Sp33dy said:
come on dude was that comment really necessary?
I agree. The core purpose of this forum is to provide neutral -- yet reliable -- insight while being indefatigable overseers of harm-reduction. He made it clear that he has a limited education. The hair-splitting is unnecessary considering how well it reads phonetically; his life-experience is what is important here.
Sp33dy said:
Thanks for your opinion/advice furhoof, I really enjoyed reading something from someone with a lot of first hand experience.
As for my opinion on this matter, I can say of course it's possible to function for a very long time on an unlimited amount of opiates, but you would be playing with fire. If you are currently functioning well without them then I believe it would be foolish to just jump in and start using everyday because they will become more abundant/cheaper.
If all opiates/drugs were now legal to purchase at any corner store, would you start using everyday? It's pretty much the same concept. You get to live your life how you want to, but most people would sadly crash and burn if they took up an opportunity like that. You would be more successful at living a longer, more productive life on an unlimited amount of opiates if EVERYONE in the country that you would be working in was on opiates which includes the inability to be prosecuted for being on opiates, something that most people would consider a "fantasy world" ;P
That's the problem. The termination of prohibition -- and a vast amount of time -- is ultimately necessary. The time would be necessary to erode the unjust reputation that opioids get. Not many words elicit such a strong visceral reaction as 'heroin'; not cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, or even methamphetamine (though this varies from area to area).
Before the idea of an oiate panacea could conceivably exist, we must do whatever is necessary to reverse the propaganda associated with its use.
The termination of prohibition would need to precede this by a long shot. It would need to have at or around the same net impact on the general populous as alcohol -- and I am not talking pharmacologically, I'm referring to the public's overall perception of danger. For this to work, society have to see opioids as being an equal or lesser harm when compared with alcohol, nicotine.
This isn't something that we'll see play out in our lifetimes, I'm sad to say -- at least not on a large-scale basis. Sure, there will always be countries with a more progressive stance on drugs and we WILL see more countries adopt a more lax approach; but, this works only because of the large difference in population.
For a country the size of the US -- or worse, the entire developed world -- to accept unmetered opioid use [in the short term], nothing less than a small miracle would need occur.
Opioids are not without their problems. In non-tolerant individuals, use can be generally described as being uncomfortable; the type of experience most would not wish to repeat. This blemish -- along with its ability to slow respiratory function -- and possible asphyxiation due to a combination of this, puking, and a now blocked airway put many people dangerously close to death only exacerbates things. It's this that has made heroin the go to drug when given the task to identify the most dangerous drug.
If, instead of using scare tactics, we educated people of the risks surrounding [any] drug use, I feel such incidences would reduce dramatically. Furthermore, overall perception of danger would drop.
Marijuana has been gaining traction in the media, government, and society for years. The reason most commonly used when asked why: it is natural. Heroin, in essence is natural, too. Sure, it's acetylated morphine that's been extracted from the opium poppy, but this is a far cry from being a fully synthetic drug such as methamphetamine; and, don't get me wrong, I am not isolating synthetics. I am simply latching on to the same fundamental purpose why marijuana is deemed appropriate.
Once ingested -- let's say injected -- the heroin crosses the blood-brain-barrier and inside a matter of minutes it is broken back down into morphine. The brain and many parts of the body are full of opioid receptor sites; so, it's probably pretty safe to say that at some point in evolution more than a little opioid use occurred. Sure, we have endorphins (natural pain-killers) one may say, but to the receptors themselves, the morphine is simply 'read' as being a natural painkiller; so, it's simply activating natural synapses inside everyone's body that cause natural processes to occur. Because of this, opiates are not neurotoxic to any organ system.
So, basically, I think the way to getting things moving is begin educating people with factual information EARLY so that hopefully one day laws will be changed insofar that we can pick and choose what we decide to place in our bodies.
I know this is beginning to get quite long and has lost quite a bit of its focus, but I thought that some of this could be informative to some people out there.
I have nearly a decade of intravenous heroin and other pharmaceutical opioid use under my belt. If anyone has any personal questions, don't hesitate to PM me.
Peace,
fevio
