Heroin Deaths Rise As Crackdown On Prescription Drug Abuse Succeeds

[Wizard777]

I have seen it work and I have seen it fail.

The person needs to want to stop and the same time help is available.
And than they need to have a good support system after they get clean.
A perfect storm of sorts.

It all comes down to freewill. The human will is a very powerful thing. That's why if it's their will to get high there is nothing you can do to stop the. Also if they want to get sober there is nothing you can do to stop them.

That's incorporated into my Harm Reduction Plan. The user would be the only one with the authority to declare themselves an addict. They would go to the same place to enroll in a treatment program that they get their drugs. It would also be treatment on demand. You declare yourself an addict and 1-4 hours later you are in a treatment program. So everytime they walk into a Harm Reduction Facility they would make the decission to walk through one door to buy their drugs or walk through the other door to declare themselves an addict and get help.

[demopublican]

I am not a professional but I don't think that it is a good idea to make jumping on and off the program to convenient.

[Jim F]

demo & octo,

Thanks ever so much for the good thoughts.

[Wizard777]

I am not a professional but I don't think that it is a good idea to make jumping on and off the program to convenient.

It would be an intake center not the actual rehab facility. But it's not a mater of convenience. It's a matter of will and facilitating that will as safely as possible.

[Wizard777]

About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had the type of pain that one would wish on your worst enemy type of pain.
Thanks to anti-cancer drugs such as Bicalutamide and Lupron, the swelling and major pain is down.

I'm prescribed Oxycodone (Percocet) in 5.325 mg tablets. The label on the container says
take one every 4 hours as needed.
My pain level is low enough now that I can just ignore it during my daily routine. I take one
about every other night, as it helps me to sleep.

I know what they are, treat them with respect, and keep them at arm's length.
I've absolutely no desire to start popping them to get zoned out. I've more important things to do.

Recently, a friend opined that I don't have what's known as an "addictive personality".
Dunno... - sounds like psychobabble to me.

Jim, I know where you're coming from. I've had to endure a physical addiction to opiates twice in my life. The first time was when I was shot then again many years later when gravity started to win the battle with my back. My intervertebral discs had deteriorated. The first time I detoxed cold turkey at my insistance. I just couldn't take it any more. I told my doctor straight out I would kill the next person that tried to give me an opiate and he knew that wasn't an empty threat. The second time I agreed to be weened off with methadone. I was just too damned old to go cold turkey again. The withdraw would have killed me. They got me down to 2mg and then the withdraw was like having a severe flu. I was just a miserable old sod for about a week.

I always thought it was the medical supervision of this addiction that kept me from becoming a junkie and continuing to use opiates beyond the medical necessity. My doctor was always one step ahead of my addiction and he very good at explaining it progression. Once I called him because I was having to take more than what was on the label and I had to take it more frequently to relieve the pain. He told me that's what the "or as needed" part was about. That I was developing a tollerance and was just a normal part of the addiction. He also told me that when, not if, I needed to take more than what I was currently taking to call him back. I did and he gave me a stronger opiate. That way I could get the same relief without taking as many pills. That way the buffers didn't mess up my stomach and the acetaminophen didn't mess up my liver.

So I've always thought that street users could also benefit from medical supervision of their use and in their consultations with the doctor they could even learn to trust that doctor. Especially when he says you need to stop this because you're reaching the point it's going to cease to be fun or feel good.

I hope you beat this cancer soon. If they catch it early the survival rate is very high. It's something like 100% for the first 5 years and 90% for 15 years. I also hope you don't have a rough time with detoxing from the pain meds. It doesn't sound like you are taking a lot. But you don't have to take a lot to develope a physical addiction. It just means that the withdraw won't be that severe or last that long. It probably won't be much worse than having the flu. One thing is for sure. You seem to have your head in real good place and that's the most important part. I wish you all the best.

[TheResearcher]

I applaud you and your friend. I have a friend who freely talks about his 70+ arrests, numerous incarcerations, and years of addiction. He's now been clean about 17 years.

But if you think it's your conservative values that helped you and your friend get and stay clean, you're mistaken. Addiction and recovery isn't a liberal or conservative issue. Trying to make it so cheapens the discussion.

The social programs put forth by liberals are nothing more than another step in the cradle to grave gubmint nanny mentality that they have. For anyone who wants to quit smoking or drinking I highly recommend you check out the various books by Allen Carr.
The difference is that we two Conservatives relied on our family and friends to help us through it and not the gubmint.
And telling people they need a crutch of a program to make themselves a better person is condescending and automatically assumes they are not tough enough to beat their individual demons on their own with a little help from their friends.

[TheResearcher]

If it was really just about being strong youi would not have become an addict in the first place. All situations are not the same. Ask Limbaugh.

I wouldn't ask Rush BlowBag for the time of day. And my addiction was due to peer pressure. I was strong enough to walk away from those idiots and strong enough to stop destroying myself.

[TheResearcher]

“Socialists ignore the side of man that is the spirit. They can provide you shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you're ill, all the things guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave. They don't understand that we also dream.” - Ronald Reagan

[Jim F]

Jim, I know where you're coming from.

<snip>

I hope you beat this cancer soon. If they catch it early the survival rate is very high. It's something like 100% for the first 5 years and 90% for 15 years. I also hope you don't have a rough time with detoxing from the pain meds. It doesn't sound like you are taking a lot. But you don't have to take a lot to develope a physical addiction. It just means that the withdraw won't be that severe or last that long. It probably won't be much worse than having the flu. One thing is for sure. You seem to have your head in real good place and that's the most important part. I wish you all the best.

Wiz, this thread has been illuminating all 'round for the various pros & cons, personal observations & stories, and info that one might not easily find elsewhere.

Here's the thing: If suddenly I had no Oxycodone, I wouldn't miss it. From a physical body
or psychological standpoint. As pain relief ? Yes.
I'd probably revert to my pre-diagnosis days of using Aleve or Ibuprofen in order to be able to sleep at night.

Again, I'm wondering... Medically speaking, is there such a thing as an addictive personality type ?

At any rate: Thanks ever so much for the encouragement and wishes.


p.s. You ever run into your bud Airman around town ? Seems we haven't heard from him for awhile.

[dialtone]

They could always refuse to use illegal drugs of any kind, you know, take personal responsibility for their own lives. And I am having lunch with a great friend, 26 years as a heroin addict, been clean going on 5 years. One day, he just said, "No."

But your friend didn't refuse illegal drugs and he used for 26 years. Is he judgmental of other addicts also??

[Wizard777]

Wiz, this thread has been illuminating all 'round for the various pros & cons, personal observations & stories, and info that one might not easily find elsewhere.

Here's the thing: If suddenly I had no Oxycodone, I wouldn't miss it. From a physical body
or psychological standpoint. As pain relief ? Yes.
I'd probably revert to my pre-diagnosis days of using Aleve or Ibuprofen in order to be able to sleep at night.

Again, I'm wondering... Medically speaking, is there such a thing as an addictive personality type ?

At any rate: Thanks ever so much for the encouragement and wishes.


p.s. You ever run into your bud Airman around town ? Seems we haven't heard from him for awhile.

Much like you I think for the most part it's a bunch of psycho babble that doesn't add up. The theory of psychological addiction takes the brains reward system and pronounces it to be diseased or dysfunctional based on rejection of social norms and mores. It's little more than mind control unless it's complettely voluntary without coercion. The only thing about addiction I will not dispute is physical addiction. There's some good hard science to that. It's universal and can be reproduced in lab settings.

I have an addictive personality in that people just can't get enough of me.

Airman and I are like oil and water. We just don't mix and we wouldn't know each other even if our pathes did cross. He pops in every once in a great while.