-to-cut-a...
Governor Kasich projects “compassion” but behind the scenes he has passed more restrictive abortion access than any other politician in any other state.
"Since entering office in January 2011, John Kasich, Ohio’s governor and now a GOP presidential hopeful, has signed every abortion and women’s reproductive health provision that has landed on his desk. In four and a half years he has enacted 16 legislative proposals related to family planning funding and abortion access across the state.”
More telling, it has been Kasich’s aides who have written most of the proposals---acting as both the legislative and executive branch!
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/john-kasichs-quiet-campaign-to-cut-a...
Governor Kasich projects “compassion” but behind the scenes he has passed more restrictive abortion access than any other politician in any other state.
9
There is a wonderful aphorism:
"If you cannot learn, you will have to feel."
It makes me think of certain politicians and other ideologues out there who demonize people whom they know nothing about. Whether they be poor, or mentally ill, or drug addicted, or came from circumstances and an upbringing where it was almost guaranteed that they would make some poor choices down the road. But when tragedy strikes close to home, these politicians suddenly gain empathy. Dick Cheney demonized gay people until he learned his own daughter was gay. Rush Limbaugh demonized drug addicts until he turned into one himself. Some people simply can't learn or understand another's perspective until they experience something personally. They are able to completely wall themselves off from the experiences of others. And that is rather sad.
"If you cannot learn, you will have to feel."
It makes me think of certain politicians and other ideologues out there who demonize people whom they know nothing about. Whether they be poor, or mentally ill, or drug addicted, or came from circumstances and an upbringing where it was almost guaranteed that they would make some poor choices down the road. But when tragedy strikes close to home, these politicians suddenly gain empathy. Dick Cheney demonized gay people until he learned his own daughter was gay. Rush Limbaugh demonized drug addicts until he turned into one himself. Some people simply can't learn or understand another's perspective until they experience something personally. They are able to completely wall themselves off from the experiences of others. And that is rather sad.
10
Why do Republicans ignore facts prefer "tough," moralistic rhetoric? It seems to appeal to the portion of the electorate that actually votes. And then Democrats hop on board so as not to seem weak.
2
We have created a society from which many, Many, MANY want to escape.
We used to be able to read and had leisure time for escape novels.
Then came escape movies.
Then came escape TV
Then came escape Marijuana ('60s/'70s)
Then came escape cocaine ('70s/'80s)
Then came escape computer games & madness
Then came heroin
Now comes opoids. We are a nation addicted to advertising and salesmanship. We may have set up NAFTA to facilitate the importation of drugs. We may have gone to Afghanistan to facilitate the production of poppies. We may have embraced Burma to lock in the rest of the world supply of H. We may love a few Central & South American countries for drug reasons (ask the CIA about it.)
But it's not foreigners selling it on street corners here nor foreigners taking in the profits nor laundering the money.
It's not foreigners telling us maryjane is harmless, oxycontin will relieve our pains, and heroin is cheap. It hasn't been foreigners who showed TV & film viewers, magazine & news readers that Hollywood's beautiful all used these escape products.
Foreigners grow it, produce it, transport it, smuggle it in - except for oxycontin & some legalized marijuana.
Americans advertise it, sell it, profit from it, & launder the billions from it.
We may demonize the El Chapos & Escobars, but not the U.S. actors, politicians, business execs & mafioso who popularize it, minimize the effects, promote the use.
No one blames America for wanting to escape from America.
We used to be able to read and had leisure time for escape novels.
Then came escape movies.
Then came escape TV
Then came escape Marijuana ('60s/'70s)
Then came escape cocaine ('70s/'80s)
Then came escape computer games & madness
Then came heroin
Now comes opoids. We are a nation addicted to advertising and salesmanship. We may have set up NAFTA to facilitate the importation of drugs. We may have gone to Afghanistan to facilitate the production of poppies. We may have embraced Burma to lock in the rest of the world supply of H. We may love a few Central & South American countries for drug reasons (ask the CIA about it.)
But it's not foreigners selling it on street corners here nor foreigners taking in the profits nor laundering the money.
It's not foreigners telling us maryjane is harmless, oxycontin will relieve our pains, and heroin is cheap. It hasn't been foreigners who showed TV & film viewers, magazine & news readers that Hollywood's beautiful all used these escape products.
Foreigners grow it, produce it, transport it, smuggle it in - except for oxycontin & some legalized marijuana.
Americans advertise it, sell it, profit from it, & launder the billions from it.
We may demonize the El Chapos & Escobars, but not the U.S. actors, politicians, business execs & mafioso who popularize it, minimize the effects, promote the use.
No one blames America for wanting to escape from America.
8
You forgot to mention all the cell phone junkies.I guess it beats most other addictions.
1
And nobody died from marijuana, yet the holier than thou politicians (mostly republican) have tried to prevent the legalization form both medical use and recreation. The fact that legal, prescribed drugs are a big time killer show tell them they are on the wrong path.
21
The pesky fact remains that Obama has had seven years during which he could have picked up the phone and ordered that cannabis be removed from the Schedule I drug list. As other commenters have noted, in 4,000 years of recorded cannabis use, there have been exactly Zero overdose deaths.
Obama was the head of the "Choom Gang" in college, so why won't he do the right thing and pick up that phone?
Obama was the head of the "Choom Gang" in college, so why won't he do the right thing and pick up that phone?
8
If we're serious about treading addiction as a public health problem instead of criminal behavior, we need to come up with an alternative to the 12-step programs that monopolize the treatment model in the U.S.
The 12-step programs have their roots in Alcoholics Anonymous. AA has no scientific basis and, despite claims to the contrary, it is repackaged Christianity.
The AA story is about dedicating one's self to finding and doing God's will. One's own will is pathologized and one is thus forever trapped "in recovery." The only "therapy" in 12-step programs are meetings in which participants are prohibited from engaging in discussions. Group think is encouraged by slogans such as "fake it until you make it."
At least organized religion explicitly recognizes that it operates on faith. Faith is also at the heart of 12-step programs yet, paradoxically, they negate or obscure this crucial aspect of their nature.
Since we have freedom of religion, there's no reason to shut down 12-step programs. which do help many people. But this country desperately needs a 21st-century science-based alternative that meets the needs of addicts with a secular approach to life and its problems.
The 12-step programs have their roots in Alcoholics Anonymous. AA has no scientific basis and, despite claims to the contrary, it is repackaged Christianity.
The AA story is about dedicating one's self to finding and doing God's will. One's own will is pathologized and one is thus forever trapped "in recovery." The only "therapy" in 12-step programs are meetings in which participants are prohibited from engaging in discussions. Group think is encouraged by slogans such as "fake it until you make it."
At least organized religion explicitly recognizes that it operates on faith. Faith is also at the heart of 12-step programs yet, paradoxically, they negate or obscure this crucial aspect of their nature.
Since we have freedom of religion, there's no reason to shut down 12-step programs. which do help many people. But this country desperately needs a 21st-century science-based alternative that meets the needs of addicts with a secular approach to life and its problems.
11
AA or any 12 step program has been used for over 75 years. And thankfully the program is being studied in clinical research as to whether it ACTUALLY helps with addiction.
Out of 42 programs aimed at resolving addiction, AA or NA came in at 38 out of 42 in success. Psychotherapy alone came in at 42 out of 42!
It’s not that AA is based in religion, it’s just that it isn’t based on ANY research ideology for curing addiction! No other treatment program (say for OCD) is comprised of 90% social meetings and prayers.
AA/NA has simply been the ONLY way that addiction has been treated including AA being court mandated.
While AA/NA may be a nice supportive group--and you don’t have to be religious or pray at meetings--it really does nothing at treating the underlying causation. AA is dependent on thinking that addiction is correlated with moral upheaval. Correlation does not mean causation.
Psychiatric treatment is honing more into talk therapy PLUS medications...instead of attempting to treat a REAL diseases with meetings and prayer.
But that’s the main problem...most Americans see addiction as a character fault and a moral weakness...which is why Americans think of a 12 step program first. Addiction is a disease as real as diabetes...yet no one (hopefully) would tell a newly diagnosed diabetic to go to a DA meeting.
Addiction is a disease...and until Americans and most doctors recognize this as a disease, we will never help people with such terrible addictions.
Out of 42 programs aimed at resolving addiction, AA or NA came in at 38 out of 42 in success. Psychotherapy alone came in at 42 out of 42!
It’s not that AA is based in religion, it’s just that it isn’t based on ANY research ideology for curing addiction! No other treatment program (say for OCD) is comprised of 90% social meetings and prayers.
AA/NA has simply been the ONLY way that addiction has been treated including AA being court mandated.
While AA/NA may be a nice supportive group--and you don’t have to be religious or pray at meetings--it really does nothing at treating the underlying causation. AA is dependent on thinking that addiction is correlated with moral upheaval. Correlation does not mean causation.
Psychiatric treatment is honing more into talk therapy PLUS medications...instead of attempting to treat a REAL diseases with meetings and prayer.
But that’s the main problem...most Americans see addiction as a character fault and a moral weakness...which is why Americans think of a 12 step program first. Addiction is a disease as real as diabetes...yet no one (hopefully) would tell a newly diagnosed diabetic to go to a DA meeting.
Addiction is a disease...and until Americans and most doctors recognize this as a disease, we will never help people with such terrible addictions.
4
Cancer is a disease; pneumonia is a disease. Using drugs or alcohol is a choice! I applaud the work done by AA and similar groups in helping people with addictions but the only cure is the individual's the decision to stop.
We need to take the money out of trafficking drugs and legalize them, or at least find a way of bringing them out into the open. If there's no profit in it drug traffickers will lose interest. We have had a parallel fight with this issue during Prohibition; maybe we can learn from it In addition Naltrexone should be widely available in pharmacies and drug stores without prescription.
15
"The Drug Enforcement Administration, formally if not informally, still considers marijuana more dangerous and more addictive than the prescription painkillers and sedatives that accounted for more than 25,000 overdose deaths in 2014."
Clearly, marijuana should be decriminalized. But consequences of its use among the young can be quite serious:
From the Lancet: "We recorded clear and consistent associations and dose-response relations between the frequency of adolescent cannabis use and all adverse young adult outcomes. After covariate adjustment, compared with individuals who had never used cannabis, those who were daily users before age 17 years had clear reductions in the odds of high-school completion and degree attainment, and substantially increased odds of later cannabis dependence use of other illicit drugs , and suicide attempt."
NYT: High-THC marijuana is associated with paranoia and psychosis, .... “We have seen very, very significant increases in emergency room admissions associated with marijuana use that can’t be accounted for solely on basis of changes in prevalence rates,” said Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a co-author of the THC study. “It can only be explained by the fact that current marijuana has higher potency associated with much greater risk for adverse effects.” Emergency room visits related to marijuana have nearly doubled, from 66,000 in 2004 to 129,000 in 2011.
Clearly, marijuana should be decriminalized. But consequences of its use among the young can be quite serious:
From the Lancet: "We recorded clear and consistent associations and dose-response relations between the frequency of adolescent cannabis use and all adverse young adult outcomes. After covariate adjustment, compared with individuals who had never used cannabis, those who were daily users before age 17 years had clear reductions in the odds of high-school completion and degree attainment, and substantially increased odds of later cannabis dependence use of other illicit drugs , and suicide attempt."
NYT: High-THC marijuana is associated with paranoia and psychosis, .... “We have seen very, very significant increases in emergency room admissions associated with marijuana use that can’t be accounted for solely on basis of changes in prevalence rates,” said Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a co-author of the THC study. “It can only be explained by the fact that current marijuana has higher potency associated with much greater risk for adverse effects.” Emergency room visits related to marijuana have nearly doubled, from 66,000 in 2004 to 129,000 in 2011.
3
Regarding the Lancet study...Are we looking at causation or correlation?
In other words would these 16 y/o’s still be high school dropouts WITHOUT cannabis?
Current literature is looking at the effects of gaming (video and online games) on school achievement. Research has titles such as “How video games cause addiction, unhappiness and even lead to suicide” or “Colleges recognize that video games cause a huge percentage of their dropouts."
Correlation vs causation. The Lancet is a great peer review medical journal--but this is ONE study.
There are also many case studies of professionals who lead good lives with high quality work while addicted to opiates. They know how much to take and remain good at their jobs.
As long as we see addiction to opiates as a horrible character fault our research will be for naught! How many people see having two drinks of alcohol a day as NOT being a problem but are horrified at the thought of their accountant or dentist using opiates?
We HAVE to take morality out of the equation or we aren’t getting anywhere.
In other words would these 16 y/o’s still be high school dropouts WITHOUT cannabis?
Current literature is looking at the effects of gaming (video and online games) on school achievement. Research has titles such as “How video games cause addiction, unhappiness and even lead to suicide” or “Colleges recognize that video games cause a huge percentage of their dropouts."
Correlation vs causation. The Lancet is a great peer review medical journal--but this is ONE study.
There are also many case studies of professionals who lead good lives with high quality work while addicted to opiates. They know how much to take and remain good at their jobs.
As long as we see addiction to opiates as a horrible character fault our research will be for naught! How many people see having two drinks of alcohol a day as NOT being a problem but are horrified at the thought of their accountant or dentist using opiates?
We HAVE to take morality out of the equation or we aren’t getting anywhere.
2
Cannabis is not a 'gateway' drug. No one has ever died from using cannabis.
2
So Gov. Kasich says, "Now it's in our communities." The Gov's underlying racism is clear. Let me tell you something clear, Gov., they are all our communities. Maybe you are the problem.
20
Yes, I saw that too and I think it is unfortunately phrased. Yet, he was spot on in the notion of "gentrification" and correct in that when it was an inner city problem, most anyone with authority or power ignored the problem. That goes for the average suburbanite as well and it is to these people that Kasich speaks. So, the "our communities" comment might be to them, about them. In any event, Kasich would not be the problem on his own. It's a lot broader than that.
1
To start to solve Americas drug problem we need and must bring every one back into the fold of being one society. Much as the Netherlands has done. This allows more people into controlling a hidden secret problem heroin which is a far greater danger than marijuana. We would find most marijuana smokers do not like heroin. By bringing the marijuana smokers back into the mainstream of society we would end a huge black market and would be working on bringing organized crime under control. Organized crime has a powerful hand in the drug trade. Also the profit in prisons and policing the problem need to disappear. Men have been willing to bore holes right throw mountains for gold and the drug business is a lot of gold mines for government and organized crime. Nobody wants TB or polio so taking the drug problem and making it a medical one would change how America views drugs. Which is important in solving the problem. By putting this problem in the medical field we will lower all crime that comes from financial need to buy drugs like burglary, robbery, we may lower identity theft and money laundering also has less meaning. We would also have less money and fewer people trying to corrupt our system of government. The war on drugs can be won like the war on polo was. A door to the solution has been opened for discussion.
1
Sure. In our country where people self identify as evangelical, where atheists are considered the worst people in the world..(we wouldn’t elect an atheist as president-Horrors!) you REALLY think we can make people see opiate addiction as a REAL disease? You end up living in a cardboard box on the street--Well he’s an alcoholic--or even worse--he’s a narcotics addict! As opposed to “He’s homeless and needs a heart transplant secondary to a congenital heart defect--Let’s get a kickstarter going!”
Americans don’t even see depression or schizophrenia as a REAL disease. We have a month long “celebration” of breast cancer awareness, people are seen as wonderful survivors if they have breast cancer--they’re “fighting” cancer! I will NEVER see a 10K run or the NFL celebrating major depressive disorder or schizophrenia. People wearing badges-“I’m a survivor of manic/depression!”
Not in this country...never.
Americans don’t even see depression or schizophrenia as a REAL disease. We have a month long “celebration” of breast cancer awareness, people are seen as wonderful survivors if they have breast cancer--they’re “fighting” cancer! I will NEVER see a 10K run or the NFL celebrating major depressive disorder or schizophrenia. People wearing badges-“I’m a survivor of manic/depression!”
Not in this country...never.
1
The addiction is a medicinal problem. Pain has many different causes, and any treatment has to target the specific cause of pain. But go ahead and politicizing the issue. Shameful.
1
Hydrocodone containing drugs were moved to Schedule Two last year in an effort to limit their use. This means the patient has to have a new prescription each time as refills are not allowed on Schedule Two drugs. Unfortunately, as least in this part of the country, many providers ( MDs, PAs, NPs ) have increased the quantities ordered. I have seen prescriptions for as many 450 Hydrocodone tablets . Limits need to be placed on the amount that can be legally ordered.
3
Hydrocodone (Vicodin) is not even available in the U.K. It's considered too habit-forming. I think they're right.
1
Those who will not learn fro history are doomed to repeat it.
In the 1920's marijuana was legal and alcohol was not. people were dying on the streets from gang warfare over booze, bad booze was killing people, and alcohol abuse was at an all time high. Pot smokers were a small group, and peaceful.
Now, drugs are illegal and booze is legal; the drug addiction rate is skyrocketing and people are being shot over drug deals. Coincidence? I think not.
In the 1920's marijuana was legal and alcohol was not. people were dying on the streets from gang warfare over booze, bad booze was killing people, and alcohol abuse was at an all time high. Pot smokers were a small group, and peaceful.
Now, drugs are illegal and booze is legal; the drug addiction rate is skyrocketing and people are being shot over drug deals. Coincidence? I think not.
12
The first to address this issue was Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin in his January 2014 state of the state address. Several months later Rolling Stone's 8-page article titled "The New Face of Heroin" positioned it as a 'Vermont' problem. But it was , and had been for many years, a national problem that had permeated every state, city and community across America. And until Governor Shumlin's speech it had been largely ignored.
Finally our country has gone from denial to the beginnings of acceptance. The face of drug addiction today could be that of your child or your doctor. Most of you would be very surprised at the respected members in your community who are visiting drug dealers to get their daily fix.
Finally our country has gone from denial to the beginnings of acceptance. The face of drug addiction today could be that of your child or your doctor. Most of you would be very surprised at the respected members in your community who are visiting drug dealers to get their daily fix.
1
Illicit drugs are only one side to the drug problem. In this country, it is routine to have your friendly neighborhood medical doctor prescribe various lifelong maintenance drugs once you reach 50 years old. Statins, hypertention meds, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety and depression drugs, and that's just scratching the surface. These meds are not benign and routinely cause serious complications. Many die each year due prescription medications. I was severely negatively affected by a simple ACE inhibitor that turned out to be not so simple.
I had to put my foot down with doctors that just wanted to do a round robin approach until one drug took. I revamped lifestyle and eating choices, learned about the human body and it's ability to heal. Ate for nutrition not taste. Something weird happened, Some nagging problems cleared up, my energy levels rose I felt great and had HBP under control.
I received a letter in the mail from the drug company that was on the original prescription threatening to report my lack of prescription refill to my doctor! Who in this scenario is now the drug pusher. I had big Pharma putting the squeeze on me. For my part, I laughed it off. Some may be intimidated.
This is just speculation, but I can't tell you how much better my body felt when I took better care of it, gave it nutrients, care. I think through poor nutrition people are accustomed to feeling poorly and turn to substances that temporarily provide relief both physically and mentally.
I had to put my foot down with doctors that just wanted to do a round robin approach until one drug took. I revamped lifestyle and eating choices, learned about the human body and it's ability to heal. Ate for nutrition not taste. Something weird happened, Some nagging problems cleared up, my energy levels rose I felt great and had HBP under control.
I received a letter in the mail from the drug company that was on the original prescription threatening to report my lack of prescription refill to my doctor! Who in this scenario is now the drug pusher. I had big Pharma putting the squeeze on me. For my part, I laughed it off. Some may be intimidated.
This is just speculation, but I can't tell you how much better my body felt when I took better care of it, gave it nutrients, care. I think through poor nutrition people are accustomed to feeling poorly and turn to substances that temporarily provide relief both physically and mentally.
3
You are absolutely correct about the long term use of various medications and you list all the usual suspects.
My local GP was pushing me hard to start taking statins. My cholesterol is 144, my glucose is low, my BP is 115/60 and my resting pulse is in the 50s.
I questioned her judgment and she told me I should take them because of my age and gender. Talk about drug pushers! I no longer see her.
My local GP was pushing me hard to start taking statins. My cholesterol is 144, my glucose is low, my BP is 115/60 and my resting pulse is in the 50s.
I questioned her judgment and she told me I should take them because of my age and gender. Talk about drug pushers! I no longer see her.
2
Sorry to have to tell you this, since the run-down tenements in our community were put out of business, drugs haven't been as much of a problem as the politicians want to make it out to be.
1
The tragedies suffered by Mrs. Fiorina and Governor Bush would arouse the sympathy of anyone. But I can't help wondering why their experience seems to have had so little impact on their own capacity to empathize with others whom life has left battered and insecure. Their opposition to the ACA and general hostility to government programs designed to help people seem to reflect an indifference to those whose lives don't conform to the American ideal.
This disconnect between their own experiences and the suffering of others may stem from commitment to an ideology that discourages reliance on the community to solve individual problems. Ms. Roller noted the absence of specific plans among GOP candidates for coping with the drug epidemic, aside from Bush's expansion of an already-existing program. This silence in the face of a national crisis, and one acknowledged to be such by Republican candidates, speaks volumes about the bankruptcy of a philosophy that portrays the individual as self-sufficient. Trump and his party will never "restore America to greatness" until they recognize that this country is a community, and not just a collection of individuals.
This disconnect between their own experiences and the suffering of others may stem from commitment to an ideology that discourages reliance on the community to solve individual problems. Ms. Roller noted the absence of specific plans among GOP candidates for coping with the drug epidemic, aside from Bush's expansion of an already-existing program. This silence in the face of a national crisis, and one acknowledged to be such by Republican candidates, speaks volumes about the bankruptcy of a philosophy that portrays the individual as self-sufficient. Trump and his party will never "restore America to greatness" until they recognize that this country is a community, and not just a collection of individuals.
49
Or, an equally likely explanation is that Bush and Fiorina are milking the tragedy of someone else in their family for political sympathy points. Fiorina's 'child' was no 'child' and their relationship was by many accounts tenuous to put it kindly. But, all that aside- the point is they are trying to play on sympathy rather that deal honestly with the underlying problem that every type of social and legal attitude they and their philosophy has foisted upon society is selfish, destructive and morally reprehensible. Fiorino is a nasty and shallow human being and Jeb only slightly better, a spoiled overgrown brat. They're both lying opportunists.
6
This article doesn't unpack the bipartisan hypocrisy regarding drugs.
Jeb! spouts compassion for his daughter, but she was busted in his state, under HIS laws, that she might have gotten a life sentence without his intervention. And his compassion extended to ZERO Floridians not his daughter.
Ask the Republicants how they would fund substance abuse treatment after they repeal Obamacare? Are you kidding? They largely refused federally funded medicaid expansion, those who have no compunction about excluding those with preexisting conditions, which to profiteering insurance companies INCLUDES substance abuse. That's the party whose think tank conjured up Obamacare in the first place, has voted to repeal it 62 times in the house without a single word on how they'd replace ANY of it, a trip wire like substance abuse aside.
Does Ms. Roller ever watch TV? Given big Pharma's advertising budget, how does America change the overwhelming message that there's a pharmacological answer for everything that ails our country? Erectile dysfunction, female loss of libido, plaque psoriasis, blood thinners for A-fib, numerous diabetes medications, antidepressants, and even circadian rhythm disorder for those who are totally blind. I had no idea how many Americans ARE totally blind and afflicted with "non 24." Did Ms. Roller?
It was off a Surrealistic Pillow almost 50 years ago: "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all."
Jeb! spouts compassion for his daughter, but she was busted in his state, under HIS laws, that she might have gotten a life sentence without his intervention. And his compassion extended to ZERO Floridians not his daughter.
Ask the Republicants how they would fund substance abuse treatment after they repeal Obamacare? Are you kidding? They largely refused federally funded medicaid expansion, those who have no compunction about excluding those with preexisting conditions, which to profiteering insurance companies INCLUDES substance abuse. That's the party whose think tank conjured up Obamacare in the first place, has voted to repeal it 62 times in the house without a single word on how they'd replace ANY of it, a trip wire like substance abuse aside.
Does Ms. Roller ever watch TV? Given big Pharma's advertising budget, how does America change the overwhelming message that there's a pharmacological answer for everything that ails our country? Erectile dysfunction, female loss of libido, plaque psoriasis, blood thinners for A-fib, numerous diabetes medications, antidepressants, and even circadian rhythm disorder for those who are totally blind. I had no idea how many Americans ARE totally blind and afflicted with "non 24." Did Ms. Roller?
It was off a Surrealistic Pillow almost 50 years ago: "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all."
8
It's not just the DEA that still considers cannabis more dangerous than prescription opiates, so do Congress and the President, they are the ones keeping cannabis as a schedule 1 drug, with no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse. Two bald faced lies. If cannabis has a high potential for abuse, how does one properly describe killer alcohol?
9
Yet nearly every politician's answer - as well as that of law enforcement and the vast majority of drug treatment professionals - is to make criminals of these people. And to do so while codifying an illicit market that only society's most violent and predatory benefit from.
It is the height of hypocrisy. Many, if not most of these same folks think nothing of having their favorite drink (or more) to relax, to pop a pill (or more) for an ache or pain, to gorge themselves on sugar (or more), shop or gamble themselves into bankruptcy, or engage in sex to their familial destruction.
To review, this nation has spent over $1 trillion chasing mostly black and brown people, ruining their lives in the process, and enabling a monstrously profitable, powerful and predatory black market. To what end?
Millions upon millions have had their lives ruined by the criminality of this arbitrary moralism. While no one would reasonably assert that the lives of those addicts who suffered and died (nor their loved ones) are irrelevant, much, MUCH greater harm has been caused by the law itself, not by the consequences of poor health.
When will society wake up, look in the mirror, and realize their own hypocrisy is at root of the problem? When will intellectual honesty rule the day, and we instead seize the entire black market with ink? When will compassion prevail, and we start making volition and treatment the protocol instead of incarceration?
It is the height of hypocrisy. Many, if not most of these same folks think nothing of having their favorite drink (or more) to relax, to pop a pill (or more) for an ache or pain, to gorge themselves on sugar (or more), shop or gamble themselves into bankruptcy, or engage in sex to their familial destruction.
To review, this nation has spent over $1 trillion chasing mostly black and brown people, ruining their lives in the process, and enabling a monstrously profitable, powerful and predatory black market. To what end?
Millions upon millions have had their lives ruined by the criminality of this arbitrary moralism. While no one would reasonably assert that the lives of those addicts who suffered and died (nor their loved ones) are irrelevant, much, MUCH greater harm has been caused by the law itself, not by the consequences of poor health.
When will society wake up, look in the mirror, and realize their own hypocrisy is at root of the problem? When will intellectual honesty rule the day, and we instead seize the entire black market with ink? When will compassion prevail, and we start making volition and treatment the protocol instead of incarceration?
26
We turn everything into a moral issue. For example, if you're sick, you're being repaid for your sins - and government has no business condoning sin, which is the reason we haven't had national health care until now. The same applies to drug addiction: it's considered evidence of personal moral failing, which others take as an opportunity to present themselves in a position of moral superiority.
I think this comes from our being drunk on religiosity. Are we a country or a church?
I think this comes from our being drunk on religiosity. Are we a country or a church?
8
The writer fails to mentions one of the major problems with addressing the opioid abuse and OD epidemics: nobody really knows the nature of them. With regard to prescription opioids, no one knows how many of the patients who abuse them obtained them through illicit means, how many might have obtained them by deceiving physicians into thinking they needed them for pain, and how many were prescribed them originally for a legitimate pain complaint. Until we have this information it's impossible to come up with any forms of preventive programs. Furthermore, we have no idea of how best to address opioid abuse in the last group. Simply addressing the abuse without also addressing the pain ensures that treatment will failure.
I agree with the author that benzodiazepine abuse and addiction are major problems that the media has largely chosen to overlook preferring to focus on the sexier opioid abuse. However, she should be clearer on one thing.
It is virtually impossible to OD with benzodiazepine along. This was the major reason they replaced the barbituates in the 1960s. Essentially all the benzos ODs occur when they are taken in combination with opioids or alcohol. Sadly studies have shown that many patients are prescribed benzos and opioids even though the benzos actually reduce the analgesic effects of opioids and extended use of them can actually make pain worse. Many physicians are still unaware of this.;
I agree with the author that benzodiazepine abuse and addiction are major problems that the media has largely chosen to overlook preferring to focus on the sexier opioid abuse. However, she should be clearer on one thing.
It is virtually impossible to OD with benzodiazepine along. This was the major reason they replaced the barbituates in the 1960s. Essentially all the benzos ODs occur when they are taken in combination with opioids or alcohol. Sadly studies have shown that many patients are prescribed benzos and opioids even though the benzos actually reduce the analgesic effects of opioids and extended use of them can actually make pain worse. Many physicians are still unaware of this.;
5
The article first states that, "drug overdoses reached a record high in 2014. From 2001 to 2014, the United States had more than a threefold increase in deaths from opioid pain relievers, and a sixfold increase in heroin overdoses, according to the National Institutes of Health. During the same period, overdose deaths from prescription drugs like Valium and Klonopin — sedatives called benzodiazepines — increased by five times."
After stating the above the article then attempts to suggest that the REASON why we are paying more attention now is because it is affecting white people!
Anything to make things "racial" and to sow resentment between groups of people. Always the standard method of acquiring votes for the left!
After stating the above the article then attempts to suggest that the REASON why we are paying more attention now is because it is affecting white people!
Anything to make things "racial" and to sow resentment between groups of people. Always the standard method of acquiring votes for the left!
2
Yup,gjdagis, it IS because white people (not "those people") are now affected that this is an issue. You should know something about sowing resentment between groups because "the right" has been doing it for decades! The truth hurts doesn't it.
What do you men that "I" should know, I am not a "rightist"; I am a libertarian. I try to eliminate the barriers and artificial constructs that lie between people. The reason for society's interest is the fact that the RATE of deaths has gone up so sharply. If it had to do only with race then the problem would have been brought up by the left long ago since they can only see things through the biased lens of race!
Because the USA likes to focus thru the lens of money, who are the benefactors of this 50 year lost war?
1. private prisons
2. all levels of government making lots of money on established system, starting with the useless, destructive DEA
3. the private prisons
4. law enforcement at every level
5. courts, prosecutors & politicians who use this issue to push their careers
6. insurance companies and their cynical use of phoney rehabs with non-medical personnel (ex-addicts) keeping services cheap so profits are high
7. pharma
8. doctors who overprescribe
9. rehabs
on & on & on.
There is no public health care in the USA, greed rules. Mr. Bush whose ex-pres brother was a huge offender as anybody in Texas & Maine knows. JEB himself was a big pot/hash smoker - no problem! Just bail them out of any responsibility. So JEB "feels" it now with his kid? Too little to late.
1. private prisons
2. all levels of government making lots of money on established system, starting with the useless, destructive DEA
3. the private prisons
4. law enforcement at every level
5. courts, prosecutors & politicians who use this issue to push their careers
6. insurance companies and their cynical use of phoney rehabs with non-medical personnel (ex-addicts) keeping services cheap so profits are high
7. pharma
8. doctors who overprescribe
9. rehabs
on & on & on.
There is no public health care in the USA, greed rules. Mr. Bush whose ex-pres brother was a huge offender as anybody in Texas & Maine knows. JEB himself was a big pot/hash smoker - no problem! Just bail them out of any responsibility. So JEB "feels" it now with his kid? Too little to late.
35
Band-aides are so neat and tidy. But they are our culture. Too many obese? ban big sodas. Too many people in cages? build more cages. Too many people abusing drugs? Put them in treatment--but only if the war on drug cages don't work or becomes too expensive. The real elephant in the room is why do so many people want to escape our supposedly wonderful culture? The same can be said for climate change and mass species extinctions. We prefer band-aides when the real problem is our own numbers.
7
For years we have been told that drug abuse was a moral failing caused by poor family life and lack of character. No it's not. Never was. Provide it and they will use it. The pushers provide it. Now the doctors and big pharma provide it. When it was only the pushers, it was "their" problem. When the medical industry provides it, it has now become "our" problem.
The human mind is terribly vulnerable to opiates. I have an iron will but am afraid to use them, even for a tooth extraction. I have and will in the future but do so with the greatest caution. Chronic pain is a different condition from a pulled tooth which stops hurting in a few days. Iron will or not, I could get hooked on these pills just like anyone else.
These drugs are just too powerful to be used haphazardly. Perhaps if so many didn't make so much money off of them, their use would decline.
The human mind is terribly vulnerable to opiates. I have an iron will but am afraid to use them, even for a tooth extraction. I have and will in the future but do so with the greatest caution. Chronic pain is a different condition from a pulled tooth which stops hurting in a few days. Iron will or not, I could get hooked on these pills just like anyone else.
These drugs are just too powerful to be used haphazardly. Perhaps if so many didn't make so much money off of them, their use would decline.
18
I'm willing to bet that every family in this country has at some level been effected by drug abuse. We need to stop looking at it as a crime and start looking at it as a health problem. We've managed to waste billions of dollars on the "war on drugs". What we need are clinics to help people deal with their addiction.
1
Ours hasn't.
You lose your bet.
You lose your bet.
Bruce conflates two very different issues. If you given anyone enough opioids for a long enough period of time, that person will become physiologically tolerant to them and if you were suddenly stop them he would go into withdrawal (which, although uncomfortable, is not lethal).
This is very different from addiction which is a mixture of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors, all of which must be present.
And as to your worry about using an opioid for dental surgery. Studies have shown that even recovering opioid addicts do not fall back into use if given opioids for acute pain such as for dental or other surgery.
This is very different from addiction which is a mixture of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors, all of which must be present.
And as to your worry about using an opioid for dental surgery. Studies have shown that even recovering opioid addicts do not fall back into use if given opioids for acute pain such as for dental or other surgery.
2
The problem with politicizing the addition issue is that we wind up glossing over more important issues of medical need. Narcotic pain relievers are actually effective at... relieving pain. Valium and other benzos are actually effective at relieving acute anxiety and they work in real time, unlike SSRIs, which require people to go on long regimens and to wait weeks for results that might never come.
17
Michael is right about benzos working quickly however they are only indicated for brief use and thus are not meant for someone who has chronic problems with anxiety.
1
He is also correct that those with chronic pain benefit from the opiod mask of that pain.
It would seem to me that there should be a way of discovering just where in the chain that the leakage occurs.
I have, for the past seven years, used oxycodone to treat my well documented, and surgically uncorrectable conditions that mean that I live in pain morning, noon, and night.
Why should I, and tens of thousands like me, be forced to pay the added costs...,monetary, time. and mental strain...to prove what wh have already amply proven just to satisfy the feel-good needs of politicians who haven't a clue as to what a life with constant debilitating plain really means?
Think twice about restricting our access to the medications that we require.
Why?
Because we vote, that's why....
It would seem to me that there should be a way of discovering just where in the chain that the leakage occurs.
I have, for the past seven years, used oxycodone to treat my well documented, and surgically uncorrectable conditions that mean that I live in pain morning, noon, and night.
Why should I, and tens of thousands like me, be forced to pay the added costs...,monetary, time. and mental strain...to prove what wh have already amply proven just to satisfy the feel-good needs of politicians who haven't a clue as to what a life with constant debilitating plain really means?
Think twice about restricting our access to the medications that we require.
Why?
Because we vote, that's why....
6
The public health approach to drug use and other addictions is long over due. Hopefully today's politicians will identify with the problem because it's now literally in their back yard.
Regardless of how they feel about the legalize or decriminalize debate, what's needed is a shift of funds from this meaningless 'war on drugs' to serious and effective drug treatment. This should include funds for the mental health and prevention side, as well as post drug use treatment programs.
Most importantly this can be accomplish simply by shifting funds even if new appropriations aren't available. It's the old 'guns vs. butter' issue and one thing is clear, the guns side of this equation hasn't worked.
Regardless of how they feel about the legalize or decriminalize debate, what's needed is a shift of funds from this meaningless 'war on drugs' to serious and effective drug treatment. This should include funds for the mental health and prevention side, as well as post drug use treatment programs.
Most importantly this can be accomplish simply by shifting funds even if new appropriations aren't available. It's the old 'guns vs. butter' issue and one thing is clear, the guns side of this equation hasn't worked.
34
Please define just exactly what your "public health approach" means more than just shifting the dollars from one pocket to the next?
Hasn't the trillions already been spent been doled out enough to your branch of medicine Dr. Spock?
Hasn't the trillions already been spent been doled out enough to your branch of medicine Dr. Spock?
We need to decriminalize marijuana, while tightening up our regulation of "legal" prescription drugs. Thanks to the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA is extremely weak when it comes to prescription drug safety - there are close to 100,000 deaths in the U.S. per year from the lethal side effects of prescription drugs. The outcry about opiates should be extended and expanded to all prescription drugs, but, unfortunately, Congress has been bought on this issue by Big Pharma. And Congress is about to approve a pharma-friendly new Commissioner, Dr. Robert Califf, to run the FDA.
It all goes back to kowtowing to the desires of Big Pharma, which should be called Big Pusher. Restrict (or ban) the sale and prescription of opioids in any form. That is the real "gateway drug."
2
I assume that if you undergo surgery you will gladly give up opioids for management of your postoperative pain.
8
Tom....thanks a lot! I have chronic pain throughout my body and the only relief comes from synthetic opiates....without them I won't be able to move and the quality of my life will plummet....I'm not an addict after several years of use.
3
When all is said and said and said (but not done), few are thinking about a basic issue: what is it about drugs that draws so many to their use? I have never used the really dangerous drugs, but as a recovering alcoholic (27 years sober) I can remember well the first few minutes after the first martini --- a blessed sense of euphoria and inner calm that I spent the rest of the session trying to recover. I imagine that multiplied many times is what draws a heroin addict in.
But what is it about our lives in general that makes so many find that sense of well-being only in a pill or shot that all too soon becomes a visceral craving for more just to maintain? The problem is not solely one of class: it is easier to understand the draw to those at the bottom of the economic ladder, bereft of prospects and hope, but it exists in all strata and can be even more virulent in the upper reaches as up there is more cash available to score. For the well-to-do druggies, is it boredom with empty "socializing" or the endless scramble for more and more money and stuff?
Legalizing, regulating and taxing "recreational drugs, while providing treatment for addiction seems rational. But the huge void at the center of our lives that many fill with chemical escapism will remain.
But what is it about our lives in general that makes so many find that sense of well-being only in a pill or shot that all too soon becomes a visceral craving for more just to maintain? The problem is not solely one of class: it is easier to understand the draw to those at the bottom of the economic ladder, bereft of prospects and hope, but it exists in all strata and can be even more virulent in the upper reaches as up there is more cash available to score. For the well-to-do druggies, is it boredom with empty "socializing" or the endless scramble for more and more money and stuff?
Legalizing, regulating and taxing "recreational drugs, while providing treatment for addiction seems rational. But the huge void at the center of our lives that many fill with chemical escapism will remain.
63
Having spent a career as a rehabilitation counselor working with recovering addicts, one becomes aware of having to compete with the euphoria of the escapism in addiction.
Good parenting, teaching life long values can go a long way to sustain a child throughout their life, providing meaning that can carry through difficult times.
Good parenting, teaching life long values can go a long way to sustain a child throughout their life, providing meaning that can carry through difficult times.
6
I think we will always have some addicts for whatever personal reasons. But, we also live in a society that does not provide one iota of security. We are all expected to "compete". Some people are not competitors. Some people are poets, musicians, artists, et al. Some people are not interested in climbing the ladder to success they just want to find a job to pay for the basics. That doesn't exist in the way it used to. Many people feel desperate. And yes, I do know in a very personal way about addiction. Personally I was addicted to cigarettes, yes addicted. I also have family members who've been addicted to alcohol and drugs. All thank God are now sober. Luckily, they all had the basics already. They then built on those basics after sobriety. Some people are not so lucky.
7
Drug addiction is much more complex than you describe. No matter how many drugs you pour into somebody, you can't make them into an addict unless they have a physiologic predilection to this. All those movies where somebody is made into a drug addict by injecting them with heroin are crap. You can make them tolerant to the drugs so they will be uncomfortable when they withdraw but you can't make anyone into an addict without that inherent predilection.
1
Life can be hard. For many people, life is hard. But, life has been hard for centuries; yet, many people did not turn to drugs.
Today, the actual drug addiction problem in America is (due to hidden use) probably higher than even the article imagines.
Many people do not want to hear it (and many in the "scientific community" deny it); but, God has answers:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 - - - The Holy Bible)
Today, the actual drug addiction problem in America is (due to hidden use) probably higher than even the article imagines.
Many people do not want to hear it (and many in the "scientific community" deny it); but, God has answers:
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 - - - The Holy Bible)
3
Pastor Clarence Wm. Page,
God may have answers, but us frail insignificant humans are not capable, worthy nor enlightened enough to understand them.
Heck, look at all the war mongering, gun toting, refuge hating, Mammon worshiping, bible thumpers holding the cross and running for office in his name!
God may have answers, but us frail insignificant humans are not capable, worthy nor enlightened enough to understand them.
Heck, look at all the war mongering, gun toting, refuge hating, Mammon worshiping, bible thumpers holding the cross and running for office in his name!
3
The most important study ever done on addiction is the one done by medical doctors Vincent J. Filetti and Robert Anda: The ACE Study. It connected the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences to adult health (drug and food abuse, exacerbation of existing genetic weaknesses). See www.acestudy.org for more information. There are layers to this problem: politics, money, shame, crime, hopelessness and more. But the roots of human sufferings that lead to adult misery can be traced to childhood traumas. Our children must be cared for, nurtured and taught about the meaning of suffering and read early and often. The effects of childhood traumas can be healed. Yet very few people in our society are willing to talk about what must happen to effect healing. I will work on this message until I die, and I am grateful to doctors Felitti and Anda for their study.
14
ER VISITS According to statistics can range from over $1,200 to $2,500 per day, over 7000 of them per day due to drug overdose. That's roughly between $1.6 million to $2,5 million per day. Multiplying that by the days in a year ER visits due to drug overdose cost between $480 million and $6.5 million per year. That's a great deal of money spent on treatment for drug abuse rather than prevention and counseling. My personal view is that all drugs should be decriminalized and distributed at government clinics. It means that we woud have to substitute violent drug lords and their gangs that terrorize and kill many people per year for government bureaucrats. Now tell me that government bureaucrats are a worse threat to the nation than maintaining the status quo. A day in prison and reentry houses per person costs between roughly $70 and $80 per day. That money can provide a great deal of healthcare and counseling. I think that criminalizing drugs is a bad deal for taxpayers. I also agree that the effects of addiction on the individual, families and communities exact a dreadful toll on families and communities. In Portugal the first yer they decriminalized drugs, crime decreased about 37%. So what are we about as a nation: Punishing citizens suffering from the illness of substance abuse or helping them lead the most productive lives they can?
53
"That's a great deal of money spent on treatment for drug abuse rather than prevention and counseling. My personal view is that all drugs should be decriminalized and distributed at government clinics.
you can't have it both ways. You either want prevention and counseling
OR
you want free drug distribution.
But like the current people who are in unions who don't want to pay for union's political messages, I DON"T WANT MY TAX MONEY USED FOR FREE DRUGS for people who lack self control or have mental problems requiring their constant abuse of drugs and alcohol.
You forget that there are actually some people who are against drugs of any kind. It is not a matter of waving a wand and everybody is on board with that solution. I prefer that only a very SMALL portion of my tax dollar go to the military budget--but good luck with that.
you can't have it both ways. You either want prevention and counseling
OR
you want free drug distribution.
But like the current people who are in unions who don't want to pay for union's political messages, I DON"T WANT MY TAX MONEY USED FOR FREE DRUGS for people who lack self control or have mental problems requiring their constant abuse of drugs and alcohol.
You forget that there are actually some people who are against drugs of any kind. It is not a matter of waving a wand and everybody is on board with that solution. I prefer that only a very SMALL portion of my tax dollar go to the military budget--but good luck with that.
Republicans always seem to wait until they are personally affected by something to act. They seem never to acknowledge human frailty until it is one of their own. They have a lack of empathy.
91
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 created ONDCP as a component of the Executive Office of the President. That guaranteed that the drug problem -- up to then a nonpartisan public health issue -- would become politicized. Since then, predictably, we have had alternating Democrat and Republican strategies, each repudiating the plans of the other. This article continues to reflect that politicization. And once you politicize something, anything, including public health, you get the usual batch of agenda pushers attaching their cause. Forget that in the mid-1980s black leaders like Rep. Charles Rangel of NY's Harlem, as chairman of a congressional drug committee, lobbied his colleagues successfully for tougher penalties for crack because it was decimating inner city (read black) communities. Forget that he got them, along with millions of dollars. Forget that 25 years later, Rangel and others forgot that they got what they wanted and now were calling what they got "racist" for incarcerating too many blacks. Now, Emma Roller and others are once again revising history to suggest the current angst over heroin is 1) the result of a NH primary race, and 2) because heroin has invaded white communities. This would be comical if it were not costing so many lives.
2
Sorry...Heroin made it into the culture of the white man shortly after its development in 1874 as an alternative to the morphine being used by survivors or the worlds wars.
2
The N.Y.T. needs to do some investigative reporting on whose lobbyists are behind this sudden interest in cheap, effective, generic pain medication that was only recently reclassified so as to be "a narcotic". People can abuse anything if they want, why no campaign against tobacco which kills millions and you don't even have to be the person smoking, my mother had cancer and she didn't smoke but her husband did or alcohol which causes families more misery than all other drugs combined; I will tell you why, big Pharma hates cheap, effective drugs that work they are already introducing numerous new pain killers that are slightly reformulated or repackaged versions of the old ones for the usual reason, to make huge profits. I have had this conversation with numerous physician friends, the Times needs to get to work, whose funding these recent studies, whose paying the lobbyists getting drugs reclassified?
6
The war on drugs has been a FANTASTIC success(for every branch of the huge criminal justice system and many others: police, prison guards, parole officers, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, social workers, the DEA, US Customs and Immigration. Probably lots more.) If they could criminalize possession and consumption of chocolate or caffeine, they certainly would. Imagine how many homes could be seized from people caught in late night raids imbibing hot chocolate in their kitchen. And the bonus: by filling prison cells with marijuana smokers, they can justify letting other violent felons out early on parole, knowing that even more crimes will be committed. And the entire criminal justice apparatus thrives on the maximum amount of crime possible.
41
Especially if your state has private prisons. The corporations that own these prisons push state legislators to pass laws to create new crimes so they can put more people in their prisons. Don't believe me. Just check it out.
1
The conundrum with prescription painkillers is that on the one hand people get addicted and overdose, but on the other hand we're reluctant to take away patient’s rights to be treated and doctor’s autonomy. In my opinion the “patients’ rights” issue is a PR stunt designed to keep drug sales up, and supported by an army of people who want to or need to continue taking prescriptions opioids (isn’t that what addiction is about?) So again, the people who are addicted or really truly need opioids (and this latter, I suspect, is an extremely small portion of patients) should be treated. Doctors’ rights? What right do doctors have to alleviate pain in patients that in the end causes even greater pain to patients and to society? The pain equation isn’t adding up.
Who’s to blame for this mess? Pharma, yes. The AMA? It decided not to require that doctors receive training in pain meds, a simple process that was no doubt blocked by pharma’s interests. The FDA? They just approved Zohydro, another long-lasting and crushable opioid, over the 11-2 objections of an advisory panel.
Although I’m not opposed to legalizing drugs, this will do absolutely nothing for the prescription opioid problem, and we might suspect that this is another PR ploy to confuse the issue. It’s not about patients’ rights or doctors’ rights or legalization, it’s about the absurdity of using “pain treatment” as an excuse to sell drugs and create overwhelming pain in society. The pain equation doesn’t add it.
Who’s to blame for this mess? Pharma, yes. The AMA? It decided not to require that doctors receive training in pain meds, a simple process that was no doubt blocked by pharma’s interests. The FDA? They just approved Zohydro, another long-lasting and crushable opioid, over the 11-2 objections of an advisory panel.
Although I’m not opposed to legalizing drugs, this will do absolutely nothing for the prescription opioid problem, and we might suspect that this is another PR ploy to confuse the issue. It’s not about patients’ rights or doctors’ rights or legalization, it’s about the absurdity of using “pain treatment” as an excuse to sell drugs and create overwhelming pain in society. The pain equation doesn’t add it.
1
I don't totally disagree with you. But, there is one classification of patients who should have unlimited access to pain killers; cancer patients dying from their disease.
1
Clearly, DD, you are not s suffer from the debilitating effects of chronic pain.
If you were, you would not be as quick to dismiss the issue of "patient's rights".
Who are you to say that my well-documented, surgically uncorrectable medical condition is a farce?
Me thinks that you have spent far too long drinking at the well of liberalism...er...progressivism...er...whatever it is that you are calling yourself these days to hide from the responsibility for your failed ideology....
Nothing like doubling down when it comes to the grabs of power over the lives and well-being of others, now is there?
If you were, you would not be as quick to dismiss the issue of "patient's rights".
Who are you to say that my well-documented, surgically uncorrectable medical condition is a farce?
Me thinks that you have spent far too long drinking at the well of liberalism...er...progressivism...er...whatever it is that you are calling yourself these days to hide from the responsibility for your failed ideology....
Nothing like doubling down when it comes to the grabs of power over the lives and well-being of others, now is there?
2
Millions of us are in pain management programs with carefully monitored prescription use through urinalysis and surprise pill counts. There are far more of us than the drug addicts who are buying on the street.
If you aren't suffering with diabetic neuropathy or stenosis related Neuropathy you have no idea what we are going through. These medications make it possible to go to work and lead fairly normal lives.
The addicts are sourcing Heroin because Oxycontin has been redesigned to make it much much harder to abuse. You can beat it with a hammer and it will not break except into chunks. If you try to cook it it turns into thick plastic compound. Zohydro is also being redesigned in a similar fashion.
It is about patients rights, my right to live as pain free life as possible and to be productive. It is the doctors' right to practice in the field they trained for.
I feel pity for the people who abuse these drugs but you know what? This is about me and there's no reason why chronic pain patients should be made to suffer because of them.
If you aren't suffering with diabetic neuropathy or stenosis related Neuropathy you have no idea what we are going through. These medications make it possible to go to work and lead fairly normal lives.
The addicts are sourcing Heroin because Oxycontin has been redesigned to make it much much harder to abuse. You can beat it with a hammer and it will not break except into chunks. If you try to cook it it turns into thick plastic compound. Zohydro is also being redesigned in a similar fashion.
It is about patients rights, my right to live as pain free life as possible and to be productive. It is the doctors' right to practice in the field they trained for.
I feel pity for the people who abuse these drugs but you know what? This is about me and there's no reason why chronic pain patients should be made to suffer because of them.
When I think about Jeb Bush and his approach to drugs, I empathize and sympathize with his family's struggles with prescription drugs, but I am disgusted by his long history of hypocrisy with regard to cannabis. In college, Jeb Bush did not just inhale once or twice, he used his hash and weed pipe vigorously and regularly. His roomie said Jeb smoked only the very best product.
So, question to Bush.... When your Dad was VP and President, did you ever even once mention to him that poor people were getting arrested and screwed over by the hundreds of thousands, for smoking a medical herb that you were smoking every day?
When you were Governor of Florida, did you ever try to educate the voters or legislature about your experiences? Do you believe that marijuana should be sold by business people in the U.S., operating a regulated, taxable product, or would you prefer that illegal cartels continue to profit from the trade? Why are you supporting the drug rehab barons and conservative legal groups who are suing the State of Colorado over marijuana in federal court to overturn their regulated system?
Over six hundred thousand arrested for pot in 2014. Who will be the last person arrested in this stupid war?
So, question to Bush.... When your Dad was VP and President, did you ever even once mention to him that poor people were getting arrested and screwed over by the hundreds of thousands, for smoking a medical herb that you were smoking every day?
When you were Governor of Florida, did you ever try to educate the voters or legislature about your experiences? Do you believe that marijuana should be sold by business people in the U.S., operating a regulated, taxable product, or would you prefer that illegal cartels continue to profit from the trade? Why are you supporting the drug rehab barons and conservative legal groups who are suing the State of Colorado over marijuana in federal court to overturn their regulated system?
Over six hundred thousand arrested for pot in 2014. Who will be the last person arrested in this stupid war?
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FS makes the point I offered in an earlier comment that agenda pushers love to attach their cause to any matter that becomes politicized. Let's assume FS is not a fan of Jeb Bush. Let's also assume FS is a fan of pot. Now, how do we put the two together to come up with a strategy? Oh, add a bogus stat like "over six hundred thousand arrested for pot in 2014." Throw in a few historically correct facts and, whammo, people will believe all of it, including the bogus stat. Fortunately, most of us are able to decipher the difference between fact and fiction.
fs,
THIS!!!
Well said. Thank you.
THIS!!!
Well said. Thank you.
1
These same questions could be asked of President Obama right now!
1
Excellent column, Ms. Roller. And long overdue.
It's nice to see drug abuse go mainstream, even if the typical American racial double standard applies: "He is glad to see the new rhetoric about addiction, but notes that candidates have become more open about this issue as it has started to take a real toll on largely white communities." (Reminds me of Flint where lead in the water would have been fixed months ago if the community affected were white.)
During the Reagan years, I was appalled at the 'just say no" theme that passed for a program. It' now being echoed by Donald Trump. Drug abuse, like any substance abuse, is a disease. The only choice an addict has is at the very beginning, where egged on by peer pressure, teen angst, or social media, the first "high" is grabbed. Once ingested, snorted, or injected, a fair percentage will get hooked.
How to treat is the conundrum, and it requires--like any social malady-- money. I'm glad you pointed out that rolling back the ACA would essentially cut off coverage for treatment for many. Pre-ACA, while most plans covered drug treatment, the typical insurance company cutoffs or fine print usually meant, too little, too late.
Drug addiction has to be tackled on so many fronts, it's frightening: over supply, the legal system, the medical system, and our culture. This last is the hardest because the addicted must want to stop. Not so easy when their futures seem dim.
It's nice to see drug abuse go mainstream, even if the typical American racial double standard applies: "He is glad to see the new rhetoric about addiction, but notes that candidates have become more open about this issue as it has started to take a real toll on largely white communities." (Reminds me of Flint where lead in the water would have been fixed months ago if the community affected were white.)
During the Reagan years, I was appalled at the 'just say no" theme that passed for a program. It' now being echoed by Donald Trump. Drug abuse, like any substance abuse, is a disease. The only choice an addict has is at the very beginning, where egged on by peer pressure, teen angst, or social media, the first "high" is grabbed. Once ingested, snorted, or injected, a fair percentage will get hooked.
How to treat is the conundrum, and it requires--like any social malady-- money. I'm glad you pointed out that rolling back the ACA would essentially cut off coverage for treatment for many. Pre-ACA, while most plans covered drug treatment, the typical insurance company cutoffs or fine print usually meant, too little, too late.
Drug addiction has to be tackled on so many fronts, it's frightening: over supply, the legal system, the medical system, and our culture. This last is the hardest because the addicted must want to stop. Not so easy when their futures seem dim.
23
"It's nice to see drug abuse go mainstream"
Did you mean to say that? Thousands of additional dead young people isn't nice.
Did you mean to say that? Thousands of additional dead young people isn't nice.
1
@Alf: that was extremely poor phrasing: what I meant was, mainstream in the sense of concern by the public. Drugs have long been a part of inner city challenges, particularly for African Americans. Now it's hitting every demographic, which has woken up sleeping leaders. Who really cared about drug abuse in Detroit or Camden before suddenly the rich enclaves of suburbia were similarly afflicted.
Thanks for pointing that out, as I believe drug abuse and the waste of so many young lives one of the top challenges of our time.
Thanks for pointing that out, as I believe drug abuse and the waste of so many young lives one of the top challenges of our time.
4
Just for the record, Ms. McMurrow, how heavily were you into drugs when you were a youth back in the '60's, 70's or 80's?
It would be nice if you offered that perspective to those reading your remarks.
And for the record, I have no succumbed to the lure of drugs as recreation even though they have been all around me for more than half-a-century.
It would be nice if you offered that perspective to those reading your remarks.
And for the record, I have no succumbed to the lure of drugs as recreation even though they have been all around me for more than half-a-century.
It's a tired saying but we've lost the War on Drugs, over and over.
One of the most insidious aspects is that local police have incentives to stop people-mostly African-Americans-for "suspicious" activity. They are looking for bigger crimes, mostly drugs. There are rewards to the departments for drug busts, money often coming from the federal government.
It is a policy for the North Charleston police for these reasons to pull over drivers for broken tail-lights, driving "suspiciously", you name it.
Walter Scott was stopped on such a flimsy pre-text, and was shot to death.
This small city made over 300,000 "investigatory" stops in 2015, and less than half resulted in an arrest. These policies do contribute to the tension in the community, and can lead to tragedy.
There's no easy answer to the War, but this sort of criminalization of citizens must stop.
One of the most insidious aspects is that local police have incentives to stop people-mostly African-Americans-for "suspicious" activity. They are looking for bigger crimes, mostly drugs. There are rewards to the departments for drug busts, money often coming from the federal government.
It is a policy for the North Charleston police for these reasons to pull over drivers for broken tail-lights, driving "suspiciously", you name it.
Walter Scott was stopped on such a flimsy pre-text, and was shot to death.
This small city made over 300,000 "investigatory" stops in 2015, and less than half resulted in an arrest. These policies do contribute to the tension in the community, and can lead to tragedy.
There's no easy answer to the War, but this sort of criminalization of citizens must stop.
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Not to mention the corruption of local police departments hoping for more money. Many local police departments have become totally corrupt under this system.
3
I'm not sure that you are at liberty, Grey, to use that broad a brush when you try to paint the police with the racist brush.
The police in my community arrest far more whites than blacks for engaging in the drug trade, and our community mirrors the the nation's ratios of whites to blacks.
Now, if you were to make that statement on an economic basis...the poor are more prone to arrest on drug charges, I would agree with you, but only in part.
The affluent white is equally prone to the lure of easy money although, in many areas, need plays something of a part.
The police in my community arrest far more whites than blacks for engaging in the drug trade, and our community mirrors the the nation's ratios of whites to blacks.
Now, if you were to make that statement on an economic basis...the poor are more prone to arrest on drug charges, I would agree with you, but only in part.
The affluent white is equally prone to the lure of easy money although, in many areas, need plays something of a part.
Actually, there is an easy answer to the War. End it now, and give amnesty and reparations to those wrongly imprisoned. It can come out of the police budget for new MRAPs, etc.
1
I cannot help but believe that there is a deep connection between the rise of addiction and the loss of hope, the loss of any belief in a safe, viable, and prosperous future. The solution is both political and spiritual. "Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18)
36
It is all about Jeb. His child is just an object. “I can look in people’s eyes and I know that they’ve gone through the same thing that Columba and I have,” he said, referring to his wife.
6
At precisely the moment in history that we’re considering dramatically reducing the penalties to low-level drug trafficking, particularly when no violence is involved, in an effort to cease destroying communities by excessive incarceration rates … we note an increase in the number of deaths by overdose, and we acknowledge that, while weakened, the arguments surrounding the perils of “gateway drugs” haven’t been found invalid.
Look for a diminished drive to empty our prisons of low-level drug offenders; or, if they’re successful, an even higher incidence of drug overdoses.
Look for a diminished drive to empty our prisons of low-level drug offenders; or, if they’re successful, an even higher incidence of drug overdoses.
2
Piffle. Gateway drugs? Come on. The overwhelming majority of overdoses come from the BIG BUSINESS of prescription drugs. People don't smoke a few joints and go to the doctor for that oxycontin script.
When my sister was gradualing Med School and my wife Dental School in the early 80s, the idea of a medical specialty in "pain management" was almost unheard of. Now you see signs near almost every hospital.
Watch a little TV, Richard: The commercials are edifying. Pharmaceuticals can cure almost everything. As they say, ask your doctor if you shouldn't be on a medication for erectile dysfunction, loss of female arousal, plaque psoriasis, a blood thinner for A-fib, any number of diabetes and weight loss drugs, even for a circadian rhythm disorder in those who are "totally blind," and afflicted with "non 24." Did you have any idea how many Americans are totally blind and have non-24? Enough for a profusion of commercials. Then listen carefully for the rapid fire rundown of side effects...including death.
When the entire society is sold a profiteering myth, that there's a pill for that, small wonder why doctors reach for the script pad at the drop of a hat. They're PAID to do so...
When my sister was gradualing Med School and my wife Dental School in the early 80s, the idea of a medical specialty in "pain management" was almost unheard of. Now you see signs near almost every hospital.
Watch a little TV, Richard: The commercials are edifying. Pharmaceuticals can cure almost everything. As they say, ask your doctor if you shouldn't be on a medication for erectile dysfunction, loss of female arousal, plaque psoriasis, a blood thinner for A-fib, any number of diabetes and weight loss drugs, even for a circadian rhythm disorder in those who are "totally blind," and afflicted with "non 24." Did you have any idea how many Americans are totally blind and have non-24? Enough for a profusion of commercials. Then listen carefully for the rapid fire rundown of side effects...including death.
When the entire society is sold a profiteering myth, that there's a pill for that, small wonder why doctors reach for the script pad at the drop of a hat. They're PAID to do so...
4
Paul:
Piffle back. While, as I implied in my comment, there are arguments on both sides of the issue, you might review one that disagrees strongly with yours: http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/on-the-road-to-drug-abu....
Undoubtedly, commercial interests have a lot to do with addiction to prescription drugs. So, when has that NOT been the case in America? Don’t quite see the point to your response except a need for a rant on an issue that has nothing to do with my comment. All I did was draw what I see as the likely consequences of a higher incidence of drug overdoses – which include stronger pressure to deal with any ILLICIT commercialization of drugs, such as OxyContin.
Piffle back. While, as I implied in my comment, there are arguments on both sides of the issue, you might review one that disagrees strongly with yours: http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/on-the-road-to-drug-abu....
Undoubtedly, commercial interests have a lot to do with addiction to prescription drugs. So, when has that NOT been the case in America? Don’t quite see the point to your response except a need for a rant on an issue that has nothing to do with my comment. All I did was draw what I see as the likely consequences of a higher incidence of drug overdoses – which include stronger pressure to deal with any ILLICIT commercialization of drugs, such as OxyContin.
The DEA position that marijuana is more addictive than pain killers is ridiculous. No one has ever died from using marijuana. We need to abolish the DEA and end the "war" on drugs. Then we can provide treatment for those who want it, without their having to fear going to jail. If drugs were legalized, there would be much less of a problem.
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I suggest that if Dr. Kegel thinks that legalization is the answer that she goes back and reads some newspaper from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries when opioids and cocaine were readily available even without a prescription. The reason that laws were instituted was because addiction to these drugs had become such a major public health problem The criminalization hasn't worked but complete legalization didn't either. It's foolish to return to something that didn't work in the first place.
Indeed, Ms. Kegel.
But have you looked into the number of deaths caused by people with impaired faculties because of marijuana use or because of use of that drug in combination with, say, alcohol?
If you haven't, then your presentation is nothing more than the proverbial straw man.
But have you looked into the number of deaths caused by people with impaired faculties because of marijuana use or because of use of that drug in combination with, say, alcohol?
If you haven't, then your presentation is nothing more than the proverbial straw man.
1
The DEA must surely reclassify pot! It currently states that is has is non-medical parlance no redeeming qualities. In other words, there is isn't any use for it other than to get high. Well now the NIH has just come out and announced that it KILLS some cancer cells as reported here in the. NYTimes. I would imagine that some in Big Pharma have known it for some time but couldn't figure out how to patent it. It is high, and I do mean high, past time to legalize it. It is safer than most drugs out there. In states that have legalised it deaths are down from opioid and heroin. Now it seems that there are many medical uses that need to be explored as well.
1
I don't in any way want to downplay the problem of painkiller addiction and abuse. But I can't help fearing for Americans who need those drugs to help them endure debilitating pain. For most of the last century, fear of addiction led American medicine to under-treat pain, resulting in considerable, unnecessary suffering. Let's hope that pain patients won't lose out simply because their suffering and deaths don't make headlines.
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The problem is that there are no studies demonstrating that opioids are beneficial for chronic pain. In fact, there is research showing that extended use of them can actually make pain worse.
And it's easy to prove that undertreatment of pain has nothing to do with access to opioids. There are many forms of chronic pain such as that related to diabetic neuropathy and fibromyalgia that respond much better to the non-opioid analgesics yet they are just as undertreated.
And it's easy to prove that undertreatment of pain has nothing to do with access to opioids. There are many forms of chronic pain such as that related to diabetic neuropathy and fibromyalgia that respond much better to the non-opioid analgesics yet they are just as undertreated.
Take it from one with well-documented chronic pain.
Oxycodone works.
And it works better than almost any other pain reliever, including marijuana.
Oxycodone works.
And it works better than almost any other pain reliever, including marijuana.
8
" Let's hope that pain patients won't lose out simply because their suffering and deaths don't make headlines."
But we are. The DEA and FDA are riding hard on pain management practices to limit the amount of pain relief we can get. I even had a call one day to list what I'd eaten for the past week. I was stopped when I listed poppy seed bagels. Who knew they would show up as Heroin in my urinalysis? But DEA makes them call me even though they know I don't use other drugs. The FDA says Oxycontin tablets will provide pain relief for 12 hours. For many of us that isn't so. Plus there is a 1-1.5 hours ascendancy and descendant period with each tablet. That's three hours between each tablet with little pain relief. Yet we cannot have something to fill the gap because we'll exceed the FDA's formulation.
I don't mind the tests and questions. It's the one size fits all program of the FDA that is irksome.
But we are. The DEA and FDA are riding hard on pain management practices to limit the amount of pain relief we can get. I even had a call one day to list what I'd eaten for the past week. I was stopped when I listed poppy seed bagels. Who knew they would show up as Heroin in my urinalysis? But DEA makes them call me even though they know I don't use other drugs. The FDA says Oxycontin tablets will provide pain relief for 12 hours. For many of us that isn't so. Plus there is a 1-1.5 hours ascendancy and descendant period with each tablet. That's three hours between each tablet with little pain relief. Yet we cannot have something to fill the gap because we'll exceed the FDA's formulation.
I don't mind the tests and questions. It's the one size fits all program of the FDA that is irksome.
1
There are many angles that one could write about, to reduce the plague of drug addiction. But one rarely gets attention.
The source of all drug addiction, of both legal and illicit drugs, is greed. When one buys drugs, one is enriching evil people who care nothing about your health and wellbeing. These "business" people only want your money. They feed on your human weaknesses. They do not care if you die; they just want your money.
We need to politically demonize dealers of drugs. They have earned our condemnation. They are despicable.
The source of all drug addiction, of both legal and illicit drugs, is greed. When one buys drugs, one is enriching evil people who care nothing about your health and wellbeing. These "business" people only want your money. They feed on your human weaknesses. They do not care if you die; they just want your money.
We need to politically demonize dealers of drugs. They have earned our condemnation. They are despicable.
8
Yes, Eli Lily, Phizer, and the others are culpable.
4
CVS, Walgreens, and Wal-Mart need the excoriation, too.
2
I agree that drug addiction is at heart an illness rather than a crime. Putting our men/women in blue on the front line of what basically is a social problem is unfair to them and the role they hire on to fill. That said I'd point out that in pursuit of their passion addicts often resort to criminal behavior. But I'll leave this aside, too.
It comes to this. I have laugh over this sudden turn by our White political elites on this issue. It reveals what this article points out; that so long as it was felt to be a "minority" problem (drugs and such) it could be ignored. But we're all human beings, and this sort of "beast" of a problem is not exclusive to one group. It radiates out. Policy makers forgot this fact. So to them I say "welcome to the beast."
Even so it seems God is not without a sense of irony. Whites felt this was a "minority" problem and so it could be ignored. But look around....funny how the population cohort is rapidly changing. Whites...why they are becoming the minority....so with their inclusion (now) in this problem perhaps they were....right? HEH! Wonder how they'd feel if black/brown politico's were to ignore their pain?
John~
American Net'Zen
It comes to this. I have laugh over this sudden turn by our White political elites on this issue. It reveals what this article points out; that so long as it was felt to be a "minority" problem (drugs and such) it could be ignored. But we're all human beings, and this sort of "beast" of a problem is not exclusive to one group. It radiates out. Policy makers forgot this fact. So to them I say "welcome to the beast."
Even so it seems God is not without a sense of irony. Whites felt this was a "minority" problem and so it could be ignored. But look around....funny how the population cohort is rapidly changing. Whites...why they are becoming the minority....so with their inclusion (now) in this problem perhaps they were....right? HEH! Wonder how they'd feel if black/brown politico's were to ignore their pain?
John~
American Net'Zen
7
If the incidence of crime with drug addiction weren't so high, the police wouldn't be so interested in enforcement.
The problem with your argument, Mr. Curtis, is that drugs and violent crime often go hand-in-hand, and until that connection is broken, you aren't going to see a change.
And I must dispute that this is a "new" problem to the white community. It has been a problem since 1974 when heroin was developed as a replacement for morphine. Please note, sir, that morphine addiction was a direct consequence of the use of that drug as a pain killer for those horrifically wounded in our Civil War, a violent struggle that was fought overwhelmingly between the WHITE communities of the North against the WHITE communities of the South.
When you view the current problem, as serious as it is today, against problems of late 19th century, this epidemic is a rather minor outbreak.
The problem with your argument, Mr. Curtis, is that drugs and violent crime often go hand-in-hand, and until that connection is broken, you aren't going to see a change.
And I must dispute that this is a "new" problem to the white community. It has been a problem since 1974 when heroin was developed as a replacement for morphine. Please note, sir, that morphine addiction was a direct consequence of the use of that drug as a pain killer for those horrifically wounded in our Civil War, a violent struggle that was fought overwhelmingly between the WHITE communities of the North against the WHITE communities of the South.
When you view the current problem, as serious as it is today, against problems of late 19th century, this epidemic is a rather minor outbreak.
The treatment of drug use as a medical problem rather than a criminal problem is the easy question. Most people who know a drug abuser, just like an alcohol abuser, see addiction as a problem to be kicked, not a crime.
The more complicated question is how to handle the selling side to minimize both usage and the violence and crime surrounding drug. Both criminalization and decriminalization have innate societal problems.
The more complicated question is how to handle the selling side to minimize both usage and the violence and crime surrounding drug. Both criminalization and decriminalization have innate societal problems.
1
First, I would like to extend my feelings of sorrow to the people and families visited by these often fatal drugs. This summer last, a kind man was restoring a small country house on my behalf, a contemporary of mine, he told me that one of his daughters was in the harsh grip of heroin. He had no health insurance, and while we quietly discussed how to save his child now 24, I realized that he was exhausted, down and out, and that while loving her, he had given up because his spirit was broken in some essential way.
I only met her once without knowing of her dance with death and when she mentioned that she would have liked to have gone to college, I took note of the past tense, feeling that I might be able to help her. She is gone now. I feel it.
Are drugs only used by the impoverished and oppressed? One of the richest childhood friends of mine at 24 took the life of his mother because he was now psychotic. 1965 - an image of him at 18 telling me of his discovery of LSD.
Will our politicians come forward now and take up the war against the drug dealers and other means of securing these thieves of lives and souls? The strong among us to take up the fight, the vulnerable to take flight to a welcoming haven for recuperation. I am not buying the motto that 'life is not fair,' but rather 'let us make life fair'.
I only met her once without knowing of her dance with death and when she mentioned that she would have liked to have gone to college, I took note of the past tense, feeling that I might be able to help her. She is gone now. I feel it.
Are drugs only used by the impoverished and oppressed? One of the richest childhood friends of mine at 24 took the life of his mother because he was now psychotic. 1965 - an image of him at 18 telling me of his discovery of LSD.
Will our politicians come forward now and take up the war against the drug dealers and other means of securing these thieves of lives and souls? The strong among us to take up the fight, the vulnerable to take flight to a welcoming haven for recuperation. I am not buying the motto that 'life is not fair,' but rather 'let us make life fair'.
4
I am sure that Jeb Bush would agree that his daughter's addiction was a failure of HER character.
It is fortunate for her...and her family...that the failure was neither fatal or incorrectable.
...And no one is saying that those addicted to day and still alive have a character failure that cannot be addressed.
The issue is not one of "if", but of "how".
It is fortunate for her...and her family...that the failure was neither fatal or incorrectable.
...And no one is saying that those addicted to day and still alive have a character failure that cannot be addressed.
The issue is not one of "if", but of "how".
1
To quote Truman Capote 'Darling, do not let me commence', you are entitled to your opinion but why not keep a heart as well? Reading such a judgement is enough to make this person want to drink. I may do better and cast my vote for Jeb Bush.
It's a shame that we had to wait for the sons and daughters of political leaders to fall to addiction for the establishment to even consider a sane and humane response to the question of drugs.
As long as it was poor and destitute (and often black) pleople falling to it they were all too happy to label it a failure of charachter and education to be only treated with violence and prison.
As long as it was poor and destitute (and often black) pleople falling to it they were all too happy to label it a failure of charachter and education to be only treated with violence and prison.
79
Yes, isn't it interesting that politicians take up causes contrary to party politics when their own families are afflicted. This OP ed is a powerful example of why We The People need political leaders who truly are of the people, especially in a country where empathy for others who are "not like us" is in such short supply.
2
I am not sure why there is a racial angle to this article. The fact is that whites always had both a higher rate of drug overdose fatalities and, of course, much larger numbers of overdose deaths. (eg in 1999 there were 1.6 per 100,000 deaths for non-Hispanic whites vs 0.9 for non-Hispanic African-Americans). So that notion that politicians ignored the problem because it was a "minority problem" is false.
The reason that the problem gets so much attention today is that the problem has exploded: overdose deaths are up more than fourfold for whites and almost triple for African-Americans since 1999. Over 47,000 overdose deaths in 2014 is more than automobile crash fatalities and gun homicides combined.
Treating addiction as an illness rather than a crime is a step in the right direction. However, the current push to release "nonviolent drug offenders"--who are almost all traffickers or dealers, not mere users--seems a questionable tactic given the not just the deaths but also the damage caused to over 2 million addicts.
The reason that the problem gets so much attention today is that the problem has exploded: overdose deaths are up more than fourfold for whites and almost triple for African-Americans since 1999. Over 47,000 overdose deaths in 2014 is more than automobile crash fatalities and gun homicides combined.
Treating addiction as an illness rather than a crime is a step in the right direction. However, the current push to release "nonviolent drug offenders"--who are almost all traffickers or dealers, not mere users--seems a questionable tactic given the not just the deaths but also the damage caused to over 2 million addicts.
3
During the 13 years I've lived in Europe, I keep encountering issues like drug addiction that are being addressed more reasonably than in America.
Decriminalization of drug addiction and referral to treatment by law enforcement are standard practice in Europe.
When Americans become expatriates in other developed countries, their usual reaction is surprise at how much more advanced their new community functions. Whether it's gun control, abortion, national health insurance, public education, or retirement funding, the newly adopted country seems to do it better.
If more Americans realized how better their lives would be by emigrating, there would be a mass exodus out of the United States!
Decriminalization of drug addiction and referral to treatment by law enforcement are standard practice in Europe.
When Americans become expatriates in other developed countries, their usual reaction is surprise at how much more advanced their new community functions. Whether it's gun control, abortion, national health insurance, public education, or retirement funding, the newly adopted country seems to do it better.
If more Americans realized how better their lives would be by emigrating, there would be a mass exodus out of the United States!
111
I totally agree. Americans need to get over this idea that we know best. Just go abroad and see how These issues are addressed in other developed nations.
We Americans think we know everything. We don't!
We Americans think we know everything. We don't!
26
For those curious about what expats from other countries think about living in America, I can think of two quotations from David Bowie and Ingrid Bergman.....they both said that America was "puritanical" in its attitude toward life styles (Bergman) and drugs (Bowie). Several other comments for this piece allude to a puritanical streak in America regarding drugs.
2
Sadly, probably the most efficient route to decriminalization of drugs is through the increase of the death rate among young whites related to drug abuse. Until it affects them, politicians are loathe to admit social ills need to be addressed humanely.
25
I believe the brilliant English essayist Jonathan Swift addressed the need for drugs especially emotion drowning pain killers in his 1729 culinary masterpiece a Modest Proposal. Mirrors are indeed painful places to visit often requiring something more powerful than a couple of martinis.
5
Addiction is not a crime, it is an illness.
Look what Portugal has accomplished by decriminalising drugs. Addiction rates have fallen dramatically and prisons have emptied. Organised crime looks to other activities as they can no longer create new business.
Look what Portugal has accomplished by decriminalising drugs. Addiction rates have fallen dramatically and prisons have emptied. Organised crime looks to other activities as they can no longer create new business.
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But the issue with prescription drugs is that it's the medical establishment, not organized crime, that's at the heart of the problem. Legalization will do nothing to fix that problem.
2