News Are Heroin Overdoses Increasing in Maine Due to Cheaper Prices?

[turbo]

Maine has always been a place where prescription pain-killers are popular with junkies. Home invasions (looking for pain-killers and money) can attest to that. A new wrinkle is that heroin is now cheaper than Oxycodone and Oxycontin. The quality and strength of heroin is not controlled, and can't be trusted to adhere to anywhere near the standards of prescription drugs. I fear that overdose deaths will become more common.

What's one less junkie, some might ask. They are people with addictions, and they may actually be talented and have a lot to offer to our society. We can't just toss them into the ditch.

 

[dipole]

If there's a steady supply available, won't people be less likely to overdose? I would think most overdoses happen when an addict relapses or hasn't had access to their fix, so when they finally do they go overboard and kill themselves.

 

[lisab]

Maine has always been a place where prescription pain-killers are popular with junkies. Home invasions (looking for pain-killers and money) can attest to that. A new wrinkle is that heroin is now cheaper than Oxycodone and Oxycontin. The quality and strength of heroin is not controlled, and can't be trusted to adhere to anywhere near the standards of prescription drugs. I fear that overdose deaths will become more common.

What's one less junkie, some might ask. They are people with addictions, and they may actually be talented and have a lot to offer to our society. We can't just toss them into the ditch.

I agree addicts aren't "disposable people". But, unfortunately, I've known a lot of addicts. Successful treatment *must* start with them, and that is soooooo difficult.

 

[SteamKing]

If there's a steady supply available, won't people be less likely to overdose? I would think most overdoses happen when an addict relapses or hasn't had access to their fix, so when they finally do they go overboard and kill themselves.

If the stuff is cheap, you'll get more people wanting a taste who haven't tried it before. If they don't know what they're doing, or if they are dealing with high purity stuff, the likelihood that an OD will happen increases. And, like PSH and others who relapse into using after being clean, ODs then are likely to occur.

 

[Evo]

I've known way more addicts that died or remained addicts than those that cleaned up. Way more. Very sad that they can't help themselves and many do not want help. They prefer being stoned. Of all of the heroine addicts I've known (heroin was the hard drug of choice when I was in school, so there were quite a few), only one kicked it and stayed clean, the others od'd or wound up in prison.

 

[Enigman]

I agree addicts aren't "disposable people".

Probably not...

 

[Evo]

Probably not...

The difference here is recreational drugs and life destroying drugs like heroin and meth, these people didn't do heroin or meth. Do you know any heroine or meth addicts? I did.

 

[dipole]

If the stuff is cheap, you'll get more people wanting a taste who haven't tried it before. If they don't know what they're doing, or if they are dealing with high purity stuff, the likelihood that an OD will happen increases. And, like PSH and others who relapse into using after being clean, ODs then are likely to occur.

You are claiming the main factor in people not trying herione is the cost? That's probably one of the least significant factors. And besides, if that's really the main reason you aren't using herione, then you're likely to be using crack, meth or some other drug which is cheaper and far worse.

 

[SteamKing]

It's heroin, not herione.

Look, when cocaine was big, it was $100 a gram. When crack came on the scene, a couple of rocks would set you back maybe $10. Which drug do you think became more popular? Which drug would someone in high school be likely to try first?

Yes, drugs follow the same economic laws which apply to every other product. When the price drops, the market expands. Heroin used to be expensive in the 1970s due to a number of factors: limited distribution confined to large cities, some reluctance to handle it, heavy penalties for using and distributing, no domestic source of production, etc. There was also a stigma associated with it, even in the drug community. If you were on H, you were a hard core user, period, and the fact that one could become physically addicted did not help this perception. Now, the perception has changed. If you do H, you're not a bottom feeder like all those meth heads. That's not to say that crack, meth, cocaine, sniffing glue, huffing paint, licking frogs, whatever will completely disappear, but certain drugs will be more glamorous than others at any given time.

Even though drugs like marijuana have recently been legalized in some states like Colorado, the legal weed can cost upwards of $400 an ounce because of the taxes added. A lot of people still purchase weed on the black market in Colorado, where no taxes are collected and the price is a fraction of the legal stuff. Even dope heads know how to stretch a buck.

 

[Enigman]

The difference here is recreational drugs and life destroying drugs like heroin and meth, these people didn't do heroin or meth. Do you know any heroine or meth addicts? I did.

(Mmm... I'm guessing coffee doesn't count, does it? )
The point I was trying to make (clumsily perhaps ...)was addicts shouldn't be seen as disposable- some may just turn out to be good or at least salvageable.
Giving up on them doesn't exactly seem to be according the social morals... or did they change again while I was hibernating?
EDIT: Just saw your previous post (I crossposted it seems) Are you arguing its okay to give up on addicts who use methamphtamines or heroin, in view of the low rehabilitation rate?

 

[lisab]

(Mmm... I'm guessing coffee doesn't count, does it? )
The point I was trying to make (clumsily perhaps ...)was addicts shouldn't be seen as disposable- some may just turn out to be good or at least salvageable.
Giving up on them doesn't exactly seem to be according the social morals... or did they change again while I was hibernating?
EDIT: Just saw your previous post (I crossposted it seems) Are you arguing its okay to give up on addicts who use methamphtamines or heroin, in view of the low rehabilitation rate?

Well, it's a low return on investment, and money is tight. Rather than see my tax dollars spent on rehab, I'd like to see them spent on education. Or infrastructure.

If I were to run for office, that'd be my motto: Fix Pot Holes, Not Pot Heads !

 

[Evo]

Are you arguing its okay to give up on addicts who use methamphtamines or heroin, in view of the low rehabilitation rate?

No, simply stating an observation.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Given the prevalence of heroin use in the US and the difficulty in addicts being able to beat their addiction, perhaps it may be high time to consider harm reduction strategies such as supervised heroin assisted treatment as is now offered in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany and in the cities of Vancouver and Montreal in Canada.

From a quote on Wikipedia,

"A German study of long-term heroin addicts demonstrate that diamorphine (the medical term for heroin) was significantly more effective than methadone in keeping patients in treatment and in improving their health and social situation. Many participants were able to find employment, some even started a family after years of homelessness and delinquency".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_reduction#Heroin_maintenance_programmes

(the article also provides citations to the relevant papers).

I can imagine that such medically supervised heorin treatment programs will also likely lead to reductions in ODs as well as limiting the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C (due to reduction in the sharing of needles).

 

[nsaspook]

Growing up an addicted older brother that stole money and heart pain medications from his own grandmother, destroyed any relationship with his children and had to be completely banished from any contact with family until he finally sobered up 30 years later when he almost died has been my personal observation of the horrors of opiate addiction. Sorry to say but it might have been better for all those around him if he OD'd when he was younger because my interaction with him over the years has made me believe that rehab for those not on the edge of death is just not effective.

Maintenance might be a limited option in reducing crimes committed to obtain the drugs but the wasted lives still will sicken the society as a whole.

 

[klimatos]

I'm with Lisab on this. In the best of all possible worlds, with unlimited funds, spending money on hard drug rehab might be a desirable option. In our real world with an abundance of more pressing priorities, I am against it. Given the choice of providing a poor child with education or providing an addict with drugs, I will choose the former every time. In today's economy, unfortunately, we don't seem to be able to do both.

 

[JonDE]

I'm with Lisab on this. In the best of all possible worlds, with unlimited funds, spending money on hard drug rehab might be a desirable option. In our real world with an abundance of more pressing priorities, I am against it. Given the choice of providing a poor child with education or providing an addict with drugs, I will choose the former every time. In today's economy, unfortunately, we don't seem to be able to do both.

I don't know if this is really an answer though. In that I'm not sure that cutting money for rehab would actually save any money.

More than two-thirds of local jail inmates (68%) were found to be dependent on drugs or alcohol or abusing them, according to a 2002 survey of men and women held in local jails.

http://www.bjs.gov/content/dcf/duc.cfm

I would have to imagine that this is higher then the average in the population, although a lot would depend on how the survey was worded. Is paying for them to be in jail cheaper then paying for them to be in rehab?

 

[nitsuj]

It's heroin, not herione.

Look, when cocaine was big, it was $100 a gram. When crack came on the scene, a couple of rocks would set you back maybe $10. Which drug do you think became more popular? Which drug would someone in high school be likely to try first?

Yes, drugs follow the same economic laws which apply to every other product. When the price drops, the market expands. Heroin used to be expensive in the 1970s due to a number of factors: limited distribution confined to large cities, some reluctance to handle it, heavy penalties for using and distributing, no domestic source of production, etc. There was also a stigma associated with it, even in the drug community. If you were on H, you were a hard core user, period, and the fact that one could become physically addicted did not help this perception. Now, the perception has changed. If you do H, you're not a bottom feeder like all those meth heads. That's not to say that crack, meth, cocaine, sniffing glue, huffing paint, licking frogs, whatever will completely disappear, but certain drugs will be more glamorous than others at any given time.

Even though drugs like marijuana have recently been legalized in some states like Colorado, the legal weed can cost upwards of $400 an ounce because of the taxes added. A lot of people still purchase weed on the black market in Colorado, where no taxes are collected and the price is a fraction of the legal stuff. Even dope heads know how to stretch a buck.

This post has the most amount of stereotyping I've ever seen in a single post on this forum, just full of opinionated non-sense.

lol "Even dope heads know how to stretch a buck."

what's your problem with "dope heads"?

 

[nsaspook]

what's your problem with "dope heads"?

Have you every had any interaction with a heroin addict that has a 'Jones' for the drug? The only thing that stops them from mass murder for the drug is the pathetic loss of mental and physical coordination. They are the most pathetic creatures on the planet.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jonesin

 

[nitsuj]

Have you every had any interaction with a heroin addict... They are the most pathetic creatures on the planet.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jonesin

they are, are they.

 

[nitsuj]

The difference here is recreational drugs and life destroying drugs like heroin and meth, these people didn't do heroin or meth. Do you know any heroine or meth addicts? I did.

Didn't know coke was a recreational drug lol

And I'm pretty suspicious of Freud maybe having tried heroin in some form or another.

 

[nitsuj]

Growing up an addicted older brother that stole money and heart pain medications from his own grandmother, destroyed any relationship with his children and had to be completely banished from any contact with family until he finally sobered up 30 years later when he almost died has been my personal observation of the horrors of opiate addiction. Sorry to say but it might have been better for all those around him if he OD'd when he was younger because my interaction with him over the years has made me believe that rehab for those not on the edge of death is just not effective.

Maintenance might be a limited option in reducing crimes committed to obtain the drugs but the wasted lives still will sicken the society as a whole.

I find it odd you cannot segregate the heroin addiction from your own "blood". You understand the "self" is the sum of the person. I totally appreciate if you "hate" heroin and what it can do to a person, I find it sad you throw the baby out with the bath water...especially when it's your own family.

No doubt the experience of being high on heroin and then not...is not something we can empathize with much, but surely you've seen just how powerful the addiction is. I've read that peeps who have been clean for many years still call it "one day at a time". Geezz why don't they just stop eh?

 

[nsaspook]

they are, are they.

It's hard to express the loathing I have for them. They suck the empathy from your soul trying to help them live when they don't care about living.

 

[nsaspook]

I find it odd you cannot segregate the heroin addiction from your own "blood". You understand the "self" is the sum of the person. I totally appreciate if you "hate" heroin and what it can do to a person, I find it sad you throw the baby out with the bath water...especially when it's your own family.

I've have friends stuck on the needle also. Spent time in the golden triangle in the 70s and lost 3 shipmates to overdoses in a weeks time. In my case the 'person' was not my brother while hooked on the drug, he only saw us as a means to get more dope. I don't think that drugs should be banned but let's not be naive about the effects of some drugs like heroin on the person.

 

[SteamKing]

This post has the most amount of stereotyping I've ever seen in a single post on this forum, just full of opinionated non-sense.

lol "Even dope heads know how to stretch a buck."

what's your problem with "dope heads"?

I notice you did not cite any particular problems with my posts or dispute anything specific. You are entitled to your opinions, but I'll stick with the facts.

It's a fact that cocaine powder at one time was a relatively expensive drug and still is. When crack was introduced, it was much cheaper than cocaine powder. There's a reason the movies have yuppie bankers and Wall Street types snorting coke, while the underclasses smoke crack: the Wall Streeters could afford to pay $100 a gram which a street person couldn't afford.

The cartels which produce cocaine do so because the profits they reap are staggering. In 2004, approx. 590 metric tons of cocaine were seized globally, with an estimated street value of almost US $60 billion. It's hard to say what the total global production of cocaine is, but probably for every kilogram seized, one kilogram gets to the consumer. Even with such losses, the cartels are still fabulously wealthy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine

If dope heads stay away from me, I'll stay away from them.

 

[lisab]

I've have friends stuck on the needle also. Spent time in the golden triangle in the 70s and lost 3 shipmates to overdoses in a weeks time. In my case the 'person' was not my brother while hooked on the drug, he only saw us as a means to get more dope. I don't think that drugs should be banned but let's not be naive about the effects of some drugs like heroin on the person.

Hear, hear.

I've had several people close to me go "to the dark side". It's pure hell, and if you're a little smart and a lot lucky, you won't get pulled down into hell with them.

It was really heart-wrenching to witness the toll on the real victims of this tragedy - their kids - as their lives get blown to bits, because daddy is a meth head and their drugged-out mommy committed suicide.

 

[Evo]

I find it odd you cannot segregate the heroin addiction from your own "blood". You understand the "self" is the sum of the person. I totally appreciate if you "hate" heroin and what it can do to a person, I find it sad you throw the baby out with the bath water...especially when it's your own family.

No doubt the experience of being high on heroin and then not...is not something we can empathize with much, but surely you've seen just how powerful the addiction is. I've read that peeps who have been clean for many years still call it "one day at a time". Geezz why don't they just stop eh?

Nitsuj, apparently you do not actually have close friends or family addicted to heroin or meth. Or even know anyone addicted to either. You say "you've read". You are not qualified to post about this, sorry, so please refrain from telling people that have dealt with it how they should feel and act.

 

[mheslep]

Vermont seems to having the worst of the heroin problem, a rampaging "epidemic" there, where a local farmers market has less visitors Saturday morning than the nearby health clinic on free needle day.

Down and Out in Vermont

"the problem, as Chief Michael Schirling said recently, is not confined to Burlington. It is, he said, “in every town, every hamlet, and every back road in Vermont.”
...
There are so many programs. So much assistance. This is a good place to be an addict and a single mom.”

 

[turbo]

Northern New England is experiencing a real problem. Having been a musician for decades, I have seen my share of opiate addicts (occupational hazard). Nothing of this magnitude, though. Heroin is now much cheaper than pills and it's easier to get than the pills.

 

[Chronos]

My daughter was a heroin addict. She told me. I tried to turn her around for years. I failed. She died of an overdose a couple years ago. I will take that to my grave.

 

[Astronuc]

My daughter was a heroin addict. She told me. I tried to turn her around for years. I failed. She died of an overdose a couple years ago. I will take that to my grave.

I'm sorry for your loss and offer my condolences.

 

[Astronuc]

This post has the most amount of stereotyping I've ever seen in a single post on this forum, just full of opinionated non-sense.

lol "Even dope heads know how to stretch a buck."

what's your problem with "dope heads"?

I do have a problem with guys (addicts) who pimp their wives, or parents (addicts) who pimp (sell) their kids, for money to buy drugs.

 

[fras]

Just wanted to share a story of how drug abuse can lead to horrible acts.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/20619030/mum-raped-her-own-children-while-others-watched/

Webb denied committing any rapes, but reportedly told authorities that she used methamphetamines, and would sometimes trade food stamps for the drug.

Someone addicted to a drug is dangerous from what I've seen, and the stories I've heard from other people.

However, will legalizing and regulation help? Like someone mentioned before the street value price will always beat out the market price.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsu...-more-than-black-market-pot-for-now-at-least/

http://reason.com/blog/2013/11/06/voters-make-marijuana-colorados-most-hea

 

[StrayCatalyst]

I've driven a cab in a large city - I was pretty familiar with junkies. They're human, but their addiction becomes the most important thing - it eclipses all else, in all too many cases.

I had people offer me sex, for enough money to buy a rock. I've had people try to rob me for the same amount of money. I've even had junkies who thought they could convince me to help beat up pushers to rob them!

Imprisoning junkies is harsh, and doesn't help in the long term unless there's treatment in addition to incarceration. Treatment can only work if they want to be clean more than they want the next fix - visit an NA meeting in your area and you'll meet many, some of whom have been clean for decades but still go to treatment to stay clean.

No, they aren't disposable people - but the addiction is often a stronger motivator than anything else, so they're people who are sometimes unable to do anything that isn't supporting their addictions. Theft, prostitution, identity theft, welfare fraud, etc - are just ways to have money for the next fix.

 

[nitsuj]

Nitsuj, apparently you do not actually have close friends or family addicted to heroin or meth. so please refrain from telling people that have dealt with it how they should feel and act.

Evo, I didn't even remotely tell anyone how to feel or act. Don't put your made up interpretation on me.

I said more less, I found it odd that just as the addiction over took a person so too the brother only saw the addiction. You're absolutely right, I've had the pleasure of never knowing such an addict. Which is why my comment read the way it did..."I find it odd that..."

Just as I wouldn't place holistic blame on a mentally ill person who is rude in public, I wouldn't attribute all actions of an addict as being made clearly & thoughtfully, they're "ill".

 

[nitsuj]

I do have a problem with guys (addicts) who pimp their wives, or parents (addicts) who pimp (sell) their kids, for money to buy drugs.

Surely it's not specifically that the money is spent on drugs that upsets you, unless you're suggesting it's okay to do that if the money is spent on a telescope or new car.

 

[Evo]

Evo, I didn't even remotely tell anyone how to feel or act. Don't put your made up interpretation on me.

I'm referring to all of your posts in this thread.

 

[nitsuj]

I'm referring to all of your posts in this thread.

I just read them and still not sure...but anyways I hope you can see the irony in you feeling I'm telling people how to feel about addicts since I have never been friends with one and how that would mean I'm not "qualified" to post my point of view in a physics forum thread on the topic.

Evo have you ever been a heroin or meth addict?

Very sad that they can't help themselves and many do not want help. They prefer being stoned. Of all of the heroine addicts I've known only one kicked it and stayed clean, the others od'd or wound up in prison.

you've heard of methadone being used to kick a heroin addiction right? Perhaps you believe they are addicted to being stoned...lol qualified.

 

[Evo]

you've heard of methadone being used to kick a heroin addiction right? Perhaps you believe they are addicted to being stoned...lol qualified.

You just do not have any idea what you are talking about, you appear to just be throwing out whatever pops into your head, you do this often.

Since you have no experience with actual addicts, then I suggest that you do some reading and educate yourself before posting, you are detracting from the discussion in this thread.

It is relatively common for MMT patients to continue using heroin, other drugs such as cocaine or marijuana, and alcohol after admission to treatment. This reflects the long history of use, the complexity of patients’ situations and reasons for using drugs, and the biological basis of addiction. Many patients in treatment do not have complete control over their addictions at all times.

http://www.cdc.gov/idu/facts/methadonefin.pdf

 

[nitsuj]

You just do not have any idea what you are talking about, you appear to just be throwing out whatever pops into your head, you do this often.

Evo I'm not sure what makes you feel you have the right to make those assertions, or those below regarding heroin addicts;

Very sad that they can't help themselves and many do not want help. They prefer being stoned.

again, there is a huge difference between "I've been friends with heroin addicts." and having been one or working with them on a daily basis in a recovery context.

I've read enough and watched enough about addiction, and in this case specifically heroin (triggered by Canada's willingness for injection sites) to be able to say the addict is NOT the addiction.

You however are saying they are the addiction. That's your opinion and that's fine. No need to take it to the point of slandering me as someone who is "throwing out whatever pops into your head" and that I do this often.

nice linky, but am unsure what your point is with it.

but I do like how the quote you posted says this blurp

"biological basis of addiction" An addiction which of course you "wrote off" as "Prefer being stoned". Sure Evo, heroin addiction is a preference.

 

[nsaspook]

Just as I wouldn't place holistic blame on a mentally ill person who is rude in public, I wouldn't attribute all actions of an addict as being made clearly & thoughtfully, they're "ill".

I did see it as an illness but even the mental illness of a person is not an excuse to let them ruin the innocent lives of family. If you love someone you come to realization that love won't save them after several calls from an ER room or the police if they don't love themselves or life more than the drug. Heroin addiction is a surrender to death long before your time and I saw little that was clear or thoughtful other than the desire for a high. The "basis of addiction" was irrelevant to me, all I saw was the harm it caused and the need to stop it.

 

[Evo]

"biological basis of addiction"[/I] An addiction which of course you "wrote off" as "Prefer being stoned". Sure Evo, heroin addiction is a preference.

Yes, many prefer being stoned as they will get help, get better, then go right back because they "prefer being stoned", which you don't understand because you haven't lived around these people. They know what it is doing to them and those around them, but it was actually an ex boyfriend that told me the reason he couldn't stay clean was because he "preferred being stoned".

BTW, I was around many of these people daily as they destroyed their lives. I held them as they shook violently, vomited, passed out.

You however are saying they are the addiction.

I said no such thing and don't even know what you mean, but you have been putting words into the mouths of a number of members, you need to stop.

 

[nitsuj]

I did see it as an illness but even the mental illness of a person is not an excuse to let them ruin the innocent lives of family. If you love someone you come to realization that love won't save them after several calls from an ER room or the police if they don't love themselves or life more than the drug. Heroin addiction is a surrender to death long before your time and I saw little that was clear or thoughtful other than the desire for a high.

I couldn't imagine what it's like to try so hard to "reach" a loved one to literally save their life and only have it thrown back at you. I agree completely heroin is just awful and sucks the life out of the user when abused. Heroin in particular. I also can't imagine how a desire for a drug could be stronger then that for sex, food, love, socializing ect. A hellish confinement.

Not sure I agree with the wording that it's a desire for a high, as much as it is a desire for the heroin itself and the chemical re-balance it offers the addict. Surely if a heroin addict seeking treatment was offered a pill that forever removed their addiction and opportunity to ever feel the high from heroin they'd take it...when offered on a "good day".

 

[nitsuj]

Yes, many prefer being stoned as they will get help, get better, then go right back because they "prefer being stoned", which you don't understand because you haven't lived around these people. They know what it is doing to them and those around them, but it was actually an ex boyfriend that told me the reason he couldn't stay clean was because he "preferred being stoned".

Not to be too funny, but Dr. Phil says that'd be the addiction talking.

Would you be happier if I found something written by someone who is "qualified" that claims that once an addict always an addict? Would a "former" heroin addict suffice?

Evo, something tells me if heroin didn't exist that person would still have a preference for the "feel good" easy street that drugs provide, that said I've never been a heroin addict who stopped using; and lean more towards the thinking once an addict always an addict. None the less Evo that's your experience and choice to take his actions as being made clearly and thoughtfully, free of any coercion from past experience.

 

[russ_watters]

Ultimately, "preferring to be stoned" just means being addicted and the root cause (chemical or psychological) doesn't matter much because it has little impact on the problem. You can have sympathy for an addict but still decide they need to be excluded from your life. That decision is based on the external realities of the effects of the addition, not the internal cause.

 

[nitsuj]

I said no such thing and don't even know what you mean, but you have been putting words into the mouths of a number of members, you need to stop.

Didn't say you said it Evo, said "you are saying." If you want I can go on to explain the grammatical difference between the two.

Anyways Evo I see I'm upsetting you posting in your "sandbox". I'll leave it be.

 

[Evo]

Didn't say you said it Evo, said "you are saying." If you want I can go on to explain the grammatical difference between the two.

Anyways Evo I see I'm upsetting you posting in your "sandbox". I'll leave it be.

Thank you. You should try to be more considerate of those that have experienced dealing with an addict first hand, you are entitled to your opinion, but listen to what people that have dealt with it are saying, ok? Your flippant attitude isn't helping your case. Some of the people that have posted have suffered a lot.

 

[klimatos]

Is paying for them to be in jail cheaper then paying for them to be in rehab?

Unfortunately, putting them into rehab does not keep them out of jail. If it did, I would agree with the value of rehab.

 

[nsaspook]

I don't think all current or former heroin addicts are devils (Russell Brand is just an idiot IMO) but most started taking heroin by choice knowing it's deadly addictive and loved that drugged up feeling until they were hooked. The rates of death from overdose from all drugs is now greater than traffic accidents or gun deaths in the US. I've seen data of more than 16,000 overdose deaths just from prescription opioids each year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26067987

 

[Astronuc]

"The death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has brought new attention to the resurgence of heroin in America and the potentially disastrous effects of substance abuse."

http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/07/the-many-faces-of-addiction/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/nyregion/hoffmans-heroin-points-to-surge-in-grim-trade.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/a...terrible-heroin-deaths-in-the-shadows/283533/

Moyers: Portrait of Addiction
http://billmoyers.com/content/moyers-on-addiction-close-to-home/

Surely it's not specifically that the money is spent on drugs that upsets you, unless you're suggesting it's okay to do that if the money is spent on a telescope or new car.

No, it's the callous and depraved indifference of those who would harm (pimp) their spouses or children for drugs or money to buy drugs. Those spouses and children are not only raped, but they are exposed to a variety of diseases, including AIDS and hepatitis, and in some cases, they may be drugged.

In one case, a guy used to inject (possibly with contaminated syringes) his wife to knock her out, and sell her to other men for their fun. (As far as I know the guy is nearly dead from AIDS and still doing drugs). In another case, a guy injected his daughter while he was high. She died of an overdose, and the father was oblivious to the fact the she had overdosed. She left behind two children who were placed in foster care.

"The fact is, though, that the sufferer must be a willing participant in their own recovery. They must not pick up a drink or drug. Just don’t pick it up — that’s all." ~ Russell Brand. I don't care much for his comedy, but he does seem to have an understanding of addiction and treatment. The addict must want to become well/recovered.


Edit/Update: The most recent federal data show 19,154 opioid drug deaths in 2010, with 3,094 involving heroin and the rest painkillers. . . . . Heroin deaths of teenagers and young adults tripled in the first decade of this century.


Alysa Ivy (21), died of an overdose May 2013. It was one of 7 deaths in 8 months in one small town.

Phil Drewiske, 23, who embraced recovery in prison after five overdoses and a dozen failed treatment programs, said he bore some responsibility for introducing heroin to the town. The son of local insurance agents, he started abusing painkillers stolen from his friend’s grandfather’s medicine cabinet at 13 and discovered heroin at 16, he said, “at a time when people portrayed it as a dirty drug for homeless people.”

He would buy heroin from Mexican dealers in Minneapolis, who gave him a prepaid cellphone and “chirped” him when his order was ready, he said. He then sold it in Hudson to, among others, Ms. Ivy’s boyfriend, “knowing it was going to Alysa” and to “another guy who died here.”

“I was getting heroin for these people, and even if it wasn’t their first time, it was close,” he said. “Being the one who enabled that is pretty humbling. You get a guilty conscience. Even though they made a decision.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/us/heroins-small-town-toll-and-a-mothers-pain.html

Now after Alysa's death, her mother has befriended Drewiske and some of Alysa's user-friends in order to understand them and their situation.

Alysa's use of heroin began with use of OxyContin following extraction of her wisdom teeth. "An outgoing, free-spirited artist who found Hudson boring after a childhood in the Dallas area, Alysa was seduced by the potent painkiller, developed an addiction and moved on to heroin."

 

[nsaspook]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...fc1-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html?hpid=z2

The likelihood that many prescription-drug abusers will switch to heroin because it is much cheaper is widely accepted among addiction treatment professionals and law enforcement officials.

Justice Department officials reject any direct linkage between the crackdown on prescription drugs and rising heroin use, although it was a Justice Department unit — the National Drug Intelligence Center — that warned that the campaign against illegal use of prescription drugs was fueling heroin use. The center, which closed in 2012, was separate from the unit employing prosecutors and agents who fight drug use.