Heroin, the scourge of society, how do we fix it?

Allowing the government to distribute free heroin solves the crime and overdose problem. No more robberies to support their habit, no more fentanyl to overdose on. Also no more cartels as the drug trade is the primary source of income. Fix the border and human trafficking stops as well.

Addiction is an illness, not a choice. You may choose to start but you can't simply choose to stop. That carries a very heavy price like the worst flu you ever had that will go on for weeks if the addiction is bad. Addicts need treatment centers where they can go to reduce their dosage until clean and get help during the process.

People seek out drugs to fill voids in their lives. We need deeper personal relationships and a restoration of a sense of community. People need work that is both meaningful and rewarding. We all need a sense of belonging and a reason to exist, some higher calling.

We can never solve the issue completely but certainly stop the carnage from overdose and law enforcement resulting from the War on Drugs.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy
You are a great person. If everyone was like you this world would be a much better place

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

I don't know about heroin addiction being a big problem in the US. All we hear about is Opiods (pills) and Meth. There really aren't any solutions to the problems from what I've witnessed over the last 50 years. San Francisco went the free handout needle route and you've seen the result of that.

I'd guess that the best way to deal with the problem is to round them up, confine them to some warehouse district and give them free drugs, free needles and free food. At least that way they aren't about littering scenic downtown areas of towns and cities. The war on drugs has been a total failure.

The Rehab Industry would have you believe that it works, but its horribly expensive and the relapse rate is horrendous. Maybe 1 shot at free rehab and upon relapse, off to the "drugs" district.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

Massively agree with pretty much everything you posted.
There are basically no resources tackling addiction in my area, these people need help, and I'd pay for it in taxes, same as all my mates would.
All I can do is be a human who cares and treats addicts like fellow humans, maybe give out a can of my beer if I can see they are rattling.
None of the addicts I know ever ask me for money, we talk, I show basic human love to them because they are humans like me, just in a mess. But it's nice to not be looked down on for being an addict, just a fellow human who happens to be in a mess needing help.

originally posted by: abe froman
Give addicts all the heroin they want, for free.
The problem will soon solve itself.

Well, the detrimental effects on society will improve...and not by way of your glib death sentence.
Stay classy, though.

originally posted by: ylvax
a reply to: CornishCeltGuy
You are a great person. If everyone was like you this world would be a much better place

Nooo! I can be a right prick at times, just basic love for fellow humans was instilled into me by my parents.
My dad told me that in the 1950's he gave money to an alcoholic prostitute sometimes so she could finish her shift and buy her booze without being abused further. She had some horrible nickname the town gave her which I can't remember, but my dad saw her as a victim of society.
He shaped me, I'll always remember him telling me that story.

The problem is that for the addict, the substance of dependence robs you of your free will.

It is said that a full-blown alcoholic only takes one drink. After that, the rest of the drinks take him...

making heroin freely available sounds "nice" and "kind." But giving people access to something that robs their free will is inherently immoral, isn't it? If the slavery is a choice (at least at first), what responsibility does the government have for adding to the weight of the chains? Governments to work to make people free, not to enslave them.


And how do you know it isn't some kid's first time? He wants to be a rock star, and to get really soulful he has decided he will be the next Bowie. So he goes to the government shooting gallery, and juices up.

Ulysses dealt with this on his way home from the Trojan war. His men decided to take a short-cut through "the Land of the Lotus-eaters." Almost all his men were overcome with stupor, and just wanted to eat more lotus. They eventually starved. And there was nothing the sane men could do to help. The only remedy is to not take that first bite of the lotus...

We can talk all day about not judging our neighbor. That that also means not judging him in need of help.

Make it legal, prescription only, take it out of dealers hands control the supply but all addicts on a program of reducing the amount they take until they are clean with a huge investment in rehabilitation clinics.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
Make it legal, prescription only, take it out of dealers hands control the supply but all addicts on a program of reducing the amount they take until they are clean with a huge investment in rehabilitation clinics.

Oh if only mate!
I'm slowly watching young Toni die, and she's the same age as my son. My son is her friend as well, she loves him and always tells me how she loves his chat and kindness, even though he is well over 6 foot and a prop forward for our town. She knows he'd protect her if he saw her in trouble and he wishes he could help her.
It's #ing tragic.
Legalising on prescription in controlled environments with reduced doses is the only answer.
I'm sick of watching people slowly die
EDIT
...and I'm not talking about close mates who die, just people in my town, slowly watching them go downhill then dead from heroin.
#ing breaks my heart. They are my town centre 'downtown' people who I see, and lose, every day.

Stop taking it.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

Simple really.

Legalise the stuff, take away the criminal element, introduce quality control, accumulate taxes on the product like any other, and use the proceeds of said tax to fund proper drug rehabilitation programs that actually work for people that require help.

If that sounds mad to anyone, is because it would actually work.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
Make it legal, prescription only, take it out of dealers hands control the supply but all addicts on a program of reducing the amount they take until they are clean with a huge investment in rehabilitation clinics.

(underline emphasis added.)

There goes your whole program right there. Because what ALWAYS happens, is that the addict does n't want to lower her dose this week, so she buys a little something off the street, to supplement what your government office is giving her. And that requires a dealer. And there goes your whole program.

Because you know that the best place to find a dealer, is in a government rehab program, right?

you did know that, didn't you?
.

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
Legalising on prescription in controlled environments with reduced doses is the only answer.
I'm sick of watching people slowly die

Canada is steering towards a 'harm reduction' scheme...Naloxone for cops and medics, safe injection sites, needle exchanges and so on. Legalisation would take the criminal element out. It's only a matter of time, in civilised countries, that is.

a reply to: tovenar

So do you have any solutions?
Not being snarky, genuine question because I felt so sad today. I am literally watching a girl the same age as my son die slowly.
Breaks my heart.

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
Legalising on prescription in controlled environments with reduced doses is the only answer.
I'm sick of watching people slowly die

Canada is steering towards a 'harm reduction' scheme...Naloxone for cops and medics, safe injection sites, needle exchanges and so on. Legalisation would take the criminal element out. It's only a matter of time, in civilised countries, that is.

I hope Canada inspires the UK government as a civilised country.
Many people need help in the UK, it is a tragedy, and all I can do is email my MP and be kind to the addicts I bump into in town.

originally posted by: JohnnyCanuck

originally posted by: CornishCeltGuy
Legalising on prescription in controlled environments with reduced doses is the only answer.
I'm sick of watching people slowly die

Canada is steering towards a 'harm reduction' scheme...Naloxone for cops and medics, safe injection sites, needle exchanges and so on. Legalisation would take the criminal element out. It's only a matter of time, in civilised countries, that is.

A friend of mine who is a paramedic works at a shelter on weekends, and he has had to bring one man back to life on 5 separate occasions. It seems to me that "harm reduction" may unintentionally remove the deterrents of abusing heroin.

I agree completely, and they do have the right in an unofficial way, but both I spoke to today would love to kick their habit, just aren't strong enough to do so.

a reply to: CornishCeltGuy

and if there were legal and we taxed them and put the billions and billions of dollars generated on top of the billions and billions saved by ending incarceration we could fund treatment programs like the world has never seen.

Make it legal and provide it pure and uncut to any who ask for it. Self correcting problem completely and entirely.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

I don't understand this. At what time in the history of mankind has the species or society benefited from not only repeating the same mistake over and over again, but saving someone from the same mistake only to have it repeated time after time? Freedom of choice needs to mean freedom to choose to die.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

How so dont you imagine they would simply cut the product down to a grade that would not kill them?

Junkies are not silly, they are actually very inventive and possess serious skills, hence the reason they manage to supply themselves with the stuff.

Not saying said skills are legal, or transferable to everyday life, but they are self-evident.