The WAR on Drugs

[rex desilets]

A reminder:

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

― Alexander Fraser Tytler

We've been there for a while. Why is everone surprised at the way Congress works nowadays?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...........into bondage.”

My ducky is ready.

[HONDO74]

Drug overdose in now one of the leading causes of death in this country.

Question:
Should people with drug addictions be forced into rehab?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/06/2 ... rehab.html

[Tom Dempsey]

Drug overdose in now one of the leading causes of death in this country.

Question:
Should people with drug addictions be forced into rehab?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/06/2 ... rehab.html

No, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Drug overdose in now one of the leading causes of death in this country.

Question:
Should people with drug addictions be forced into rehab?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/06/2 ... rehab.html

No, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Forcing people into rehab has been tried as part of sentencing, parole, etc., and it fails - you have to want to break from an addiction to be successful.

[rogruth]

Drug overdose in now one of the leading causes of death in this country.

Question:
Should people with drug addictions be forced into rehab?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/06/2 ... rehab.html

No, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

Forcing people into rehab has been tried as part of sentencing, parole, etc., and it fails - you have to want to break from an addiction to be successful.

I agree. I stopped smoking after 50+ years because I wanted to.

[HONDO74]

U.S. deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide hit highest level since record-keeping began
https://news.yahoo.com/u-deaths-alcohol ... 04684.html

[rogruth]

Wouldn't per capita figures be more useful?
I would think that numbers would rise because there are more people.
I don't mean that we should not be concerned.

[rex desilets]

Normalizing drug deaths by population growth fails to ameliorate the increase shown. I suspect the increase is due to opioids, heroin, et al, for which we should thank the Chinese and the Mexican cartels

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Normalizing drug deaths by population growth fails to ameliorate the increase shown. I suspect the increase is due to opioids, heroin, et al, for which we should thank the Chinese and the Mexican cartels

Don't leave out our own pharma's contribution to making opioids available to the masses like candy.

However, the upswing of suicide is also concerning.

[HONDO74]

Normalizing drug deaths by population growth fails to ameliorate the increase shown. I suspect the increase is due to opioids, heroin, et al, for which we should thank the Chinese and the Mexican cartels

Don't leave out our own pharma's contribution to making opioids available to the masses like candy.

Pharma had a lot of accomplices called doctors who wrote the prescriptions.

[up148]

Heard yesterday that Purdue (maker of Oxycontin) is exploring bankruptcy to protect it from the 1000 lawsuits filed against it.

I don't like that, but also feel many of the prescribed users needed to use some discretion (reminds me of cigarette smokers saying they didn't know they were dangerous 10-20 years ago). So, we'll have to see where this shakes out.

BH

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Normalizing drug deaths by population growth fails to ameliorate the increase shown. I suspect the increase is due to opioids, heroin, et al, for which we should thank the Chinese and the Mexican cartels

Don't leave out our own pharma's contribution to making opioids available to the masses like candy.

Pharma had a lot of accomplices called doctors who wrote the prescriptions.

True. And pharmacists that knew all too well that the amounts passing through their hands was well beyond reason. All complicit.

[Roy]

Normalizing drug deaths by population growth fails to ameliorate the increase shown. I suspect the increase is due to opioids, heroin, et al, for which we should thank the Chinese and the Mexican cartels

Don't leave out our own pharma's contribution to making opioids available to the masses like candy.

Recently saw a show about this. Previously, the FDA recommended opioids only for short-term use. Just before the opiod crisis, under pharma pressure, they changed the wording to include long-term use - in spite of the lack of science to justify the change.

However, the upswing of suicide is also concerning.

Post-discharge military suicides may account for the rise.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/purdue-rea ... 1553606534