'medicine cabinet'
Bluelighter
Pretty bs article, figured I'd post it because it doesn't mention harm reduction except for praising narcan. Some errors, laudin instead of laudinum? Or was it called laudin at some point? Idk...but yea, thought it was kinda misleading by the title.
VALPARAISO — Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Rannazzisi urged a group of substance abuse counselors and emergency first responders earlier this week to visit erowid.org and bluelight.org.
"These are the people telling your kids how to do drugs," he said.
Calling up both websites on a large screen at the Porter County Memorial Opera House, Rannazzisi showed how they not only offer lots of information about legal and illegal drugs, but also a forum where visitors can pose their own questions.
"That's where kids are getting information," he said.
Rannazzisi spoke as part a daylong naloxone training and distribution seminar. The information was geared toward professionals during the morning hours and to parents at night.
Rannazzisi said he is fan of naloxone, a drug that reverses an opioid overdose. He disagrees with the argument that those who do drugs get what is coming to them.
"There's no one in here who's perfect," he said.
The naloxone training and distribution was provided by Overdose Lifeline, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing opioid deaths and reducing the stigma of addiction.
Rannazzisi said the current heroin-use epidemic can be traced back to this country's long love of prescription drugs.
He said 70 percent to 80 percent of heroin users started out with prescription drugs. A typical pattern is that a young person is given a prescription drug for a legitimate use and winds up abusing it and purchasing more illegally on the streets. As the need for stronger drugs arise and the prices go up on the streets, the young person finds it cheaper to just buy heroin.
"When you go to heroin, you're desperate," Rannazzisi said.
"If we don't take care of prescription drugs, we will always have a heroin problem," he said.
The country's prescription drug problem dates back to the 1860s when heroin, cocaine and laudin appeared in various products.
The dolls referred to in the 1967 film "Valley of the Dolls" are pills, Rannazzisi said.
"Even Hollywood knew we had a problem," he said.
Quaaludes and Valium then became popular, followed by other drugs, such as oxycodone.
"We've always had a prescription drug problem," Rannazzisi said. "We're just now addressing it."
The problem is further complicated by drugs that are chemically altered enough to fall just outside the legal descriptions, he said. Unfortunately, they are often even more dangerous than the legal versions, Rannazzisi said.
The solution is a combination of responses, including stopping the drugs at the source by investigating criminal activity and stopping the indiscriminate prescribing of drugs, he said. There is also need for more treatment programs.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_359abf83-9483-5112-953c-30b2c08b8921.html
VALPARAISO — Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Rannazzisi urged a group of substance abuse counselors and emergency first responders earlier this week to visit erowid.org and bluelight.org.
"These are the people telling your kids how to do drugs," he said.
Calling up both websites on a large screen at the Porter County Memorial Opera House, Rannazzisi showed how they not only offer lots of information about legal and illegal drugs, but also a forum where visitors can pose their own questions.
"That's where kids are getting information," he said.
Rannazzisi spoke as part a daylong naloxone training and distribution seminar. The information was geared toward professionals during the morning hours and to parents at night.
Rannazzisi said he is fan of naloxone, a drug that reverses an opioid overdose. He disagrees with the argument that those who do drugs get what is coming to them.
"There's no one in here who's perfect," he said.
The naloxone training and distribution was provided by Overdose Lifeline, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing opioid deaths and reducing the stigma of addiction.
Rannazzisi said the current heroin-use epidemic can be traced back to this country's long love of prescription drugs.
He said 70 percent to 80 percent of heroin users started out with prescription drugs. A typical pattern is that a young person is given a prescription drug for a legitimate use and winds up abusing it and purchasing more illegally on the streets. As the need for stronger drugs arise and the prices go up on the streets, the young person finds it cheaper to just buy heroin.
"When you go to heroin, you're desperate," Rannazzisi said.
"If we don't take care of prescription drugs, we will always have a heroin problem," he said.
The country's prescription drug problem dates back to the 1860s when heroin, cocaine and laudin appeared in various products.
The dolls referred to in the 1967 film "Valley of the Dolls" are pills, Rannazzisi said.
"Even Hollywood knew we had a problem," he said.
Quaaludes and Valium then became popular, followed by other drugs, such as oxycodone.
"We've always had a prescription drug problem," Rannazzisi said. "We're just now addressing it."
The problem is further complicated by drugs that are chemically altered enough to fall just outside the legal descriptions, he said. Unfortunately, they are often even more dangerous than the legal versions, Rannazzisi said.
The solution is a combination of responses, including stopping the drugs at the source by investigating criminal activity and stopping the indiscriminate prescribing of drugs, he said. There is also need for more treatment programs.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/...cle_359abf83-9483-5112-953c-30b2c08b8921.html
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
