Gradually people are coming to terms with the fact that the way to win the war on drugs is to end it. Addiction is a medical or psychological problem, not a crime problem, but fighting a war against it kills people and makes crime pay (by supporting prices in the black market) without doing anything to address the underlying problems. There are no other medical problems that are fought with bullets, raids, forfeitures, surveillance, destruction of civil rights and mass incarceration, and there is little reason to think the present approach is successful in any way, except in terms of rights lost, property seized and people jailed or killed.
No. You don’t end it.
But you do completely withdraw mandatory rendering of unpaid medical aid.
No legal consequences of any sort for not pumping money into resuscitation junkies.
Tell that to the people whose homes are broken into to steal items to fence them for drugs, the families whose lives have been impacted forever by a high driver who ran into their children's cars and killed them, the women who become prostitutes to pay for their drug habits, etc...
Addiction is a factor in many criminal activities and there is much negative fallout that effects society directly.
There is the other side of the issue chronic pain and the need for narcotics for it and to battle cancer pain.
There is no cure for Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Peripheral Neuropathy, many other diseases that cause pain, the drugs they use have horrible side effects. When the Feds lowered the Tylenol out of Loretabs it made it NORCO, useless for pain control at 5 mg. But enough to addict you and not give you pain relief. Not really better than 2 extra Strength Tylenol.
I watched my parents die of lung cancer, in fact it was the narcotics that stopped my dad’s heart, not the cancer that killed him. Both found to late to treat even with dad having chest xrays every 3 months at the VA.
I live in Chronic pain level 8/9 from various health issues, and all have that work PAIN attached to them. Narcotics don’t touch GI pain unless it’s a very high dose of morphine. I try and get buy on Extra Strength Tylenol, but there are times that is not enough. Chronic pain is mentally and physically stressful. But keeping a person as a Zombie doesn’t work either. Then there is the Kidney damage Tylenol can do. Rock and an hard place to be.
I’m following the story of Joey Feek the female half of Joey & Rory C & W and gospel singers/writers. Joey had a late in life birth to a Down’s daughter who is just 22 months old, then developed Cervical Cancer, Surgery, treatment, pronounced cured. Just to have the same strain return as a 9 MM Sigmoid Tumor. Surgery and treatment, pronounced cured, then went for follow up CT and the Colon Cancer Stage 4 is back. NO more hope from the medical profession. She is doing Hospices in her home town in Alexendria, IN to be near her family. They live and work out of a large farm in Pottsville, TN. This is her Husband’s Rory’s blog on their cancer journey. http://thislifeilive.com/ Joey is nearing the end of life in pain most of us cannot imagine. Not even those of us with chronic pain.
Rory: And now, here I sit beside my dying wife.
I don’t say those words lightly. As a matter-of-fact, I haven’t said them at all. But my beautiful bride has said them to me in these couple of days. Her pain and discomfort has continued to increase daily and so has the morphine to help her be comfortable. The dosage she’s needed to keep the pain away has QUADRUPLE in the last four days.
I’d like to tell you that she’s doing great and is going to beat this thing. But I can’t.
Yesterday with tears in her eyes and mine, Joey held my hand and told me that she has been having serious talks with Jesus. She said she told him that if He’s ready to take her… she’s ready to come home. (to Heaven)
“Drug addiction isn’t a disease, it’s a character flaw.”
Tommy Lasorda