What kind of an idiot takes heroin?

NIMAN wrote: »

I can see where the op is coming from.

I appreciate that you'd need to be at a low ebb to not worry about descending into a drugs hell, but if anyone out there is thinking "I know what'll improve things now for the better, some heroin", then they aren't too clever.

It really is a case of if you don’t understand you are better off being grateful instead of pious.

There are numerous reasons why a person would turn to drugs or drink (which is just a legal accepted drug). I’m sober 7 years now , I don’t really see any difference between abusing drink and drugs, the major difference is I am fortunate to not be considered a criminal (like anybody addicted to anything legal) for my addiction. But society is still very ignorant, unsupporting and quite dismissive of something the majority of people really don’t understand as evidenced by some of the posts in this thread.

Last week a fellow member of AA walked out of his job and went straight The hospital cause he was having a bit of a breakdown. He couldn’t handle life and was going crazy. He ended up sitting in a psychiatric ward waiting room for hours and there was nobody who could help him that day. They booked him in for a therapy Session in over a weeks time. This guy has been sober for nearly a decade , has been working , paying bills and supporting his family and when he needs help the state leaves him stuck in a waiting room with a crazy person (known to the people at that clinic) who is going around threatening everybody. I met up with him later , we went to support group and I think he’s doing better now, seems to have a very supportive employer (he only joined few weeks ago so that’s impressive) who has agreed to meet him later this week to see if he can salvage his job. That’s what people in pain need, support , not condemnation.

When you effectively discard them (no support, on your own), put them down (it’s all about self control some thing) , make things worse (make them criminals) , give them worse drugs (methadone) and don’t make any real efforts to change your failing ways of treating addicts because it’s politicicly unpalatable, you can’t expect anything to improve. You isolate people who struggle by condemning them for having some sort of moral deficiency which is exactly how many people here appear to be interpreting addiction. It would be far better for everybody if the money put into arresting people and keeping drugs illegal was put into supporting people with addiction habits.

Many if not Most deaths related to illegal drugs are mistakes (drug strength isn’t regulated) or lost connection with family and society (that doesn’t understand and quite often writes them off and puts them down which makes suicide more appealing) or related to violence that’s mostly down to the drugs being illegal then anything else. Also we all know stories of people who comitted suicide but I’d argue that from what I’ve seen many people would of comitted suicide without the drugs/drink. I know many people who think it saves them during very dark times but not having the support made it harder to kick the habit. Our society couldn’t be setup any worse to encourage or force people to maintain their habit.

I’ve said it before, google Johnnn Hari and listen to his research on addiction.

Topdolla wrote: »

I know alot of older people 50s-60s that are in chronic pain, that use heroin as a painkiller and sedative, if weed was legal Im sure they would use that but they have easy access to the brown stuff and it works for them.

Not every heroin user is a scumbag junkie, it is just diamorphine after all.

In Switzerland I believe they have clinics where people can take their heroine, assisted by nurses and go off to do their job.

I’ve always thought how we treat people with mental health issues that lead to addictions is terrible. But only recently am I starting to learn even where the idea of “drugs are bad” came from. I’d say most people are like me before I read up on the war on drugs and don’t even know why illegal drugs are a thing. Worst still , most don’t realise the way we try to regulate them through prohibition is arguably the worst way possible to address the issue. What I accept now is I’ve only scratched the surface on this and really know so little, but more then most here.

Religion and an FBI agent named Harry Anslinger probably have more to do with the “drugs are bad” dogma then anything else. There is so much evidence out there that the way we deal with addicts is absolutely awful and yet people cling to a dogma (ban, criminals, degenerates) that’s akin to a racist person who doesn’t actually want to understand the real reason they have certain feelings towards a population.

What even sadder is that in different countries evidence isn’t enough and advocates of more progressive ways of treating addicts have to be sensitive about how they try to address the issues. Seems like it boils down to people just not being ready to have their misguided/wrong views on drugs and addicts challanged.

If you feel isolated and alone because you are gay, we now want to be a more progressive society and not make this a thing. If your relationship isn’t going as planned, we want you to be able to end that relationship. If you are in financial trouble we want our society to be kinder and more accommodating so that families and individuals can thrive and be productive members of society. But if you are struggling in life and have turned to any sort of addiction , your on your own, could end up losing everything and end in jail. Some people have said it “you are a degenerate”, that’s what you are in Ireland.

Think of it like two cancer patients, like addiction nobody chooses to have cancer. Some people can deal with the pain and mental anguish better then others but you wouldn’t say to any cancer patient “I know some lad in the same position as you and he’s grand so suck it up and pull yourself together “. If one cancer patient was getting no support , no medication and had been ostracised from their family, you would understand why they failed to recover or even have a half decent life. But people don’t grasp this is exactly what happens to addicts, they get isolated from everybody. Addiction is in the individual and people only see the damage that’s done as a result, not the journey or reasons for somebody ending up an addict or how the way we treat them condemns most to a life of misery and pain and addiction.