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Meh.
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Iāll meh you in a minute.
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Ooh yer saucy bugger.
p.s. I hope you have a lovely festive period thing. I wish much joyousness on you and yours.
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I would be hard pushed to remember a job that didnāt involve alcohol or drugs to be honest. Be that a mental health issue from one or the others long term effect. Or either the suspect or victim being drunk/high and or both.
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I sat on a panel 25 years or so ago with police,drs,drug workers,shrinks etc explaining what I thought the benefits of prescribing free heroin to hardcore addicts would be to society and addicts.
Certain things would happen instantly,half the prisons would be empty,shoplifting,burglary and prostitution would slow right down etc and the prison officers,police,probation officers who would be made redundant could be trained to work in the new rehabs from the money saved.
Needles to say it fell on deaf ears.
As a massive generalisation,most members of the public donāt care if addicts use,they just donāt wonāt to be burgled every year,and have prostitution on their doorstep.
A few times in certain areas itās nearly happened,but most MPs would see it as a massive failure,so carry on with the pointlywar on drugs as thatās what they think a majority of voters want.
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There are more addicts globally now then when the war on Drugs beganā¦Drugs won.
Addiction is a public health not a criminal issue.
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Have you thought about going to work sober? You might find it easier to remember things. 
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All I see here is the ushering in of yet more of the Murcan model. Imprison more preferably in private prisons to make money and get some cheap labor.
When we attempt to police morality, we are doomed to fail.
When that morality belongs to the acolytes of a superstitious-cult (christianity), the result is mediaeval lawmaking in a C21st World.
When considered rationally, that is utmost insanity.
Drugs are like nukes - conceived for good but misused to terrible effect; like nukes they are well and truly out of Pandoraās second box, so we must be mature, rational, and clever if we are to limit their harm.
Stigmatising and imprisoning their victims is the exact opposite.
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Fent kills more under 50s in N America than any other cause.
Its still not treated as a public health issue.
And itās on its way here.
The Wench has been on it 24-7 for over a year nowā¦
The one thing that does not get discussed is the fact the vast majority of people find drugs (I include alcohol) pleasurable. To the majority a war on drugs IS a war on pleasure - Humans like the release of dopamine and endorphins wayyyyy too much (otherwise we wouldnāt eat or procreate) so there is a conflict hereā¦See Prohibition in the US - That went well didnāt it?
I am not advocating for drugs nor am I saying some drugs arenāt more nuts than others. As a rough statistic: One in ten are not built psychologically or perhaps genetically to imbibe mind / mood altering chemicals at all.
Using anything as a āsolutionā to life can lead to dependency, itās easy to see why.
I canāt think of another illness that fucks everyone around the sufferer like addiction. If you have cancer for example everyone feels sorry / tries to help / etc. Addiction is not like this, it turns the rational irrational,makes the unacceptable acceptable. It turns honest people into chronic liars and fills people with deep shame. It disconnects, erodes self esteem, anxiety / depression etc etcā¦Here Iām talking about the families of the addict not the addict themselves.
For the genuine addict (Not the binger or the hard hitter) all this is in the post along with the break down of values, hopes, dreams, friendships, ability to love, any form of self control, genuine self worth & physical fuckery. The addict train stops at three stations: Prisons, institutions and the morgue. For some the slide is rapid, for others they have a long run up but if obsession and compulsion is unleashed into chemical dependency the three stations law is irrefutable. Such people need a lot of help and support to break this cycle.
In the last 12 years 2/3rds of all residential treatment centers have been forced to close.
If the blue rinsers want to blame (They like blame) for their house being burgled / car being nicked etc spending tax payers money locking genuine addicts up is a false economy - Such people have lost their inner locus of control, they will re offend. Prison does not rehabilitate.
Perhaps when they point their finger itās would be worth noting three are pointing back at themselves.
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Itās here, most heroin is cut with it already in the UK
Where people would have previously been picked up and helped, now they slip through the cracks.
Itās really not on that charities have replaced what used to be government funded services. They can only catch and support so many people.
The war on drugs is archaic, America went to it in the 90s and itās clearly failed, so no idea why IDS decided it was the way to go in to 2020ās.
For example methadone, it keeps you in the buzz for a long time so you donāt need another hit. Not easy to get methadone now, so you get heroine in which the hit lasts so much less. Methadone worked because it allowed people to stop having to commit crime to find the next hit as they were satiated until their next prescription.
Since IDS we have taken a step back and the problem has got worse.
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We were using it in operating theatres as a short-term analgesic during especially painful procedures 40 years ago. Astounded it hasnāt been on the streets a LOT longer.
I was prescribed it as a painkiller 30 yrs ago for a trapped nerve (controlled release patch)
The Concept of detox in the community would be laughable if it wasnāt so tragic. 25 years + ago the average stay in residential rehab was between 6 Months to a year. Today if you can get funding people are going in for two weeks. Two weeks vs 10, 20, 30 years of chronic use, deep trauma etc etc. This to my mind is criminal. No one goes from hell to heaven in a fortnight.
Funding is now granted to very few and only those with the most severe circumstances. Those that could have had the opportunity to turn round sooner just have to run the gauntlet.
āNo Iām sorry you still have veins, no Iām sorry youāve not been to prison, no Iām sorry you have a home, no Iām sorry you have a job, no Iām sorry you are not displaying acute underlying mental health issues. Have some methodone / subutex etc etc and withdraw on your own in a dry house filled with active users.ā
If a chronic addict could stop they would (The fun days ended years ago). The fact they canāt is one of the factors that defines them as an addict. It is not a matter of choice or 'Will power" Addicts canāt āpull their socks upā or get a grip. Most donāt even know why they do what they do (They will all have excellent excuses but little insight into the disease of addiction) The drugs in fact are a side effect of grave mental and emotional disturbances. *The mental aspect is important to note, If the thinking is the issue they are not going to be able to think themselves well (Make the changes sufficient to bring about a significant emotional shift) The mechanism is warped, it wonāt unwarp itself.
We donāt refuse cigarette smokers treatment for their lung cancer and lock them up.
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