Are Drug Users Persecuted?

jillio said:
Actually, cocaine and meth are not physically addicting. Psychologically yes, but that is not physical dependance. The withdrawal symptoms a long term user experiences are psychological, not physical.
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:ty:
 
If harm to society is your main concern, then legalizing opiates is the solution. It will reduce the addict need to steal/prostitute to support their habit. If they have a low cost supply, they pretty much normal and go about their business like everyone else.

btw, opiates are very boring drugs. Once the user gets a habit, they dont high anymore. In large doses, it just makes them sleepy.

It is nothing like the chaos of alcohol or other drugs.

jillio said:
If you are referring to opiate addicts, the have access to methadone and seboxone programs. Both clean, both minimize withdrawal symptoms. Both are monitored.

The problem with drug addiction (especially the opiates) is not the addiction to the drug itself, but the multitude of other health problems and social consequences that are connected to the addiction. Since the vast majority of opiate addicts are indigent, we as a society end up paying the cost of these consequences. We need to use a harm reduction model in dealing with this problem. But just mention a clean needle program, which has been shown to drastically reduce the negative consequences to both the addict and to society, and watch the conservatives turn blue.
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Doug5 said:
If harm to society is your main concern, then legalizing opiates is the solution. It will reduce the addict need to steal/prostitute to support their habit. If they have a low cost supply, they pretty much normal and go about their business like everyone else.

btw, opiates are very boring drugs. Once the user gets a habit, they dont high anymore. In large doses, it just makes them sleepy.

It is nothing like the chaos of alcohol or other drugs.
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That is a very dangerous assumption. Addicted or not, in large amounts death can result.
Whilst it is true that drug users can develop a ‘tolerance’ to many effects of the opioid drugs they are regularly taking, developing a tolerance to respiratory depression is a much slower process and even heavy or prolonged use does not mean that the drug taker is any less susceptible to falling victim to a death caused by depressed breathing.
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Drug Overdose - Opiate Withdrawal and Addiction
 
Doug5 said:
If harm to society is your main concern, then legalizing opiates is the solution. It will reduce the addict need to steal/prostitute to support their habit. If they have a low cost supply, they pretty much normal and go about their business like everyone else.

btw, opiates are very boring drugs. Once the user gets a habit, they dont high anymore. In large doses, it just makes them sleepy.

It is nothing like the chaos of alcohol or other drugs.
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That is not the only social cost I am referring to. There is a list as long as your arm.
 
Is it any different than alcohol?

Some drunks kill people on the road, abuse their families, etc.

MAybe we should give alcohol prohibition another try. :roll:

jillio said:
That is not the only social cost I am referring to. There is a list as long as your arm.
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rockin'robin said:
What about crack cocaine and Meth? Addictive yes, but deathly if you stop?
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when the user stops they become extremely lethargic and depressed. They will sleep for days and eat a lot of food.

After a couple of weeks clean, they will start feeling better but will have brain fog and feel all muddled up
 
Babyblue said:
Bad thing about Methadone and opiates they also are addictive and can result in death as well.

If used properly and monitored, then yes... it can help wean an addict off of illegal drugs. I have dispensed enough methadone, oxycontin and other controlled drugs to know that it is also highly abused. Especially when you have an addict come in the Pharmacy crying and sobbing all over the counter because it is too early for a refil. Just like a dope addict coming in begging a dealer for a fix. I have seen it happen with my own two eyes, it is sad indeed.
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If youve personally experienced the misery theyre about to endure, you know how cruel and heartless drug criminalization is
 
Doug5 said:
when the user stops they become extremely lethargic and depressed. They will sleep for days and eat a lot of food.

After a couple of weeks clean, they will start feeling better but will have brain fog and feel all muddled up
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True. They sleep and eat alot because of the sleep deprivation they go through during a binge, and the fact that they fail to eat. But that is secondary to the presence of the drug.
 
Doug5 said:
Is it any different than alcohol?

Some drunks kill people on the road, abuse their families, etc.

MAybe we should give alcohol prohibition another try. :roll:
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Yep, quite a few more social consequences associated in IV drug abuse than with alcohol. But alcohol runs a close second.
 
Doug5 said:
which shows how the current drug policies are not working.
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Not exactly, but I agree that current drug policies are not working, nor will they ever work because they address the issue from the wrong perspective.
 
jillio said:
Not exactly, but I agree that current drug policies are not working, nor will they ever work because they address the issue from the wrong perspective.
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prohibition will never work. Some people like drugs and thats all there is to it. And criminals will use it to exploit them to make money.

Look at cigarettes. Its the stupidest drug their is. Dont get you very high if at all, addictive and people continue to smoke it. People should know better but they do it anyway
 
Doug5 said:
and how does injecting heroin of unknown purity help anything?
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What does that have to do with anything? They would never legalize heroin in this country. The best you are going to get is the opiate substitutes like seboxone and methadone.

So you tell me...how does it help anything?
 
Doug5 said:
prohibition will never work. Some people like drugs and thats all there is to it. And criminals will use it to exploit them to make money.

Look at cigarettes. Its the stupidest drug their is. Dont get you very high if at all, addictive and people continue to smoke it. People should know better but they do it anyway
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Who is talking about prohibition? I'm talking about a harm reduction model.:dunno2:

By your logic, you could also say that some people will always want to have sex with little kids, so let's just legalize it.
 
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