Wow, a lot of brainwashed drug war dummies spouting off crap about the "killer heroin" and "killer illegal drugs". Of course no one thinks to blame the drug war for the root cause of most of these problems do they?JohnBoyCanada, actually the one who sounds like they know very little about heroin and drug use is you...you are selectively choosing sources and anecdotal evidence to "prove" heroin causes brain damage and prescription/safe site programs don't work...just like the marijuana demonizers like to choose improperly and biased studies to "prove" that marijuana causes mental illness. As someone who has bought plenty of the stuff in my lifetime, and known more than one (try ~20) heroin addicts&former addicts, and is also involved in Harm Reduction...I can tell you...all you sound like is a hysterical, moralizing, drug addict's family member, that usually does more harm than good, spouting the usual lines of "How dare you say such and such...you probably never knew a drug addict in your life...it ruins the lives of everyone who touches it...I know because it killed so and so...legalization/prescriptions don't work because this stuff kills & causes brain damage...it needs to be completely eliminated" and blah blah blah.People like you are the ones who continue to perpetuate the "dying in a ditch" image of addicts and do more harm than good to the family members that you supposedly care about. People like you are also the ones who refuse to acknowledge the thousands of functioning addicts, with families, high paying jobs, children a house and a car...all without wallowing in a ditch or causing their kids to become addicts. The reason you don't hear about these people is because most studies are done on street populations (hence the bias in many of them)...Most addicts with, say jobs as a real estate agent, or portfolio manager, (heh, I've even known a priest) don't want to make their drug use known to anyone because of the stigma associated with it (perpetuated by people like you) and the harassment that they will inevitably get from well-meaning family members/friends/coworkers to "just quit" or spend 3-6 months in a rehab. Here's something you don't hear to often, while there's plenty of addicts in terrible situations whose lives are a mess and want help quitting, there are also plenty of addicts whom you wouldn't be able to pick out of a crowd that are perfectly functioning and whom don't want to quit. Regarding the whole "brain damage" assertion that you have made. Heroin is indistinguishable from morphine once it enters the body...and there have been a few longitudinal studies done on doctors who were addicted to morphine for 60+ years who showed no signs of physical damage from use. The whole "burden of proof" is on you, and so far none of the crap you hear from drug war fanatics or hysterics has ever been shown to be true. Assertions that it alters the brain because of changes to the dopamine/serotonin systems, is like saying sex causes brain damage because it releases dopamine that chemically alters the system. Besides, you could go to the pharmacy and find dozens of prescription drugs that have a much greater effect on the brain chemistry - however no one is making the arguments that those drugs causes "brain damage". All your brain damage argument boils down to is irresponsible, naive drug war propaganda.If you want to talk about the dangers of using street drugs intravenously, fine, just do it intelligently; talk about the dangers that have been caused by the drug war and bad drug policy. Talk about how an illegal market leads to impure products. Talk about bans on needle exchanges, safe sites, prescription programs, and the criminalization of drug use itself, leads to higher disease rates. Talk about how the price of drugs caused by a black market due to the criminalization of drugs leaves little left for addicts to get proper food/nutrition. Go ahead and talk about all that stuff, however realize that the real root of these problems are not because of a very safe chemical (diacetylmorphine), but because of an extremely damaging drug war. Even if you sat in a room for an entire decade using street grade product every single day, shooting it w/ clean needles and proper cooking/sterilization/filter techniques...you would experience no physical damage or degradation because of use....I could introduce you to dozens of these such people, healthy people, if you don't believe me.And valorin, people can live perfectly fine without heroin, just like they can live perfectly fine with it...What I can't live with is a bunch of prohibitionist fanatics moralizing about what I and others should and shouldn't be doing. I'm a big boy and can make my own decisions, thank you very much. I hope you think the same about yourself...if not there are institutions where you can go where they will watch over you 24-7 and make sure that you don't do anything to bring harm to yourself.
totaljerkfaceDec 17, 2008
yes... from reading my comment it is safe to assume that I NEED ALCOHOL TO COPE WITH LIFE'S PROBLEMS
doodleshitDec 18, 2008
no s**t it wasn't just lsd, but he asked for an example of someone who habitually consumed and was probably addicted to lsd. example - brian wilson
pipedreambombDec 20, 2008
He said "furthermore"; I think he must be onto something, guys!
hawkdude56Dec 22, 2008
Hahahah... cry some more tears over it!
meeneecatFeb 10, 2009
Wow, a lot of brainwashed drug war dummies spouting off crap about the "killer heroin" and "killer illegal drugs". Of course no one thinks to blame the drug war for the root cause of most of these problems do they?JohnBoyCanada, actually the one who sounds like they know very little about heroin and drug use is you...you are selectively choosing sources and anecdotal evidence to "prove" heroin causes brain damage and prescription/safe site programs don't work...just like the marijuana demonizers like to choose improperly and biased studies to "prove" that marijuana causes mental illness. As someone who has bought plenty of the stuff in my lifetime, and known more than one (try ~20) heroin addicts&former addicts, and is also involved in Harm Reduction...I can tell you...all you sound like is a hysterical, moralizing, drug addict's family member, that usually does more harm than good, spouting the usual lines of "How dare you say such and such...you probably never knew a drug addict in your life...it ruins the lives of everyone who touches it...I know because it killed so and so...legalization/prescriptions don't work because this stuff kills & causes brain damage...it needs to be completely eliminated" and blah blah blah.People like you are the ones who continue to perpetuate the "dying in a ditch" image of addicts and do more harm than good to the family members that you supposedly care about. People like you are also the ones who refuse to acknowledge the thousands of functioning addicts, with families, high paying jobs, children a house and a car...all without wallowing in a ditch or causing their kids to become addicts. The reason you don't hear about these people is because most studies are done on street populations (hence the bias in many of them)...Most addicts with, say jobs as a real estate agent, or portfolio manager, (heh, I've even known a priest) don't want to make their drug use known to anyone because of the stigma associated with it (perpetuated by people like you) and the harassment that they will inevitably get from well-meaning family members/friends/coworkers to "just quit" or spend 3-6 months in a rehab. Here's something you don't hear to often, while there's plenty of addicts in terrible situations whose lives are a mess and want help quitting, there are also plenty of addicts whom you wouldn't be able to pick out of a crowd that are perfectly functioning and whom don't want to quit. Regarding the whole "brain damage" assertion that you have made. Heroin is indistinguishable from morphine once it enters the body...and there have been a few longitudinal studies done on doctors who were addicted to morphine for 60+ years who showed no signs of physical damage from use. The whole "burden of proof" is on you, and so far none of the crap you hear from drug war fanatics or hysterics has ever been shown to be true. Assertions that it alters the brain because of changes to the dopamine/serotonin systems, is like saying sex causes brain damage because it releases dopamine that chemically alters the system. Besides, you could go to the pharmacy and find dozens of prescription drugs that have a much greater effect on the brain chemistry - however no one is making the arguments that those drugs causes "brain damage". All your brain damage argument boils down to is irresponsible, naive drug war propaganda.If you want to talk about the dangers of using street drugs intravenously, fine, just do it intelligently; talk about the dangers that have been caused by the drug war and bad drug policy. Talk about how an illegal market leads to impure products. Talk about bans on needle exchanges, safe sites, prescription programs, and the criminalization of drug use itself, leads to higher disease rates. Talk about how the price of drugs caused by a black market due to the criminalization of drugs leaves little left for addicts to get proper food/nutrition. Go ahead and talk about all that stuff, however realize that the real root of these problems are not because of a very safe chemical (diacetylmorphine), but because of an extremely damaging drug war. Even if you sat in a room for an entire decade using street grade product every single day, shooting it w/ clean needles and proper cooking/sterilization/filter techniques...you would experience no physical damage or degradation because of use....I could introduce you to dozens of these such people, healthy people, if you don't believe me.And valorin, people can live perfectly fine without heroin, just like they can live perfectly fine with it...What I can't live with is a bunch of prohibitionist fanatics moralizing about what I and others should and shouldn't be doing. I'm a big boy and can make my own decisions, thank you very much. I hope you think the same about yourself...if not there are institutions where you can go where they will watch over you 24-7 and make sure that you don't do anything to bring harm to yourself.
meeneecatFeb 11, 2009
Read this article about how the addictiveness and dangers of heroin are overstated.<a class="user" href="http://www.reason.com/news/show/28809.html">http://www.reason.com/news/show/28809.html</a>