Dying from a drug overdose

Foweva Awone · 05-03-2019 2:33pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs

I'm actually studying addiction at the moment, our lecturer recommended this Ted Talk, I think it's well worth a watch. Explains it very well.

sbsquarepants · 05-03-2019 2:34pm

chicorytip wrote: »

Heroin addicts and drug (except Alcohol) abusers tend to come from the poorest sections of society. By definition, many will be poorly educated, unemployed, socialise only with other addicts and have dysfunctional family backgrounds. This combination of circumstances will inevitably lead to poly drug abuse.

This is not even close to being true. It's not even in the same postcode as true!

TomSweeney · 05-03-2019 3:01pm

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Talking to a Fireman 15 years ago. He said if we could just show the young people what we see in the back of an ambulance every weekend. There all glammed up in their best clubbing clothes & there after peeing & ****ting themselves after getting a adrenaline shot or whatever they have to give them. This Fireman despises drugs based solely on what he sees in the coarse of his work

Yeah I heard similar from an ER nurse, that they get so glammed up and nice, and arrive in a heap!

Would put anyone off...

corner of hells · 05-03-2019 3:19pm

sbsquarepants wrote: »

This is not even close to being true. It's not even in the same postcode as true!

I wonder is the poster talking about how heroin historically appeared in Dublin.

Dick phelan · 05-03-2019 6:51pm

Recently watched an interview on the Joe Rogan podcast with a journalist called Johann Hari i think his name is. Talked all about the War on drugs and the psychology behind drug use. Very interesting to hear about what Switzerland did with their drug problems and how it's really transformed the amount of overdose deaths and drug use in general. Something to consider in Ireland as a way to move forward. Cannabis has basically become socially acceptable at this stage, will eventually be legalized i reckon. Like it or not people will always seek to use some kind of drug the best we can do is to try and limit the damage caused.

evolving_doors · 05-03-2019 7:07pm

sbsquarepants wrote: »

This is not even close to being true. It's not even in the same postcode as true!

Every postcode is unique.

You're talking about area code

Super-Rush · 05-03-2019 7:27pm

dartboardio wrote: »

Maybe not a gateway but a masssssive factor. No denying that.

Had I not smoked weed for years I would have never tried a pill or cocaine. For most people it is a huge factor /gateway whatever you wanna call it

How is it a gateway drug?

What does it even mean?

Does smoking weed suddenly make you aware of other drugs that you didn't realise existed before that first spliff?

dartboardio · 05-03-2019 7:38pm

Super-Rush wrote: »

How is it a gateway drug?

What does it even mean?

Does smoking weed suddenly make you aware of other drugs that you didn't realise existed before that first spliff?

No but smoking weed is the closest to the feelings you might get while on certain drugs. Therefore people get a taste for it.

ceadaoin. · 05-03-2019 7:51pm

dartboardio wrote: »

No but smoking weed is the closest to the feelings you might get while on certain drugs. Therefore people get a taste for it.

For most people, alcohol or even caffeine is their first taste of a mind altering drug. No one calls them gateways though, I wonder why?

Pints? · 05-03-2019 8:09pm

ceadaoin. wrote: »

For most people, alcohol or even caffeine is their first taste of a mind altering drug. No one calls them gateways though, I wonder why?

The finger thing means the TAXES

https://m.imgur.com/r/thesimpsons/TwcbbjM

Ted Johnson · 05-03-2019 8:15pm

Super-Rush wrote: »

How is it a gateway drug?

What does it even mean?

Does smoking weed suddenly make you aware of other drugs that you didn't realise existed before that first spliff?

Doubt too many people wake up and go 'boy I feel like trying some heroin today'. They obviously start on weed and work their way up.

But hey, it's a harmless drug, right?

Wanderer2010 · 05-03-2019 8:25pm

We overdose on processed sugar everyday and there have been studies on the addictive hold sugar can have on people, similar to the brain scans of people on heroin, and yet we would never put the food industry in the same league as the drug dealers. Strange world we live in.

06-03-2019 12:23am

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

No child says they want to become an addict. Nobody wants to end up on the street begging for loose change.

We badly need to stop dehumanising such people as 'junkies', or any other inhuman nouns we can think of.

They're just regular people, with the same human weaknesses as we all have, except they had the misfortune to be born into the wrong circumstances. Anyone who thinks they'd be a better person in the same situation is usually deluding themselves.

With the utmost respect to you - that's a load of my hole.

My sister is a ("former") heroine addict, has now got 4 kids, who were taken off her temporarily, lives in a council house, milks the system for all it's worth and is the victim in everything, no matter what the circumstance.

She had the same upbringing as myself (self employed) and my brother (qualified tradesman). We chose to ignore the scumbags in our estate, keep our heads down and get on with our lives. She chose to get involved with drugs, fights with the Gardai, and go down the road of crime (none of our immediate family are like that, and my extended family has very few people that opted for that route, and any that did, we didn't interact with much).

Both myself and bother have mortgages, jobs, keep our heads above water, etc. whereas my sister has her hand out, permanently.

People make decisions that put them in bad places. You don't need to be told 'drugs are bad', it's instilled into you as a child, yet many still wander down that route anyway. Personal responsibility.

06-03-2019 8:42am

Foweva Awone wrote: »

I'm actually studying addiction at the moment

You might also enjoy this podcast which came out yesterday.

sbsquarepants · 06-03-2019 9:23am

evolving_doors wrote: »

Every postcode is unique.

You're talking about area code

Showing my age:D

Eircodes are unique, postcodes could easily cover 20,000 houses or more.

Either way, the statement was wrong, that's the nub of my argument!

Ted Johnson wrote: »

Doubt too many people wake up and go 'boy I feel like trying some heroin today'. They obviously start on weed and work their way up.

But hey, it's a harmless drug, right?

No drug is harmless - surely everybody knows that by now?

But plenty of other things are harmful and we don't seek to ban them (although I think this government would if left to their own devices, but sure that's a different argument). Generally the way we proceed with those things is to regulate them, ensure that when you go to buy a six pack of Carlsberg, you won't end up drinking anti-freeze and going blind.

That's the danger with street drugs, you have no real idea what they are. People bought pills expecting MDMA but you could end up with anything - there are literally dozens of MDMA like chemicals which are easier and cheaper to produce, but crucially nowhere near as safe for the user.

That's the stupidity at the heart of the drug laws - for safety reasons we make drugs far more dangerous than they should be. MDMA is a ridiculously safe drug...... if unadulterated. It could never be absolutely risk free, but so what, either is penicillin, or any other drug for that matter. Next time you get a prescription or buy something in the chemist, read the little warning leaflet that comes with, you're risking some very serious side effects with that cough bottle!

As adults we should be able to choose to take those risks if we want (nobody looks to outlaw swimming, though far more people drown than OD!)

The war on drugs has been an abject failure both locally and globally. They have been with us since time immemorial and they are undoubtedly here to stay.

Surely it's time to call it a day and do something a bit more sensible with our scarce resources!

El_Bee · 09-03-2019 5:56pm

Super-Rush wrote: »

How is it a gateway drug?

What does it even mean?

Does smoking weed suddenly make you aware of other drugs that you didn't realise existed before that first spliff?

The drug itself has no effect on your desire to take other drugs, but the fact that you have to buy from drug dealers who have an array of other drugs on offer is the problem. remember this is a lot like any other sales job, why have your customers buying only one product from you when you could have them buy 2 or 3?

supersonic21 · 13-03-2019 1:10am

There's one main thing that stops me from taking drugs.

I look back to my time in secondary school. I think of the lads in my year who got into dealing and are still dealing years later. I think of who they are, what kind of person they are, their intelligence etc.

And then I think to myself, why the fcuk would I put something into my body that was supplied by that kind of person.

Call it a generalisation, but drug dealers tend to be scumbags. They'll cut your coke with all sorts of chemicals if it means they make a few hundred quid more. I could never trust someone like that with my life. I wouldnt even trust them to butter my toast.

Infonovice · 13-03-2019 2:53am

Deleted User wrote: »

My sister is a ("former") heroine addict, has now got 4 kids, who were taken off her temporarily, lives in a council house, milks the system for all it's worth and is the victim in everything, no matter what the circumstance.

She had the same upbringing as myself (self employed) and my brother (qualified tradesman). We chose to ignore the scumbags in our estate, keep our heads down and get on with our lives. She chose to get involved with drugs, fights with the Gardai, and go down the road of crime (none of our immediate family are like that, and my extended family has very few people that opted for that route, and any that did, we didn't interact with much).

Both myself and bother have mortgages, jobs, keep our heads above water, etc. whereas my sister has her hand out, permanently.

People make decisions that put them in bad places. You don't need to be told 'drugs are bad', it's instilled into you as a child, yet many still wander down that route anyway. Personal responsibility.

I'm sorry to hear that KKV. I'm sure it has been hard on your family, especially with her having kids too.
Although I think happy and content people don't usually end up on drugs. Maybe your sister has burned her bridges with you by now, but I wonder have you ever tried to talk to her about how she end up taking them in the first place?
I'm sure she is not happy with how her life has turned out herself.
Maybe there is more to her story than you know ??

tuxy · 13-03-2019 3:21am

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

exactly. It depends on the drug. After all, the assisted dying that occurs at Dignitas is nothing more than a controlled drug overdose - using drugs that are similar in their properties to heroin.

Typical clueless misinformation on After Hours, heroin is an opiate Dignatas uses a barbiturate sodium phenobarbital. I know both depress the central nervous system but they are very different drugs.

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Dignitas is basically the lethal injection.

The patient is given a relaxant and a drug which renders paralysis, before the lethal dose.

Nobody really knows for sure. Robyn Lee Parks is the only case that we have of a man who was't given the intial drugs. Accidental

He did not die an easy death.

The body is a powerful thing, it will fight to stay alive until the end.

More misinformation, great!
Drug companies will not sell to law enforcement agencies and this leads to many of the botched lethal injections that we have seen in the U.S as they end up using drugs that are ineffective. IMO hanging is far more humane than state sponsored lethal injection.

Dignatas do not use letal injection, the drug is drank from a cup. The person is not paralysed in the way one would be for a medical procedure. Legally all actions much be done by the person that wises to end their life, that's why injections are out of the question.
They take a pill to prevent vomiting and an oral dosage several times the ld50 of sodium phenobarbital

Dignatas offer assistance they can not kill people I'm baffled that you think a paralysed person could kill themselves. They even have to go to the chemist to collect the sodium phenobarbital.
Because of having to do all this themselves it can actual creates a real dilemma on when to go about it, with a terminal illness that can render someone immobile they have to try to pick a time where they won't end their life too soon but also won't leave it so late that the process can not be done legally.

Also when the correct dosage and drug is used your body won't fight too much if it is no longer capable of sending a signal to your heart or lungs!
Of course with street drugs all bets are off and who knows what the cocktail is and how the body will react.

AngryHippie · 13-03-2019 4:18am

If you can't wrap your head around how addiction gets its teeth in, jump on Netflix and watch After Life.

Isolation
Boredom
Frustration
Grief
Depression
Despair

Any or all of these can drive a human to seek relief, escape or excitement by giving their grey matter a poke with something.
If it becomes the best thing in their day, then they are on the downhill slope.
Habit then becomes the norm, and its a matter of time then before the start of a spiral.

Help, support and understanding are the constructive ways back.
Information

Life changing experiences are the other way back. (OD, Trauma, Joy)
Transformation

Death is the only true way out, every recovering addict will be fighting their battle for the rest of their days. It gets easier, but its impossible to un-ring the bell as it were.

Addiction certainly makes life worse for the addict, being pissed on from a height for suffering addiction only serves to compound this.

Governments need to sort their sh1t out and stop furthering the misery with punishment, judgement and blame.

Dying from a drug overdose

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