by A.J.(Tony) Powell
Tom Price, was chosen by ‘The Donald’ to head up ‘Health and Human Services’. Talking about addicts, recently he claimed that, “Folks need to be cured so they can be productive members of society.”
He continued, “If we’re just substituting one opioid for another, we’re not moving the dial much.”
Seems like he should know that there is currently no cure for addiction.
Even his own government colleagues agree that “Addiction is manageable, but can’t be cured.”
And using ‘milder’, non-lethal drugs, does, at least keep addicts alive and (relatively) healthy.
Opioid-related deaths have more than tripled over the past 15 years.
That means that over 35,000 people effectively killed themselves last year.
Over time, an addict needs more and more drugs to get the same ‘high’.
That makes withdrawal even more agonizing.
Tragically, these young people don’t realize that opioids actually change their brain.
“Once an addict, always an addict.”
The Mayo Clinic says “Handling an addiction and staying drug-free requires persistent effort.”
“Most States do not offer any effective treatment for an opioid use disorder.”
But, the fact is that, “Addicts have at least double the chance of becoming opioid-free if they are offered medications like methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone.”
This is the only way that addicts can start recovery.
What do the ‘experts’ say?
According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health “Opioid abuse and dependence are most effectively treated through a set of comprehensive medical, social, psychological and rehabilitative services that address all the needs of the individual,”
For whatever reason, our government believes that tobacco and alcohol addicts need help, but drug addicts need jail!
The result is that tobacco and alcohol are ‘regulated’, that means ‘clean’ and free of obvious poisons.
But drug addicts (from the derelict on the street to the millionaire in a penthouse), don’t know what they are using.
Of the thousands of deaths each year we are not told how many overdose and how many are killed by ‘poisoned’ drugs.
As I see it, drug use should be decriminalized. Convert the jails to treatment centers. Give the addicts all the drugs and treatments they need.
This would save millions of dollars in law-enforcement, make our streets safer and reduce the crime rate because no-one is going to buy what they can get for free.
If your child, grandchild, spouse, friend or neighbor is an addict, do you want them to continue to destroy their lives, go to jail or, even worse, kill themselves intentionally or otherwise?
Or, is it better for the cops to take them directly to rehab?
An addict needs help not punishment.
Prohibition didn’t work then, and it’s not working now!
’til next time . .
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On ‘Competing against your friends’:- “If we both play good, it doesn’t much matter who wins – But then again, if we both play bad – it doesn’t much matter either!”
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