Heroin epidemic?

[Anonymous]

There is a really good podcast on NPR Planet Money on this subject. It's chilling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why and what is this heroin epidemic? Is it only getting so much attention because it's afflicting middle class white people? How do so many people just start using heroin? Growing up in the 80's/90's, heroin was considered to be like crack and really hard core. I couldn't imagine middle class kids (of any race) doing it.

I don't think the large base of people dying are middle class. You can google many legitimate news articles on this topic for more information.

It's lower middle class people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right now is an ideal time in our history to release as many serious high level drug traffickers from federal prison as we possibly can. All are felons and many have committed firearm offenses too.

It's called "criminal justice reform" and it's a top priority for democrats at the moment.

Why release them? Don't we want them in prison?

[Anonymous]

There is a heartbreaking documentary called heroin USA or something on hbo that follows the story of young people on cape cod suffering from heroin addiction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:been happening for along time, things most parents don't think about when they turn a blind eye to casual drinking a pot smoking and then kids try to reach that original high and can never reach it so they turn to other things.

sure, argue alcohol and pot are harmless or your kid can handle it as long as they get good grades etc. Many other parents thought the same, fortunately I got help and i was just like your kids from the W schools and private schools.

Signed a recovering addict

Thus the heroin epidemics in Colorado and Washington and Oregon, right? All that legalized pot in OH, PA and WVA and MD must be pushing users for more more more.

Yes, WA has a huge heroin epidemic. I live in the eastern suburbs of Seattle - home to Microsoft, Google, Amazon techies and high HHI families. Three students in a 1400 student high school died in 2016. Heroin and meth are also issues for the lower class rural communities.

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/384106411.html

But the good news is that the tax payers in Seattle will soon fund safe shoot up locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a heartbreaking documentary called heroin USA or something on hbo that follows the story of young people on cape cod suffering from heroin addiction.

Yes, I saw this and it was very good.
http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/heroin-cape-cod-usa

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a heartbreaking documentary called heroin USA or something on hbo that follows the story of young people on cape cod suffering from heroin addiction.

I saw it on YouTube a while ago. It was quite chilling and sad. I think it was filmed in Falmouth, MA. It struck me because my family would always drive through that area to catch the ferry at Woods Hole to get to Martha's Vineyard. Sometimes we would kills time in Falmouth and I would think to myself how pretty and quaint the town was. After watching the documentary, I realized a heroin epidemic can happen anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right now is an ideal time in our history to release as many serious high level drug traffickers from federal prison as we possibly can. All are felons and many have committed firearm offenses too.

It's called "criminal justice reform" and it's a top priority for democrats at the moment.

The felons many democrats are pushing to get released from prison early are low-level drug offenders, not "serious high level drug traffickers".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now is an ideal time in our history to release as many serious high level drug traffickers from federal prison as we possibly can. All are felons and many have committed firearm offenses too.

It's called "criminal justice reform" and it's a top priority for democrats at the moment.

Why release them? Don't we want them in prison?

Very few politicians, democrat or republican, want serious high level drug traffickers released from prison early. It is the low-level drug offenders who were given disproportionately long prison sentences due to mandatory minimum laws that many politicians (& many well informed members of tge public) want released early.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prescribed painkillers lead to heroin as others have said, not pot.

Want to bet? I used heroin long before prescription pills, long before. alcohol, pot inhalants, heroin, pills, jail, rehab, rinse and repeat and repeat

You went straight from pot to IV drug use? Were you with someone who was already a user? Pot smokers don't just wake up and suddenly decide to inject themselves with heroin.

I know, right? Havebaomw common sense people. I went alcohol, pot, coffee. Ive been addicted to coffee ever since. Get awful withdrawal headaches when i try to atop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:been happening for along time, things most parents don't think about when they turn a blind eye to casual drinking a pot smoking and then kids try to reach that original high and can never reach it so they turn to other things.

sure, argue alcohol and pot are harmless or your kid can handle it as long as they get good grades etc. Many other parents thought the same, fortunately I got help and i was just like your kids from the W schools and private schools.

Signed a recovering addict

Thus the heroin epidemics in Colorado and Washington and Oregon, right? All that legalized pot in OH, PA and WVA and MD must be pushing users for more more more.

Yes, WA has a huge heroin epidemic. I live in the eastern suburbs of Seattle - home to Microsoft, Google, Amazon techies and high HHI families. Three students in a 1400 student high school died in 2016. Heroin and meth are also issues for the lower class rural communities.

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/384106411.html

But the good news is that the tax payers in Seattle will soon fund safe shoot up locations.

As they should. And I'm a conservative. Drugs are not going away. Americans are very broken and many have serious mental health problems which lead to drug use. Pot doesn't lead to addiction, personal problems and mental health problems lead to drug addiction . it costs much much more to treat the addict for hep C, aids, and blood poisioning from dirty needles. Taxpayers are ALREADY funding drug addict fall out. Plus having these addicts passed out in drug dens is no good for the surrounding communities.

[Anonymous]

When my dog's best friend at the dog park doesn't come anymore because his owner died of a heroin overdose...it's an epidemic.

When my hairdresser is gone suddenly because she died of a heroin overdose...it's an epidemic.

When my GS-14 colleague isn't there one morning because he's dead of a heroin overdose...it's an epidemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now is an ideal time in our history to release as many serious high level drug traffickers from federal prison as we possibly can. All are felons and many have committed firearm offenses too.

It's called "criminal justice reform" and it's a top priority for democrats at the moment.

The felons many democrats are pushing to get released from prison early are low-level drug offenders, not "serious high level drug traffickers".

That is an extreme mis-characterization of these felons. But a response deserves its own thread. Time for an S/O to expose the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:been happening for along time, things most parents don't think about when they turn a blind eye to casual drinking a pot smoking and then kids try to reach that original high and can never reach it so they turn to other things.

sure, argue alcohol and pot are harmless or your kid can handle it as long as they get good grades etc. Many other parents thought the same, fortunately I got help and i was just like your kids from the W schools and private schools.

Signed a recovering addict

Thus the heroin epidemics in Colorado and Washington and Oregon, right? All that legalized pot in OH, PA and WVA and MD must be pushing users for more more more.

Yes, WA has a huge heroin epidemic. I live in the eastern suburbs of Seattle - home to Microsoft, Google, Amazon techies and high HHI families. Three students in a 1400 student high school died in 2016. Heroin and meth are also issues for the lower class rural communities.

http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/384106411.html

But the good news is that the tax payers in Seattle will soon fund safe shoot up locations.

As they should. And I'm a conservative. Drugs are not going away. Americans are very broken and many have serious mental health problems which lead to drug use. Pot doesn't lead to addiction, personal problems and mental health problems lead to drug addiction . it costs much much more to treat the addict for hep C, aids, and blood poisioning from dirty needles. Taxpayers are ALREADY funding drug addict fall out. Plus having these addicts passed out in drug dens is no good for the surrounding communities.

Np. My bf is a white liberal from seattle and seems so liberal minded. So many open relationships and poly relationships in seattle, a sanctuary city, lot of homeless that need help, liberal ideologies, erotic animal farms just seems crazy. I think they are just enabling heroin addicts and i read that there has been violent outbursts at these clinics.

[Anonymous]

I have a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I think about this. In some rural communities, it is so widespread - think of all the children of these addicts. What is their future? We desperately need to do something about this problem, but what?

It seems not to be so simple as educating doctors (so that they don't over-prescribe opioids as pain meds). So what next?