WP: As opioid overdoses rise, police officers become counselors, doctors and social workers

[visionary]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/as-opioid-overdoses-rise-police-officers-become-counselors-doctors-and-social-workers/2017/03/12/85a99ba6-fa9c-11e6-be05-1a3817ac21a5_story.html?hpid=hp_rhp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.26ef697bcfeb

Quote

As opioid overdoses rise, police officers become counselors, doctors and social workers

 

The nation’s opioid epidemic is changing the way law enforcement does its job, with police officers acting as drug counselors and medical workers and shifting from law-and-order tactics to approaches more akin to social work.

 

Departments accustomed to arresting drug abusers are spearheading programs to get them into treatment, convinced that their old strategies weren’t working. They’re administering medication that reverses overdoses, allowing users to turn in drugs in exchange for treatment, and partnering with hospitals to intervene before abuse turns fatal.

 

“A lot of the officers are resistant to what we call social work. They want to go out and fight crime, put people in jail,” said Capt. Ron Meyers of the police department in Chillicothe, Ohio, a 21-year veteran who is convinced that punitive tactics no longer work against drugs. “We need to make sure the officers understand this is what is going to stop the epidemic.”

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2017 by visionary

[Captain Wiggles]

The Drug War has been an absolute disaster. The solution has always been and will continue to be treatment instead of incarceration.

[Gamebreaker]

Interesting. Amazing how opinions and solutions change when epidemics hit home. 

[Riggo-toni]

Yeah, now that painkillers prescriptions made of synthetic heroin have turned white folks into addicts, suddenly counseling and treatment is a viable alternative.

In the meantime, we can't prescribe even THC-free cannabis to children with epilepsy or adults in severe pain...cuz "good people don't smoke pot."

[FanboyOf91]

 

http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/

 

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontin-part2/

 

 

Also, your local police department should get familiar with fentanyl and carfentanil.

[Riggo-toni]

Fentanyl is roughly 50* more potent than regular heroin, and its manufacturer, Insys, has spent half a million dollars lobbying against medical marijuana.  I wonder why....

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-09-08/fentanyl-maker-donates-big-to-campaign-opposing-pot-legalization%3Fcontext%3Damp

Insys currently markets just one product, according to an August filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission: a sublingual fentanyl spray it calls Subsys.

Two former company employees pleaded not guilty last month to federal charges related to an alleged kickback scheme to get doctors to prescribe Subsys.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit late last month against the company alleging Insys hawked the drug to doctors for off-label prescribing, saying the company's "desire for increased profits led it to disregard patients' health and push addictive opioids for non-FDA approved purposes."

 

 

https://www.google.com/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3781236/amp/Drug-company-makes-powerful-painkiller-fentanyl-gives-500-000-campaign-marijuana-illegal-Arizona.html

Edited March 13, 2017 by Riggo-toni

[Llevron]

You have to be some kind of monster to purposely get sick people addicted to a drug just so you can profit off of it. Like these people actually sat down and said THIS is worth your money, because its so addictive that it cant fail. And then they did it. Thats literally evil. 

 

I dont even want to get on my soap box about the "War on Drugs" here right now. 

[BornaSkinsFan83]

7 hours ago, Riggo-toni said:

Yeah, now that painkillers prescriptions made of synthetic heroin have turned white folks into addicts, suddenly counseling and treatment is a viable alternative.

In the meantime, we can't prescribe even THC-free cannabis to children with epilepsy or adults in severe pain...cuz "good people don't smoke pot."

 

I'm not getting into your very specific scenario but I think you're probably heading in this direction so I'm just going to jump to it... Another thing we desperately need to drop in this county is the idea that weed is" relatively harmless" and there's no reason it shouldn't be legalized. No. I don't care what laboratory cannabis can potentially do for epileptic children, weed isn't good either. 

[Riggo-toni]

Neither is alcohol. In fact, statistically it seems considerably worse.  Should we bring back prohibition?

[TradeTheBeal!]

Weed is just fine.

[Hersh]

Let's not make this thread about weed. Surely there is at least one or two threads about it. 

 

Regarding all this abuse, one thing I don't get is when people talk about how there is nothing to do in these places and that leads to more users. If that's the case, what should be one about that aspect of this problem. 

 

[skinsmarydu]

9 hours ago, BornaSkinsFan83 said:

 

I'm not getting into your very specific scenario

I don't care what laboratory cannabis can potentially do for epileptic children, weed isn't good either. 

You did.  And your "carelessness" is duly noted. 

I just can't understand your lack of empathy, surely you have a heart...after everything you've been through. 

 

 

8 hours ago, Hersh said:

Let's not make this thread about weed. Surely there is at least one or two threads about it. 

 

Regarding all this abuse, one thing I don't get is when people talk about how there is nothing to do in these places and that leads to more users. If that's the case, what should be one about that aspect of this problem. 

 

When there's no work for you, and therefore very little food, you end up being depressed.  Depression leads to medication, legal or otherwise. 

[Riggo-toni]

9 hours ago, BornaSkinsFan83 said:

No. I don't care what laboratory cannabis can potentially do for epileptic children, weed isn't good either. 

But you would feel differently were it your child. I have never used marijuana - ever. I have never drank. I have zero interest in intoxicants whatsoever. I took a Percocet once for severe tooth pain after a root canal and absolutely hated it.

 

I do, however, have a wife with lupus, who suffers excruciating, debilitating pain for days when she has an attack. Steroids in the worst situations can help, but they are far more mood altering than pot - roid rage is no myth, believe me....it's ****ing scary.  Opioids cause constipation and are dangerously addictive.

 

The belief that synthetic heroin (Percocet, oxycontin, oxycodone, fentanyl, etc.) is a safer alternative than cannabis is insane and in complete denial of evidence. 30,000 people die from opioid overdose every year in the US, and the vast majority of cases begin with a Doctor's prescription.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Riggo-toni

[Rocky21]

Oxycontin is perfectly legal and weed is not. 

 

The only thing I can figger is Big Pharma has Congress on the payroll. 

[skinsmarydu]

22 minutes ago, Riggo-toni said:

30,000 people die from opioid overdose every year in the US, and the vast majority of cases begin with a Doctor's prescription.

And yet not one person ever has died from marijuana use...maybe from lung issues, but not from the herb itself.  Odd, huh?

My very best to your wife.  She's awesome.

[Riggo-toni]

Thanks. I always thought so. 

[Hersh]

1 hour ago, skinsmarydu said:

You did.  And your "carelessness" is duly noted. 

I just can't understand your lack of empathy, surely you have a heart...after everything you've been through. 

 

 

When there's no work for you, and therefore very little food, you end up being depressed.  Depression leads to medication, legal or otherwise. 

 

I empathize with people that have addiction problems especially when it's from physical pain and maybe they were over prescribed medicine or never got good quality care. 

However, I feel like sometimes we are allowing excuses to be made for a conscious decision to take start taking pills out of boredom or feeling depressed. I don't mean it to be callous but does that make sense?

[The Sisko]

22 hours ago, Gamebreaker said:

Interesting. Amazing how opinions and solutions change when epidemics hit home. 

 

 

goes the dynamite!

 

18 hours ago, Llevron said:

You have to be some kind of monster to purposely get sick people addicted to a drug just so you can profit off of it. Like these people actually sat down and said THIS is worth your money, because its so addictive that it cant fail. And then they did it. Thats literally evil. 

 

I dont even want to get on my soap box about the "War on Drugs" here right now. 

 

Why do you hate the job creators so?

 

12 hours ago, Hersh said:

Regarding all this abuse, one thing I don't get is when people talk about how there is nothing to do in these places and that leads to more users. If that's the case, what should be one about that aspect of this problem. 

 

 

Outside of the police doing their jobs and arresting these people, nothing. That's what we've been doing in inner cities and other black neighborhoods for years and it seemed to work fine there so why mess with success?

[Springfield]

For me, popping a (prescribed) Vicodin or Percocet did a far better job of killing the pain than ripping some tubes (smoking weed).  However, I can see how people move from opiates to heroin.  Plus, not being able to poop really sucks.

 

Opiates are bad and I know several people who have died of it and many more whose lives are destroyed.  

[Kosher Ham]

Springy...that just means you have to take on another challenge. Alcohol. Let go of one or the other it seems. 

[Zazzaro703]

I have experience with this unfortunately. One single 80mg OxyContin used to sell on the street for $80. $1 a mg. It probably still does but I can't say for certain. So it's easy to see how addicts move from prescriptions to heroin. Some do it to save money, some because they don't get their prescription anymore and are left with one hell of a terrible problem, some because their opiate of choice isn't available and some because they are just junkies. In the end, it's all the same and a major problem that destroys people and their loved ones. It's been clear for awhile profits have been more important than people's wellfare. Now that it has reached the children of the wealthy, awareness has been raised. It's horrible our society operates like this, but hopefully now people will start getting the care they need. Throwing an addict in jail most of the time does nothing. The problems they had that made them begin using in the first place aren't addressed and they just go right back to the habit upon release. You can look down on these people and blame them, but that doesn't change anything or help the millions of innocent people that didn't choose to have an addicted loved one effected by this terrible problem. 

 

Weed is like any any other substance when used recreationally, when used in moderation and responsibly it's not  more harmful than other thing like alcohol, cigarettes, gambling etc etc. It is also hung up with false narratives for profit reasons. Why would these huge pharmaceutical companies making billions want an effective medicine available that can be grown freely in people's home? Money and the bottom line has corrupted and influenced some/many of our societal decision makers for far too long. 

Edited March 15, 2017 by Zazzaro703

[Bozo the kKklown]

On 3/13/2017 at 1:26 PM, Gamebreaker said:

Interesting. Amazing how opinions and solutions change when epidemics hit home. 

[Springfield]

So I was on Facebook today and I had to look up an article that a friend posted, so I searched his name.  What also came up was a long lost friend of the same name who I grew up with.  Now I wasn't friends with him on Facebook but I clicked through to see what he was up to.  Not much, but I saw posts from years ago of people consoling him on the loss of his brother.

 

So down the rabbit hole I went.  I knew that his brother died of a heroin overdose, specifically heroin laced with fentanyl.  I know this because it was publicized in the media and the dealer who sold him the heroin that he OD'ed on also sold other people the same stuff.  That dealer is in prison now, from what I recall.

 

So I started looking back through his Facebook, which was open for anyone to see.  Man it was sad.  Seemed as though his mom posted randomly through his account about memories, mostly on birthdays and other days.  The closer to his death, the more frequent the posts were.  Posts from close friends about how they missed him, how they would see him on the other side. Posts about how his favorite sports teams were doing.  Then I got to posts, posts on posts about how they couldn't believe that he was gone.

 

Then he was alive, posting a pic of a new tattoo.  2 days before he passed.  2 days.

[visionary]

 

[FanboyOf91]

Quote

The DEA’s announcement about Syndros in the Federal Register notes that the drug has “high potential for abuse,” and puts users at “an increased risk of experiencing serious adverse events,” which “may potentially result in an overdose.”

 

Lol, only the fentanyl lobby could screw up weed!