Apparently I'm part of the drug problem...

[Gridlink]

...because I use a lot of drugs. Not just high dosage, but also a staggering variety of drugs. But I think I am part of the drug solution by being a good person who doesn't steal, cheat, lie, swindle, etc. to fund their habit. I work 2 jobs and have hobbies outside of drug use. even though I use hard drugs I don't use them every day.

The real drug problem isn't that people are using fentanyl and such. The real drug problem is that drugs are illegal. Illegality keeps the prices high and the quality low, which in turn causes people to steal to fund their habit, lands then in jail for the victimless crime of possession, stigmatizes them and prevents them from seeking help if they want it, the stigma also leads to consequences like losing a job or housing if one's drug use becomes known, contributes to harmful side effects from bad cuts, and leads to overdoses from impure or unexpectedly strong shit. Some drugs do inherently cause harm to mind and body if they are abused, it is true. But almost every negative consequence of drug use is caused by illegality! and the war on drugs cannot be won, nor do law enforcement want it to be won bc then they'd lose their government funding! Furthermore a lot of industries, like private prisons, supply chains for prisons, firearms, alcohol, supply chains for law enforcement, etc. make a lot of money off the drug war, so they lobby for laws that harshly and unfairly penalize users. Addiction is a medical problem to be solved by medical care, and a social problem to be solved by fundamental improvements to society, not a legal problem to be solved by jailing users.

I want people to look at me and say, "there's a happy dude who lives a productive life while still using drugs. Maybe drug use doesn't inherently ruin your life. I should rethink some of my views on drugs and the war on drugs." Be the change, ya know?

 

[sigmond]

Drugs like morphine, oxycodone, and even heroin could possibly be used recreationally without much harm to the user but I am not sure you could make the same argument for fentanyl. Any person without an opioid tolerance would likely overdose on even the smallest dose of fentanyl.

Fentanyl should have never been approved for human use. Once it was approved it should have never left the hands of a doctor or anesthesiologist. I assume the only reason it was approved is because pharmaceutical companies need to create new drugs in order to keep profits coming in.

Beyond all this, it’s not a very recreational drug. Outside of the initial rush it doesn’t cause much euphoria and acts more like a tranquilizer than an opioid. Look at what this drug has done to the streets. Heroin users were sometimes noticeable but you never saw a large group of them sprawled out on the ground looking comatose or twisted up like human pretzels from muscle rigidity.

Fentanyl is a chemical weapon.

 

[M1sterEd]

I'm part of the drug problem because I am pro-drugs.

Thank you @Pissed_and_messed I am also part of the solution

 

[Pissed_and_messed]

I am part of the solution, and that's not what politicians want.

 

[SotPoker1012]

Drugs are not really the problem, its everything surrounding them. Prohibition itself causes the majority of drug associated problems.

Why are fentanyl and similarly especially nasty opioids so commonly sold as or mixed with other, safer opioids? Because the drug market is illicit and thus cannot be regulated, some people put profits above all else, and there's no way to stop this without legalizing and regulating the drug market.

Prohibition has led to an "abstinence only", fearmongering style of education surrounding drugs rather than actual education about drugs, their effects, and their safety.

Most of the things that style of education uses to fearmonger about drugs are moreso a consequence of prohibition. Jail, losing your job because of a failed drug test, and as mentioned above, things like laced drugs all stem from our prohibitive policies. Just so nobody misunderstands me, I'm not saying you should get high at work, but a piss test doesn't detect if you are high at work but if you've gotten high at all recently.

This also removes personal responsibility from the picture entirely, acting as if the substance itself has a will to get people addicted and destroy their lives. Ultimately, if people want to use drugs, they are going to and they have some level of responsibility to educate themselves about the drugs they consume. I really think this idea of people not knowing opioids, etc are addictive before they try it is dumb. No, it's understood by everyone except perhaps literal children. The reasons people choose to take that risk are complicated and personal to each drug user, but don't infantalize them by acting like they've been roped into something they did not understand. On the topic of safety more broadly, we should be educating people on best harm reduction practices and they should seek out that education before they try it. I am currently and have been dependent on various substances. That's my problem, not a problem for the state to regulate. I work, I don't steal or con, I take care of myself. Maybe of those who do steal to sustain a drug habit wouldn't if they could get good work. If their addiction has spiraled to the point that they cannot work, that's probably the point that professional help should be sought out.

Prohibition also makes getting genuinely good help more difficult for those who need it.

People have been getting high since before the invention of agriculture. If people want to get high, they're going to and no amount of nanny state BS is going to stop them. The whole narrative around drugs is frustrating. If drugs were legalized, would some people still end up killing themselves with it? Yeah, some people would, but more often than not, the worst consequences of addiction come from the prohibition itself. Some people still run out into traffic and get hit by cars. That's no reason to ban cars. I also cannot get behind the narrative of some peoples irresponsibility as an excuse to take my drugs away from me.

 

[Gridlink]

Drugs like morphine, oxycodone, and even heroin could possibly be used recreationally without much harm to the user but I am not sure you could make the same argument for fentanyl. Any person without an opioid tolerance would likely overdose on even the smallest dose of fentanyl.

Fentanyl should have never been approved for human use. Once it was approved it should have never left the hands of a doctor or anesthesiologist. I assume the only reason it was approved is because pharmaceutical companies need to create new drugs in order to keep profits coming in.

Beyond all this, it’s not a very recreational drug. Outside of the initial rush it doesn’t cause much euphoria and acts more like a tranquilizer than an opioid. Look at what this drug has done to the streets. Heroin users were sometimes noticeable but you never saw a large group of them sprawled out on the ground looking comatose or twisted up like human pretzels from muscle rigidity.

Fentanyl is a chemical weapon.

It's weird but I do get euphoria from fentanyl. And yet ...the euphoria from fentanyl powder doesn't seem to be as intense as from the old gel patches and lollipops. Nostalgia?

I will agree with you that fent is a lot more dangerous than the classic opioids that just cannot seem to be found anymore. If all drugs were legal I cannot imagine that I or anyone else would elect to use fentanyl over say, oxycodone.