The Opiod Crisis: Where It Came From And How To Deal With It.

Marijuana has had a pretty major smear campaign run against it by the government since the 30s. It’s all absurd, but enough people bought that a stigma developed and the hippies didn’t help it any.

"It's bad because it's illegal, and it's illegal because it's bad."

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There is a reality that some of what the anti drug people are saying is a lie and that may be interfering with our understanding and treatment of addiction, and our prevention tactics. There are many people who get really addicted to opiods, and there are some people who do not. This is part of the reason why their use as pain killers is problematic. There are people out there who just cannot touch that stuff in any form. Then there are a bunch of people like me who can really just drop it without trouble. I am not saying I don't get dopesick. The back end is why I don't bother playing with opiods. It is not that I have not tried or even that I have not spent a while on them. I just do not feel them call to me in a way a junkie does. I know this because there are drugs who do call to me that don't call to others like they do to me.

The problem with opiods is that there is a big chunk of people who get hooked on that shit. The other problem is they work really well at killing certain types of pain. So if you have muscle pain or pain from injury or infection they wipe that shit out like nothing else. It does not work the same on nerve pain because I know they don't fully cut my neuropathy pain like an ssri or cbds. But if you do have chronic back pain or tooth pain they take that stuff out. That means they bring legitimate relief to those who suffer, and having felt chronic awful pain that does not go away with OTC medications I am not going to tell someone they have to live with it when an opioid would get them out of pain. Maybe we should lessen their use for pains that can be cured quickly with treatment like some dental pains, but I have seen people with awful back pain and if an opioid lets you walk and move around again or sleep again then that should be an informed choice of the patient. I would chose junkie over my chronic pain, so I am not going to tell someone else they have to. I see no nobility in suffering, but I can see a need for it if you will stop being in pain and then you do not need an opioid addiction to deal with.

For some people it might be a matter of rehab therapy. The problem is determining who can kick it and overcome the addiction from the junkies who will be forever fighting a losing battle with the substance. There is a lot of stuff about drugs we blind ourselves to with abstinence only mentality. By caring for junkies and not viewing them as losers, but rather people who have a biochemical weakness to an addictive substance who need treatment and support rather than scorn and hardship we do a lot better in fighting the problems of addiction. We have to remember we are fighting the problems of addiction not the addicts.

The benefits of marijuana are just being realised. The antibodies seem to have some amazing benefits on nerve problems like SSRIs. I know SSRIs work against the addictive properties of opiods and nicotine. So there may be some cross over in treatment. People are going to be disappointed because the THC does not seem to be the healing element of marijuana. It seems to be the canniboids that do some amazing things. You do get some effects from them but it is not getting high like you associate with pot. I thought it was all some bullshit until I tried non thc cbds and they fixed my balance issues on miraculous levels. It was so obvious, so much, and so quick I was shocked. People are saying they help with lots of things with neurological spasms.

In light of the opioid crisis, its possible that the fears of marijuana as a gateway drug have been way overstated.

Well, I've been smoking weed for 35 years.

I had a bit of a casual affair for about 4 years with LSD that ended with one - I don't want to call it bad, but definitely awkward - trip when I was 23.

Now, in my late 40s, occasionally I'll indulge in a rail or two of cocaine to get through an all night shift.

About the only gateway that weed opens up is exposure and access to harder things... there's no actual physiological need sparked by a spliff to make one crave meth.

On the other hand, prescribing percocet for every ache and pain is kinda like putting out a fire with gasoline.

congrats.. you've caught up to the "common sense" position folks like me have held for 30+ years.

Now if you can just get with it/us on guns...

New Study: Tylenol, Advil Work Just as Well as Opioids

Believe the client.

Not all drugs work for all people, but all things being equal, it would be great to have the option to try a less addictive drug first.

That's literally my mom's argument against pot. it's so ridiculous.

Absolute nonsense. It depends on the type of pain. I'd love to see someone tell my sister to her face that she doesn't actually need opioids and Tylenol will do just as good at making her bones not hurt.

I'm in pharmacy school. I hear about the opioid crisis daily. The problem with addiction is real, but for those who genuinely need them, opioids are literally the difference between bearable levels of pain and wanting to kill yourself. If you think Advil works just as good as Percocet, consider yourself extremely lucky to have never experienced hard core pain.

Well, as @Anna said, it depends on the individual, which is why ignoramuses like Sessions should not be in a position of power where they can make policy based on their own prissy little opinions.

Dental surgeon gave me four Percocet (they count them out very carefully in CA) following some rather horrific excavation work a few years ago. I never took them. Once the lidocaine wore off, I took ibuprofen and, aside from some soreness at the injection site, never felt a twinge.

OTOH, I used to have migraines that left me whimpering in the dark for 6-8 hours, but I know someone who can drive while she's "migraining," as she puts it. Go figure.

YMMV.

Eventually it will all come down to DNA, and identifying who's more susceptible to what kinds of pain based on having/not having a particular gene sequence. In the meantime, too many doctors will subscribe anything to get the patient out of their office so they don't miss their tee time. And pharma reps who dole out free samples are a major contributor to the abuse.

I think so too. I see precision medicine being the norm in my lifetime. Was just doing a presentation on this the other day. Since hydrocodone got switched from a Sch 3 a Sch 2 drug, Rx for codeine and tramadol have gone through the roof. A bunch of kids died from getting codeine after getting their tonsils out, so the FDA contraindicated codeine for kids under 12, but St. Jude Children's is now preemptively genotyping kids to see if they are ultra rapid CYP2D6 metabolizers (the enzyme that turns codeine into morphine). If not, it's safe for them to have codeine, which is a great option for things like sickle cell, etc. anyway, the testing is getting super cheap and it's a pretty simple test. I see more and more of this type of testing becoming feasible in the next 5-10 years. Super cool and interesting to me.

I stick to just weed. I’ll take acid a few times a year, mushrooms too if I can get a hold of some. I’ve been offered cocaine, just it freaks me out so I passed on it. I did do a research chemical that was basically what would happen if acid and peyote had a baby that lasted 24 hours. It was fun watching having intense closed eye visuals of onyx black Mayan pyramids covered in glowing red Kryptonian symbols, but it’s 24 hours and that’s too long to be high. I tried MDMA, but it didn’t work.

"!!!!!"

And now I feel bad for all the shit Muad and I used to give Eccentric for his drug use, cuz he could've had some med condition or ADHD as a kid that got him hooked to the stuff he was taking.

My concerns about marijuana legalization at this point are more about there being nationwide standards for its growing and production as well as accepted standards for things like purity and the like.

I still don't think a person should be able to simply grow marijuana in a a greenhouse and use or sell it legally anymore than they can grow their own tobacco or distill their own alcohol without regulatory oversight.

I agree that anyone growing and selling it as a commercial product needs to have regulatory oversight, but for personal use? It's an herb. You risk opening the door to government telling you you can't grow tomatoes on your patio or rosemary on your kitchen windowsill.

This.

Depends on how much you grow. A field is going a bit far, but a few plants isn’t going to be an issue. At most you’re growing enough for yourself and maybe a few friends. A lot like how you can brew your own beer as long as you don’t go into production with it.

I thought to legally brew your own beer you had to have a microbrewery permit?

dude you're still tripping, it was actually supposed to last 24 years

this whole board is a hallucination

I mean, the issues with purity come into play when it's a black market drug. Drug dealers put other substances into the marijuana to amplify its effects or to mask that it's shitty marijuana. Growing it on your own, the only issues you would have is weaker or stronger THC effects depending on how well you care for it. And it's not a drug that is going to kill you if the dose is too strong--it literally can't kill you.

Part of the problem with distilling alcohol is that it has caused hazards ranging anywhere from the resulting alcohol literally blinding people or exploding home distilleries. Those hazards simply aren't present by having a marijuana plant growing in one's backyard, greenhouse, or garage.

Nope. At least not in California. I brew 5 gallon batches a few times a year. Not any more dangerous than making a shit ton of oatmeal. I could make wine too, but that seems like a lot more trouble for less of a payout.

Shit, uou should hit up @gul online, I bet he'd buy a gallon from ya

That explains the bear in my spare bedroom.

As long as it’s for personal use, you can brew as much as you want as long as you are over 18 and it doesn’t “degrade the environment” which I assume means don’t dump your shitty beer in the woods. It’s a weird hobby now, my brother has been looking into it. You can buy a kit at Target for a pretty cheap price.

Yeah... there's fire risks with people who do their own wiring, and black mold is a factor if you don't ventilate. Home growing will inevitably fuel a grey market as once you get competent, the difference between growing 5 and 50 isn't all that big of a deal-especially when you figure they're worth about 1200-1600 each.

Likewise, the various molds that the plant is subject to during drying and curing can be a problem... that's likely where the myth of "spiked" pot comes from when someone gets sick. It isn't cost effective, let alone practical, to dust weed with something like PCP.