What is your opinion on overdose prevention centers?

[Grand Mal]

Yeah, call me boring. I've never mainlined H, never huffed paint/glue, never dropped acid, never tried gay sex, never stared at the sun for an hour, or never played Russian roulette. So, I must be the dummy, right?



So then basically losers. You see, I was right all along.


I don't care where they die, as long as they aren't blocking my ocean view.

Why didn't you try acid?

 

[Lursa]

Things have changed, yet the victims still exist.Over prescribing went on for a long time.

I have 20yr old Vicodin in my medicine cabinet. Thankful I havent needed it for any further injuries in all that time...have had some injuries for sure but not that bad. It's there for an emergency.

But even 20 yrs ago...I knew not to take more than I needed, it was known how addictive it was. I told the Dr I didnt even want it but he said my body would heal faster if it wasnt stressed by pain.

So I call BS somewhat on people claiming this is a relatively new issue, like a decade or so. Uh huh, I was afraid to take it 20 yrs ago. It's addictive properties were well-known.

 

[jotathought]

I'm against wasting tax dollars to help drug addicts who wish to kill themselves.

Agree .. agree .. agree ...

Addicts need to anticipate negative outcomes because of their poor choices ...

Yeah, call me boring. I've never mainlined H, never huffed paint/glue, never dropped acid, never tried gay sex, never stared at the sun for an hour, or never played Russian roulette. So, I must be the dummy, right?



So then basically losers. You see, I was right all along.


I don't care where they die, as long as they aren't blocking my ocean view.

Lol .. yes .. these addicts are always victims ...

 

[Goshin]

I'm against wasting tax dollars to help drug addicts who wish to kill themselves.

There was a time when my attitude towards long-term addicts was nearly "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out".

I'd dealt with a lot of them when I was a cop. Afterward, when meth was spreading like wildfire, I had to deal with them as a private citizen, and help relatives who had gotten tangled up with addicts.

The damage they do to innocent people is simply incalculable. I've seen the cycle: first they lose their job, then they can't get clean enough to get hired, then they neglect their family. They borrow and beg and impose until they've alienated almost everyone who used to care for them. Then they steal from family, use and abuse anyone who still cares, and it gets worse.

Someone said drug addicts don't have family, they have hostages. They're not far wrong in most cases.

All of this lead me to see them as a scourge on humanity. I all but stopped seeing them as even human. It seemed like so few of them ever got clean and stayed straight that it wasn't worth the bother of trying to save them.

Then I started going to a church that had a particular outreach for helping drug addicts, and partnered with a private halfway house in town. Over the course of several years the church doubled in size and had to build a new sanctuary, and half the new members were former drug addicts and their families and kin.

I've seen lives turned around, I've seen people get clean and stay clean, and make something of themselves. Fathers and sons who haven't spoken in a decade reconciled. Broken marriages repaired.

Preacher Ron's outreach, and the RESULTS, reminded me these are still human souls, that God still loves them and wants to save them, and that they can be saved... if someone cares enough to reach out a hand and help them.

I still view active druggies with caution... they're dangerous and their odds of getting straight are not good.

But they are still human beings, and I'm now ashamed at how close I came to ignoring that.

As for these OD centers... not sure about them as a specific facility. I'd probably be more positive if they were more definitely used to get addicts into detox and such.

We could divert money from drug enforcement into treatment... trust me, I was a footsoldier in the War on Drugs and we lost a long time ago. We're not going to "enforce" our way out of this problem.

 

[Ahlevah]

Which is a good arguement to let them just die. I know that sounds harsh, but most cannot be saved. All of these programs have been tried.

I can’t reconcile your dystopian view of a sort of dog eat dog America with the humanitarian ideal I would strive for with every waking breath. These are human beings and our fellow citizens, not zombies that have no hope of being saved. They are our mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters, brothers and sisters. We can never give up on them. Never.

The fact is we haven’t tried what I’m advocating, and one thing in its favor is it’s supported by reason and common sense. I know democracy can be a bitch, but we can still build Rome—one stone at a time.

 

[multivita-man]

Anybody who is stupid enough to use drugs is already accepting that risk. Encouraging them in their addiction doesn't help anyone.

It's the opposite of encouraging; it's allowing them to confront their addictions in front of other people who will recommend that they seek treatment. One of the problems with addiction is the addict's tendency to conceal their problems from others. The other problem, however, is that rehabilitation is often expensive and hard to come by without insurance.

 

[multivita-man]

There was a time when my attitude towards long-term addicts was nearly "kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out".

I'd dealt with a lot of them when I was a cop. Afterward, when meth was spreading like wildfire, I had to deal with them as a private citizen, and help relatives who had gotten tangled up with addicts.

The damage they do to innocent people is simply incalculable. I've seen the cycle: first they lose their job, then they can't get clean enough to get hired, then they neglect their family. They borrow and beg and impose until they've alienated almost everyone who used to care for them. Then they steal from family, use and abuse anyone who still cares, and it gets worse.

Someone said drug addicts don't have family, they have hostages. They're not far wrong in most cases.

All of this lead me to see them as a scourge on humanity. I all but stopped seeing them as even human. It seemed like so few of them ever got clean and stayed straight that it wasn't worth the bother of trying to save them.

Then I started going to a church that had a particular outreach for helping drug addicts, and partnered with a private halfway house in town. Over the course of several years the church doubled in size and had to build a new sanctuary, and half the new members were former drug addicts and their families and kin.

I've seen lives turned around, I've seen people get clean and stay clean, and make something of themselves. Fathers and sons who haven't spoken in a decade reconciled. Broken marriages repaired.

Preacher Ron's outreach, and the RESULTS, reminded me these are still human souls, that God still loves them and wants to save them, and that they can be saved... if someone cares enough to reach out a hand and help them.

I still view active druggies with caution... they're dangerous and their odds of getting straight are not good.

But they are still human beings, and I'm now ashamed at how close I came to ignoring that.

As for these OD centers... not sure about them as a specific facility. I'd probably be more positive if they were more definitely used to get addicts into detox and such.

We could divert money from drug enforcement into treatment... trust me, I was a footsoldier in the War on Drugs and we lost a long time ago. We're not going to "enforce" our way out of this problem.

Great post.

 

[Ahlevah]

Then I started going to a church that had a particular outreach for helping drug addicts, and partnered with a private halfway house in town. Over the course of several years the church doubled in size and had to build a new sanctuary, and half the new members were former drug addicts and their families and kin.

I've seen lives turned around, I've seen people get clean and stay clean, and make something of themselves. Fathers and sons who haven't spoken in a decade reconciled. Broken marriages repaired.

Preacher Ron's outreach, and the RESULTS, reminded me these are still human souls, that God still loves them and wants to save them, and that they can be saved... if someone cares enough to reach out a hand and help them.

I still view active druggies with caution... they're dangerous and their odds of getting straight are not good.

But they are still human beings, and I'm now ashamed at how close I came to ignoring that.

Your post is one reason I’ve defended religion as an institution over the years. Where government has failed society miserably, faith-based and 12-Step programs have carried the torch. No institution is perfect, but for people taking the A Train to the end of the line it offers one last chance to give meaning to their lives: hope, redemption, and the power of God’s infinite love. They know that while people, even those they thought loved and cared for them, can and likely will give up on and abandon them, God never will:

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.

 

[Lursa]

It's the opposite of encouraging; it's allowing them to confront their addictions in front of other people who will recommend that they seek treatment. One of the problems with addiction is the addict's tendency to conceal their problems from others. The other problem, however, is that rehabilitation is often expensive and hard to come by without insurance.

Wow, the bold is some "Little Mary Sunshine" politically-correct BS.

These are strangers, they dont need to conceal anything from them.