Poll of the Day > America to declare opioid crisis a national emergency

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-opioid-idUSKBN1AQ2AW

Y'know what would help get people off opioids? LEGALIIIZE
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What does that mean, legally?

For reference, Tobacco is 13.3x deadlier than Opioids according to the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm
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They should outlaw tobacco.
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Veedrock- posted...

They should outlaw tobacco.

i smoke cigarettes and I agree.
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In terms of micromorts you are more likely to die as a result of someone with in 3 meter radius having a cigarette than dying of car crashes, plane crashes, train crashes, earthquakes, tornadoes, meteors and dying of winning the lottery COMBINED
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Lokarin posted...

Y'know what would help get people off opioids? LEGALIIIZE

Makes zero sense. More drugs will cure a drug addiction? This shit isn't like making people smoke until they throw up, opoids will just straight-up kill you.

Lokarin posted...

For reference, Tobacco is 13.3x deadlier than Opioids according to the CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm

That's very long-term lethality, which is a false comparison. It's almost impossible to OD on tobacco whereas almost all opioid deaths are ODs.

Veedrock- posted...

They should outlaw tobacco.

They absolutely should. I'm also all for imposing harsher restrictions on alcohol. You should have a medical license to dispense alcohol and it should only be provided in a controlled environment.

Lokarin posted...

In terms of micromorts you are more likely to die as a result of someone with in 3 meter radius having a cigarette than dying of car crashes, plane crashes, train crashes, earthquakes, tornadoes, meteors and dying of winning the lottery COMBINED

Again, this is damage over time so it's a false comparison.
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"We're going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis," Trump said.

how they should spend the money: safe injection sites and treatment/rehab centers

how they will spend the money: policing and ER bills
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Zeus posted...

More drugs will cure a drug addiction?

In a recent test (it's on reddit somewhere, this one I don't have on me) switching from opioids to "medicinal" resulted in 89% of patients getting unaddicted to opiods.
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Lokarin posted...

For reference, Tobacco is 13.3x deadlier than Opioids according to the CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm

Wait, are you comparing total deaths of smokers to total death from opioids?
Because that's pretty silly what you did there.

shadowsword87 posted...

Wait, are you comparing total deaths of smokers to total death from opioids?
Because that's pretty silly what you did there.

It's annual. That's EVERY year
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Lokarin posted...

Zeus posted...

More drugs will cure a drug addiction?

In a recent test (it's on reddit somewhere, this one I don't have on me) switching from opioids to "medicinal" resulted in 89% of patients getting unaddicted to opiods.

What?

shadowsword87 posted...

Lokarin posted...

For reference, Tobacco is 13.3x deadlier than Opioids according to the CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm

Wait, are you comparing total deaths of smokers to total death from opioids?
Because that's pretty silly what you did there.

Oh, I didn't even check his link but that is crazy stupid.
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Good, ban that shit.

So many fucking junkies around here man. Then when the doctor cuts them off after getting them addicted they turn to heroin, overdose, and clog up the ER.

It doesn't even cure your pain, just makes you not give a shit for a couple hours.

Lokarin posted...

shadowsword87 posted...

Wait, are you comparing total deaths of smokers to total death from opioids?
Because that's pretty silly what you did there.

It's annual. That's EVERY year

You don't seem to understand how this works. You're erroneously comparing a product with an extremely high usage rate to a product with a far smaller usage rate then claiming that the product with the vastly higher usage is more deadly because more people die from it. Meanwhile the reason why more people die from it is because more people use it.

More importantly, the immediate danger is non-existent, that's a long-term damage. A guy who starts on opioids today could be dead in a week. A guy who starts smoking today can go decades before developing adverse health effects.
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Lokarin posted...

It's annual. That's EVERY year

Of course more people die from smoking, more people use it.

According to this: https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf
There are 2 million people, in America, who are addicted to opioids.
Compare that to the 36.5 million people who smoke.

Now remember the basic fact that everyone has to die at some point in their life. So the smoker is more likely to die from a smoking related problem (for obvious reasons), so they have more people.

Like, I get what you're trying to say, that smoking is bad, but you're using the wrong stats is all.

Zeus posted...

Lokarin posted...
Y'know what would help get people off opioids? LEGALIIIZE

Makes zero sense. More drugs will cure a drug addiction? This s*** isn't like making people smoke until they throw up, opoids will just straight-up kill you.

Many people using illegal drugs would like to quit but don't ask for help because they're afraid of going to jail. If the government really wanted to solve the problem, they'd decriminalize buying/using and just focus on arresting the sellers. But the DEA doesn't want the drug war to stop; they want to continue it in perpetuity because they make massive money off of civil asset forfeiture.
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winners do a ton of drugs
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The US needs to federally legalize all drugs and use the funds currently being used to lock up addicts and dealers to fund rehab and treatment facilities. It would so drastically reduce usage and related crime that it's not even funny. Just not having a single drug charge ruining a life alone is enough to create a huge boon for our country.
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Zeus posted...

Lokarin posted...

Zeus posted...

More drugs will cure a drug addiction?

In a recent test (it's on reddit somewhere, this one I don't have on me) switching from opioids to "medicinal" resulted in 89% of patients getting unaddicted to opiods.

What?

It's purer and has less addictive substances in it, or something like that. So they can detox on that until the addictive parts of the stuff they were on are out of their systems.

It also means that people are actually willing to seek help about it. As it is now, you ask for help and you'll be sent to jail with a massive fine.

https://youtu.be/wJUXLqNHCaI?t=4m39s

Also relevant:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao8L-0nSYzg
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Rasmoh posted...

The US needs to federally legalize all drugs and use the funds currently being used to lock up addicts and dealers to fund rehab and treatment facilities. It would so drastically reduce usage and related crime that it's not even funny. Just not having a single drug charge ruining a life alone is enough to create a huge boon for our country.

Very true. But the DEA, the private prison industry, and other powerful interests benefit from the status quo, so it's highly unlikely there will be the political will for massive overhaul. We can't even get marijuana taken off the Schedule 1 drug list, which is supposed to be for substances with no medicinal value whatsoever. Things are actually going in the opposite direction with a bill being introduced that would give the DEA much broader powers to ban substances and make it easier to prosecute people for those banned substances. And as long as these drugs are illegal, they can't be regulated or taxed. If someone's abusing painkillers they at least know what they're getting, but when you buy illegal street drugs, you have no idea what's in them. Banning known and well-understood substances also forces addicted people onto more exotic and untested substances that are more likely to kill. It's easy for people arguing to be dismissive toward the value of a drug addict's life, but those people are victims. Many have family who love them and want them to get help, but are afraid of getting them sent to jail instead. Hopefully someday enough Americans will stand united on reform that politicians will be forced to act.
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