The WAR on Drugs

[robert.]

Opioids are now the 3rd leading cause of death in Philadelphia.

[HONDO74]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/purdue-reaches-270-million-settlement-with-oklahoma-in-opioid-crisis-case-11553606534

So what does this settlement accomplish ? Does it make the drug epidemic in this country go away ?

Thousands of people in this country started on marijuana and switched to heroine, cocaine and fentanyl because their kicks kept getting harder to find and then they overdose.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/purdue-reaches-270-million-settlement-with-oklahoma-in-opioid-crisis-case-11553606534

So what does this settlement accomplish ? Does it make the drug epidemic in this country go away ?

Thousands of people in this country started on marijuana and switched to heroine, cocaine and fentanyl because their kicks kept getting harder to find and then they overdose.

It's called a start and there are a few 100 more pharmaceutical sources that are getting taken to court. A very large number of addicts have been created by the pharma companies. But then hit where it hurts in their wallets.

[rogruth]

I take up to three hydrocodone a day. Usually just one or two. I have never taken more than three in one day.
Arthritis is the major source of the pain that I have and has been for @ 35 years. Using hydrocodone has
enabled me to take part in many activities that I could not have done. I have not found anything that works
even half as well for me. If there is something that works as well and doesn't cost anymore I would be glad
to try it. But I suspect it wouldn't be long and itwould have the same reputation as what it replaced.

[HONDO74]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/purdue-reaches-270-million-settlement-with-oklahoma-in-opioid-crisis-case-11553606534

So what does this settlement accomplish ? Does it make the drug epidemic in this country go away ?

Thousands of people in this country started on marijuana and switched to heroine, cocaine and fentanyl because their kicks kept getting harder to find and then they overdose.

It's called a start and there are a few 100 more pharmaceutical sources that are getting taken to court. A very large number of addicts have been created by the pharma companies. But then hit where it hurts in their wallets.

Not really, they will just pay the money and raise the price of drugs and drive right on down that yellow brick road just like the tobacco companies when they got sued for billions of dollars. And where did the billions of dollars go that the states got for that. What did it resolve or fix.

And now the states are promoting marijuana because they want the tax dollars. Great.

The government has already made it more difficult to get these pain killers. Unfortunately there are some people that are suffering from enough pain that they live on these legal drugs. Other people just want to get high.

[HONDO74]

Marijuana-related ER visits climb at Colorado hospital
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-lega ... -hospital/

Five years after Colorado first legalized marijuana, a new study shows pot's bad effects are sending more people to the emergency room.

Inhaled marijuana caused the most severe problems at one large Denver area hospital. Marijuana-infused foods and candies, called edibles, also led to trouble. Patients went to the ER with symptoms such as repeated vomiting, racing hearts and psychotic episodes.

The study, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, stemmed from tales of tourists needing emergency care after gobbling too many marijuana gummies.

Three deaths in Colorado tied to edible products also prompted the study.

Emergency room records from Monte's hospital show a three-fold increase in marijuana cases since the state became the first to allow sales of recreational marijuana in January 2014. Nearly a third of patients were admitted to the hospital, evidence of severe symptoms, Monte said.

[rogruth]

If us old codgers would die sooner then we wouldn't be a problem for others to take care of so just let us die off and then there would be more money for the young addicts who seem to need it worse than us old farts,

[HONDO74]

Experts: Gillibrand’s opioid legislation is not 'the right way to do it'
https://news.yahoo.com/opioid-policy-20 ... news_index

Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s (D-NY) announced bipartisan legislation with Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) on opioids has been met with backlash on several levels.

Gillibrand announced her plan on Twitter, writing: “If we want to end the opioid epidemic, we must work to address the root causes of abuse. That’s why @SenCoryGardner and I introduced legislation to limit opioid prescriptions for acute pain to 7 days. Because no one needs a month’s supply for a wisdom tooth extraction.”

[Roy]

From what I've heard, it doesn't take anywhere near seven days, to get addicted to opioids. Some people are hooked, after the first dose.

One pernicious thing about addictive substances is that you have to take increasing amounts of it, to attain the same response. With certain substances, sooner or later, you're going to come up against the toxic dosage of these substances. Opioids definitely have toxic dosages.

[Roy]

I take up to three hydrocodone a day. Usually just one or two. I have never taken more than three in one day. Arthritis is the major source of the pain that I have and has been for @ 35 years. Using hydrocodone has enabled me to take part in many activities that I could not have done. I have not found anything that works
even half as well for me. If there is something that works as well and doesn't cost anymore I would be glad to try it. But I suspect it wouldn't be long and it would have the same reputation as what it replaced.

I'm sorry you have to deal with arthritis. Hopefully, we'll come up with better treatments for it, and eventually, a cure. I'm glad you have something that works for you, and that you can manage your intake of.

[Mitch]

If us old codgers would die sooner then we wouldn't be a problem for others to take care of so just let us die off and then there would be more money for the young addicts who seem to need it worse than us old farts,

Speak for yourself, Roger. I want to live long enough to be a problem to my kids!

[up148]

Marijuana-related ER visits climb at Colorado hospital
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/after-lega ... -hospital/

Five years after Colorado first legalized marijuana, a new study shows pot's bad effects are sending more people to the emergency room.

Inhaled marijuana caused the most severe problems at one large Denver area hospital. Marijuana-infused foods and candies, called edibles, also led to trouble. Patients went to the ER with symptoms such as repeated vomiting, racing hearts and psychotic episodes.

The study, published Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, stemmed from tales of tourists needing emergency care after gobbling too many marijuana gummies.

Three deaths in Colorado tied to edible products also prompted the study.

Emergency room records from Monte's hospital show a three-fold increase in marijuana cases since the state became the first to allow sales of recreational marijuana in January 2014. Nearly a third of patients were admitted to the hospital, evidence of severe symptoms, Monte said.

--------------------------------------------------------------
Had a niece who visited CO last year and since it was legal bought a MJ infused gummy bear. Knowing her personality (real control freak) she had no business messing with anything that affects her self-control or mental capacity and she went to the ER totally freaked out. Just ate the leg off the gummy bear and started hallucinating. I've been told todays MJ is nothing like what we had back in the day and is incredibly potent. Affects drivers, workplace safety and much more. And, regardless of what the wizards and professionals say...it easily leads to stronger drugs.

You never hear about these issues on the news or when states are promoting medicinal MJ. Look at those promoting legalization (we just went through it in OK and these people were all over the news) as well as the store owners. Very obvious they have and will use MJ whether its legal or not and have been for a long time. Stores owners try to say they are just helping society..........BS..........they're lining their pockets.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

One tiny point about the misuse of drugs, is that I find it an overly indulgent euphemism to refer to such self-abuse as a "disease." It is not a disease, something which has been contracted or which has befallen a poor, hapless, and hopeless victim of some virus or bacterium traveling around out there in the world. Drug abusers have made a DECISION to abuse the use of various drugs, and thus, abuse themselves; they did not catch a "disease."

Nobody deliberately goes out and exposes themselves to infections or some skin-eating organism, or polio, or influenza, for example. Sticking a needle into one's arm for a "thrill" is another matter, completely, in my unHO.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

One tiny point about the misuse of drugs, is that I find it an overly indulgent euphemism to refer to such self-abuse as a "disease." It is not a disease, something which has been contracted or which has befallen a poor, hapless, and hopeless victim of some virus or bacterium traveling around out there in the world. Drug abusers have made a DECISION to abuse the use of various drugs, and thus, abuse themselves; they did not catch a "disease."

So what all those people that get addicted to pain killers then? Their decision was not made by them, yet they are addicts and once addicted that switch in their head cannot be turned off. Some people's switch gets thrown on the 1st pill or shot, or iv drip.

A significant portion of the opiate crisis has been the result of over prescription of what are very effective, very cheap, and very dangerous drugs.

[rogruth]

If us old codgers would die sooner then we wouldn't be a problem for others to take care of so just let us die off and then there would be more money for the young addicts who seem to need it worse than us old farts,

Speak for yourself, Roger. I want to live long enough to be a problem to my kids!

Hey Mitch.
I am a problem for my Children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren and wouldn't want it any other way.
What I am really saying/meaning is that is what the younger generations would prefer. They may not say that but they think it.
I have always had a great time bugging my kids and theirs.
What irritates me is that because of eye problems I now need to rely on them more than I want to.

Have FUN.