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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (651526)	4/15/2012 6:49:41 PM
From: Brumar89	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1580669

I'm the person who has posted what Portugal's drug policy is ... and it's not outright legalization as is being called for. The legal system is still involved and drugs remain illegal. Trafficking in drugs is still illegal Not just trafficking, use is illegal. Growing your own is illegal. Decriminalization doesn't mean legalization. Just assuming that someone were proposing crack be available at 7-11, the suggestion is that more people would use it than already do. There really is no evidence to support that claim There are people who would let crack be sold in convenience stores. I think Milton Friedman would have. Lots of libertarians would consider that a matter of personal liberty. Legalization would lower prices and lower prices mean more consumption. It's basic economics. >> I still don't get where the problem is from the standpoint of someone who thinks addiction is no bar from working, including in professional jobs, and functioning in society as addicts. Why cut off the supply of Rx drugs? Some people can, others cannot. As I have said a couple times already. There is a high probability you have worked with addicts at some point in your life. You just didn't know it. Painkiller addicts can lead fairly normal lives for a long time if they are not consumed with trying to supply themselves. That's an argument for NOT cranking up the war on painkiller abuse. So why make that argument and then propose stricter controls on painkiller prescriptions? BTW I'm not proposing anything pro or con about painkillers ... I'm just wondering about the reasoning behind saying painkiller addicts can function okay as addicts BUT we need to do things to stop this big problem of painkiller addiction. And aren't methadone etc replacement drugs just that .. replacement drugs? Of course. But they allow addicts who have become dysfunctional to return to a normal lifestyle. They take their medicine every day like someone takes blood pressure medicine. In particular, suboxone, is an opiate but a stable dosage eliminates demand for other opiates and does not cause any of the behaviors that can be attributed to extremes of opiate addiction. I must say, your thinking on this is not unusual amongst those who lack an understanding of the subject. I don't understand the subject, but yes, I was right in saying they are simply replacement drugs that are themselves addictive. I think it is highly likely that nanosciences could lead, within a few years, to nonabusable painkillers -- if there were any motivation to do it. But not all manufacturers are committed to the idea of reducing the market for their medications. If a company could make a nonabusable painkiller, I'm sure the market would be immense. So there's obviously a motive for companies to develop such drugs if they can. The fact that mfrs of present painkillers would be hurt doesn't matter, they can't force other companies to keep good stuff off the market. Somehow the 'end the drug war' thing is turning into a let's crank up the war on prescription abuse. Kind of amazing. There the same problem. You can't separate one from the other. Heroin addiction and oxycontin addiction are the same things, except one is a "street" drug and the other is a Rx. The treatment for the addiction is the same because the problem is the same. The dirty secret William Bennett won't tell you is that while he touts "success" in the drug war in that cocaine & meth use is down, the surge in Rx addiction more than offsets it. There is no "success" -- there is just the same old shit we've seen for years -- you tamp down supply in one place and it pops up in another. The truth of the matter is that cocaine addiction is far easier to treat in most people than is Oxycontin or benzo addiction. Well, since you've told me that painkiller addicts (like Limbaugh did) can function in society okay, if we've been able to shift some folks from heroin, cocaine and meth to something they can use and function in society ... wouldn't that be progress?