How Do You Feel About The Current Heroin Epidimic?

[mangudai954]

^ Its an unorthodox approach as far as the Western world is concerned. But when you look at countries like Portugal that legalized the possession of drugs and focused on treatment and therapy instead of criminalizing offenders, they saw not only a drop in drug use among young people but a drastic increase in the number of people seeking treatment to get off of them. A big problem is criminalizing drug offenders is big business, a cycle that is perpetuated by lobbyists that represent the pharmaceutical and private prison industries who would lose a lot of money otherwise.

 

[cards93]

I must of missed that.

thats hard to believe. So you saying I have an %80 chance to be addicted to heroin after being prescribed prescription pills even if i followed the instructions my doctor gave me. if thats the case everyone should damn near be shooting up. or have 80% of heroin users received a prescription they abused and didnt follow the instructions and became addicted decided to shoot up once the prescription ran out or the pill mills shut they doors on them but they trying to tie the two together to give them the benefit of the doubt because its effecting the white community now.

I met this white kid from boston who used to drive down to FL where im at just to hit up a walk in clinics just so he could get more pills to take back to boston. I dont blame the doctors or the drug dealers if you are intentionally seeking this high. Im going to serve you with the quickness making money hand over fist for your weakness.

I also remember this one person standing in CVS trying to refill his prescrip trembling and all and over heard the pharmacy guy said you used a 30 day supply in a week and was unable to refill his prescrip. How does that happen?

i've been on prescrip meds too.

but again im not an expert when it comes to heroin or addiction.

1. Just because someone 'follows directions' does not mean they cannot become addicted.
2. Doctors overprescribe all of the time.
3. Just because someone is seeking pills from florida clinics or doctor shopping, does not make it ok for those folks to provide that person with prescription pain killers. Doctors are and should be held to a higher standard.
4. Its very clear you have no basic knowledge on this situation and addiction in general. Do some research before you come in here spewing your uninformed nonsense.

 

[T Lo Sweater]

My views are pretty much in line with Dr. Carl Hart. Not only do I believe in treatment instead of incarceration, I am also against forced treatment. I do not see use or even habitual use of opiates as always being a problem that must be "solved."

I know many of you will say "but people are dying." Most opiate deaths involve poly substance abuse (speed balls which involve mixing opiates with an upper like meth or coke, improperly using anesthesia or mixing in alcohol or benzos or other downers),

The other driver of heroin related deaths is the fact that fentanyl is getting mixed into heroin. Fentanyl would not be on the streets were it not for the crack down on opiates. Fentanyl does not produce much euphoria but it depresses breathing much more so than heroin. Drug dealers cut heroin a great deal and they spike it with Fentanyl so that user feel opiated. So when someone died from a heroin overdoes it is likely the Fentanyl filler that killed them, a filler that would never be in heroin if it were legal.

We need to legalize and regulate all drugs, not just cannabis. If you want abstinence based therapy, you should be able to get it. If you want maintenance therapy, you should get it. If you want medical grade heroin that is not cut with unknown substances and clean needles to take that heroin, you should be able to get it.

Some of you will be horrifed by this idea but it begs the question, are you serious about negating the worst affects of heroin addiction or are you more concerned with controlling other people's behavior?

^ Its an unorthodox approach as far as the Western world is concerned. But when you look at countries like Portugal that legalized the possession of drugs and focused on treatment and therapy instead of criminalizing offenders, they saw not only a drop in drug use among young people but a drastic increase in the number of people seeking treatment to get off of them. A big problem is criminalizing drug offenders is big business, a cycle that is perpetuated by lobbyists that represent the pharmaceutical and private prison industries who would lose a lot of money otherwise.

It's crazy to me that doctors hand out oxy for wisdom teeth removal. Over here you get some acetaminophen and that's about it. Maybe codeine or tramadol depending on the doctor. When I had part of my right lung removed in surgery they had me on all types of opiates while I was at the hospital. Morphine, fentanyl, ... Few days later they released me with a few tabs of acetaminophen and that was it   Same thing with my kneecap stabilization surgery.
A few days isn't gonna do any harm even in a large dosage but prolonged use, even just a few weeks can trigger physical dependence in people. 

This man. All of this

 

[kingkoopa]

http://www.fortthomasmatters.com/2016/09/breaking-rollover-crash-on-i-471.html?m=1

Literally saw this happen on my way home from school. OD'd while driving. It's a daily thing on 471.

One of my best friends in high school just got out of jail this week for this stuff. Been sober so far, but can't afford rehab. Praying he stays strong.

Yeah, NKY, and SE Indiana are hot spots.

 

[Chopper]

Do yall even read? 80% of heroine users started with prescription pills.

thats hard to believe. So you saying I have an %80 chance to be addicted to heroin after being prescribed prescription pills even if i followed the instructions my doctor gave me.

 Did this dude just did this

 

[Grine]

Been on other side of the poll.That furl aka Dog Food has been an issue in my city since I could know.

Hell in 98, Cash Money glorified it. Hence BG and Turk. UNLV even made a song "Pocket Full of Furl".

My city walking looking like zombies. Seen fiends starting as young as 15 with my own eyes.

Too afraid of the time that came with it, so I never sold it. Seen it cook, package, and used.

Creepy and addict stuff.

 

[feeninlikejodeci]

KingKoopa, have you ever been 2 Hamilton, OH (20 mins north of Nati)? Most of the users are Female, and while it's terrible for their overall looks it does keep their weight in check.

I had about 4 bunkies in the County Jail who were involved, and to be honest they weren't that bad.

1st guy's main hustle was shoplifting video games from WalMart and takin em to Gamestop. He was kind of pathetic/whiny the first day, but later in the week as he got thru his withdrawal he came to life and was telling all kind of funny stories. He did end up getting sent to prison, but that was for a series of check forgeries. Since he had over 40 thefts on his rap sheet and never paid the fines on them, I came to view the court system as actually being very lenient.

2nd guy's heroin habit was more extreme, I never asked but I'd guess his was $200-300 a day. He also did the GameStop thing, and he'd also take Textbooks to Half Price Books, would drive around and take kids toys from peoples lawns and cash em in at stores like Once Upon a Child. The court system was pretty lenient with him too, he was looking at a year in prison but that's because he had a 6 yr old and hadn't paid any child support after him and his girlfriend split, and missed several probation meetings for his felony possession charge.

3rd guy wasn't a user, but a dealer - he said on a bad week he made 6500, and sometimes made as much 10k a week. He was pretty much a walking stereotype of a successful dealer, in terms of being focused, meticulous and super clean. While most of my bunkies would mop/sweep the cell once a week, he did it every day. He had culinary skills and people would bring their commissary items for him to make Tacos and stuff. Dozens of people would come up to our cell to hang out and talk about the NBA Playoffs. He'd show me his "fan mail", various females writing him about very sexual stuff, like giving him oral with ice cubes

4th guy was a user, and damn near the most popular person I've ever met in my life -out of the 100 people in our pod, he'd shot heroin with nearly half of them and was getting all kinds of favors. In his first week he had amassed an impressive collection of T-Shirts, pairs of socks, towels and coffee packets. He had the Trustees taking his laundry every day, and people in the kitchen smuggling treats for him. Despite being a junkie for 5+ years you could tell he was "The Man". He was also very mentally sharp - we stayed up three nights in a row recounting every hit rap song since 1995 He also knew extensive Sports Trivia, and could tell you where any NFL/MLB/NBA player went to College.

1st guy was 24 and his drug use started with heroin after graduating, 2nd guy was 28 and had been a heavy pothead years before he started and also mentioned he was a hellraiser in school always getting suspended/expelled. 3rd guy smoked a little weed and beer but seemed to have things under control to where it didn't get the best of him, his main thing was the money & women.

4th guy mentioned he had been a Xanax addict before he started heroin, which is interesting since it's not an opiate. He had done a year in DYS at age 15 when his friends got caught burglarizing a mom and pops shop, got sent to prison at 19 after him and his friends got caught playing around with a pistol and did a 2 year bid. Was 33 and didn't start heroin until his mid 20s.

Midway through his stay, a medical person came up to our cell and told him about a program where he'd take a weekly shot to block his opiate receptors, and if he agreed he'd be out of jail by the end of the week. He was very excited and was brainstorming the possibilities of using his existing network to sell dope and get his "high" from making money instead. About 3 days later a nurse showed up for an interview, and he found out he'd have to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings every day for 6 months in addition to the shot, so he said screw it since he only had a few weeks left of his sentence anyways. :\

All in all, the Drug Scene is a pretty fascinating culture. People seem much more alive when they have something they are fully commmitted to, drugs or not. The Drug Scene gives them a sense of community and "being a part of something" which is missing from alot of people's life.

 

[ahat]

Canada is taking an interesting measure against this epidemic
https://news.vice.com/article/opioid-addicts-can-get-heroin-prescriptions-in-canada-now

I can speak for Toronto. Big problem, majority were oxy addicts but once they made that new one thats more expensive and has the gel coating and they couldnt crush and snort/smoke it they turned to cheaper hair on. Like homie posted before fentanyl also a problem up these ways, they be cuttin it with that **** (china white) and its way more addictive. ull see all types of junkies on the corner of a major intersection (in front a community center) shooting up and lighting up. Dirty needles, used condoms in kids playgrounds. The reason why coffee shops and fast food joints only allow customers to use the bathroom cuz junkies go in there to shoot up.

They tryna make safe injection sites which im all for. Rather them have a safe place to do their thing and hopefully kick the habit than be shooting in a kids park or OD in an alleyway. Its sad tho this 1 lady who was a user was the main advocate for the sites and i think it was less than a week after she spoke to the panel and gave her insights they found her dead in an alley from an OD.

 

[Comparison Ford]

This hits pretty close to home for me.  Had a really good friend die from an overdose back in November of last year.  The people he was with ended up dumping his body in a sump and he was found a few days later.  I've cut ties with a lot of friends due to them getting addicted and doing scummy things, but this kid was different.  He was always honest with me about his habits, never stole from me, and never put me in any compromising positions.  We stopped hanging out for obvious reasons, but I would always shoot him a text to check in and see how he was doing. 

After his death there was a lot of talk of "going after the dealer" for selling him the dope that he OD'ed on.  I kept my mouth shut at the time, but I don't support the whole "charge the dealer with murder" mentality.  You don't charge the dude at the liquor store with murder after a customer dies of alcohol poisoning.  The people that dumped his body rather than attempting to get him medical attention certainly deserve to have the book thrown at them, though.

This is going to sound heartless, but I can't say I feel sorry for him.  I loved the kid, but he made his own bed.  I feel bad for his family, friends, and loved ones, but he spent the last years of his life playing with fire.  I had plenty of opportunities to try dope and other opiates, but I stuck to weed, alcohol, and hallucinogens because I knew the potential consequences beforehand.  I love my family too much to cause that kind of hardship. I refused to be another statistic.  

 

[stephenb]

Yeah, NKY, and SE Indiana are hot spots.

Unfortunately all of KY is bad Done some quick research and realized KY,OH,And WVA are all in the top five for overdose deaths.Hopefully things like the ability to get Narcan without a prescription and the Good Samaritan Law will help save some lives.

 

[John Wick]

1. Just because someone 'follows directions' does not mean they cannot become addicted.
2. Doctors overprescribe all of the time.
3. Just because someone is seeking pills from florida clinics or doctor shopping, does not make it ok for those folks to provide that person with prescription pain killers. Doctors are and should be held to a higher standard.
4. Its very clear you have no basic knowledge on this situation and addiction in general. Do some research before you come in here spewing your uninformed nonsense.

But still at the end of the day no one forced you to take the pills or stick the needle in your arm im sure some people have general knowledge that prescription pills can be abused and addictive. You can always ask your doctor to prescribe you something different for the pain or shoot i know people who do teas home remedies before taking the doctors word on the pills

people always gotta blame someone else for their actions

and again im no expert on drugs or addiction but the thread is how do you "FEEL" about the current heroin epidemic and i feel no one forced a needle in your arm stuff been around for decades to know its not the move

I will just leave it at that

just my .02 cents.

 

[pushak513]

This new stuff I heard on the news last night here about turning in your dope and getting immunity and all this hilarious.. next time anyone gets pulled over just tell em your on your way to the PD to turn it in..walk away free . This problem has taken the life of 2 of my best friends and sent many more into rehab..its def a problem here but I don't see any way to stop it..

 

[kingkoopa]

KingKoopa, have you ever been 2 Hamilton, OH (20 mins north of Nati)?

Most of the users are Female, and while it's terrible for their overall looks it does keep their weight in check.

I had about 4 bunkies in the County Jail who were involved, and to be honest they weren't that bad.

1st guy's main hustle was shoplifting video games from WalMart and takin em to Gamestop. He was kind of pathetic/whiny the first day, but later in the week as he got thru his withdrawal he came to life and was telling all kind of funny stories. He did end up getting sent to prison, but that was for a series of check forgeries. Since he had over 40 thefts on his rap sheet and never paid the fines on them, I came to view the court system as actually being very lenient.

2nd guy's heroin habit was more extreme, I never asked but I'd guess his was $200-300 a day. He also did the GameStop thing, and he'd also take Textbooks to Half Price Books, would drive around and take kids toys from peoples lawns and cash em in at stores like Once Upon a Child. The court system was pretty lenient with him too, he was looking at a year in prison but that's because he had a 6 yr old and hadn't paid any child support after him and his girlfriend split, and missed several probation meetings for his felony possession charge.

3rd guy wasn't a user, but a dealer - he said on a bad week he made 6500, and sometimes made as much 10k a week. He was pretty much a walking stereotype of a successful dealer, in terms of being focused, meticulous and super clean. While most of my bunkies would mop/sweep the cell once a week, he did it every day. He had culinary skills and people would bring their commissary items for him to make Tacos and stuff. Dozens of people would come up to our cell to hang out and talk about the NBA Playoffs. He'd show me his "fan mail", various females writing him about very sexual stuff, like giving him oral with ice cubes

4th guy was a user, and damn near the most popular person I've ever met in my life -out of the 100 people in our pod, he'd shot heroin with nearly half of them and was getting all kinds of favors. In his first week he had amassed an impressive collection of T-Shirts, pairs of socks, towels and coffee packets. He had the Trustees taking his laundry every day, and people in the kitchen smuggling treats for him. Despite being a junkie for 5+ years you could tell he was "The Man". He was also very mentally sharp - we stayed up three nights in a row recounting every hit rap song since 1995

He also knew extensive Sports Trivia, and could tell you where any NFL/MLB/NBA player went to College.

1st guy was 24 and his drug use started with heroin after graduating, 2nd guy was 28 and had been a heavy pothead years before he started and also mentioned he was a hellraiser in school always getting suspended/expelled. 3rd guy smoked a little weed and beer but seemed to have things under control to where it didn't get the best of him, his main thing was the money & women.

4th guy mentioned he had been a Xanax addict before he started heroin, which is interesting since it's not an opiate. He had done a year in DYS at age 15 when his friends got caught burglarizing a mom and pops shop, got sent to prison at 19 after him and his friends got caught playing around with a pistol and did a 2 year bid. Was 33 and didn't start heroin until his mid 20s.

Midway through his stay, a medical person came up to our cell and told him about a program where he'd take a weekly shot to block his opiate receptors, and if he agreed he'd be out of jail by the end of the week. He was very excited and was brainstorming the possibilities of using his existing network to sell dope and get his "high" from making money instead. About 3 days later a nurse showed up for an interview, and he found out he'd have to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings every day for 6 months in addition to the shot, so he said screw it since he only had a few weeks left of his sentence anyways.

All in all, the Drug Scene is a pretty fascinating culture. People seem much more alive when they have something they are fully commmitted to, drugs or not. The Drug Scene gives them a sense of community and "being a part of something" which is missing from alot of people's life.

Yeah, my big cousin stay in Hamilton.

They call it Hamiltucky for a reason.

Them white ratchets

I remember tellin NT about Hamilton when Slim Jesus came out

 

[wavycrocket]

I'm from Baltimore. Heroin capital of the United States. "Ready rock", "Scramble", been an epidemic in the city for as long as I've been alive.

This is common riding round the city. The "Dope Fiend Lean"

View media item 2164015
I got mixed feelings about it. Mainly like how OP pointed out the difference in how it's being treated since it's affecting white america.

Heroin hit the poor write parts out the county (Essex, Dundalk, Middle River, Parkville) hard. And now, it's all over harford county. The white people barely get arrested...and are offered treatment, sympathy and understanding. Matched with legislation and real attention.

It's such a stark contrast to the neglect and imprisonment I saw affecting black people in the city.

The Drug laws have BEEN fkcd up for Black people. This epidemic...hopefully leads to an overhaul of the justice system.

Again, things only become a problem when it affects white people. Sht is crazy.


At 10:40

 

[teamjordan79]

My views are pretty much in line with Dr. Carl Hart. Not only do I believe in treatment instead of incarceration, I am also against forced treatment. I do not see use or even habitual use of opiates as always being a problem that must be "solved."

I know many of you will say "but people are dying." Most opiate deaths involve poly substance abuse (speed balls which involve mixing opiates with an upper like meth or coke, improperly using anesthesia or mixing in alcohol or benzos or other downers),

The other driver of heroin related deaths is the fact that fentanyl is getting mixed into heroin. Fentanyl would not be on the streets were it not for the crack down on opiates. Fentanyl does not produce much euphoria but it depresses breathing much more so than heroin. Drug dealers cut heroin a great deal and they spike it with Fentanyl so that user feel opiated. So when someone died from a heroin overdoes it is likely the Fentanyl filler that killed them, a filler that would never be in heroin if it were legal.

We need to legalize and regulate all drugs, not just cannabis. If you want abstinence based therapy, you should be able to get it. If you want maintenance therapy, you should get it. If you want medical grade heroin that is not cut with unknown substances and clean needles to take that heroin, you should be able to get it.

Some of you will be horrifed by this idea but it begs the question, are you serious about negating the worst affects of heroin addiction or are you more concerned with controlling other people's behavior?

QFE

 

[harlemtothebronx]

Again, things only become a problem when it affects white people. Sht is crazy.

 

[teamjordan79]

Again, things only become a problem when it affects white people. Sht is crazy.

Since white people are still a majority, it's not that crazy for that to be the 'national problem threshold'.

 

[jthagreat]

Again, things only become a problem when it affects white people. Sht is crazy.

Since white people are still a majority, it's not that crazy for that to be the 'national problem threshold'.

 

[truballa101]

More reasoning as to why heroin is more of a "white" issue:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...rimarily-affecting-white-people-a6834701.html

"Dr. Andrew Kolodny, the chief medical officer for The Phoenix House and a leading expert on opioid addiction, told Business Insider these trends might have a direct connection to some doctors allowing racist stereotypes to influence the way they prescribe opioid pain killers."

"What's happening is we're overexposing whites to prescription opioids," he said. "Doctors prescribe narcotics more cautiously to black patients. It appeared the doctor may be more worried about addiction or diversion of the pills onto the black market if the patient was black and if the patient is white, they're overprescribing."

 

[capital sb]

Big here where I live in VA. I know a few current and former addicts. Theft and break ins been increasing over the years cuz of that ********. Junkies out here begging in parking lots

There's been a few major busts the past couple years.

And as soon as the white kids started ODing they started throwing football numbers at dealers.

TRUTH . Trying to hit an old friend of mine with the death of someone who OD'd off of what he sold them.

 

[moe fab]

Just read some artikles on the dea banning 'kratom', an herb that is said to help overkome opioid addiktion. Big pharma n the prison industry definitely seem to have their hands on this n dont wanna see this go away. Instead of doin research n kase studies, they ban it altogether

 

[ahat]

 

[freshbottoms]

Still an epidemic if it's blacks dieing instead of whites?

 

[yaje1christ]

All addicts matter.

 

[handullz]

Where was all this coverage when I was stepping over zombies to get in my building back in the 90s??? Now that heroine is a suburban problem now it's a problem... foh

This.

Crack took my dad away from me and planks almost took my brother.

Didn't see this mass movement for healing then.