I can so relate

It would not surprise me one bit that Mueller has evidence trump somehow profits, along with the Russian mobs, from all the opiates flooding into our country.

Years ago, he was in the throes of a particularly bad bout of drinking. He had gotten yet another DUI and was on day-release from jail so he could work. My mom was beside herself. It was classic co-dependency. In her desperation to keep from losing her son, she would do anything to keep him alive. She paid his bills, she allowed him to stay at her house, she visited him in jail. She hoped that by helping him, by making his life easier, he would stop drinking.

One day we were talking on the phone. She was crying over my brother. I told her that this was killing her, she was not helping him by continually propping him up, and she needed to allow him to fall. "But what if he dies?" That's his responsibility, Mom. Allow him to take responsibility for his own actions.

These conversations are so heart wrenching. Oftentimes the addict dies despite the family's best efforts.

Someday, Patrick is going to overdose outside of his parents' purview and he will die. What is heartbreaking is the certainty that this very thing is going to happen. It's just a question of when.

Another just two days ago. I knew these kids when they were healthy, happy teenagers. My heart is breaking once again.

Last edited Sun Jan 21, 2018, 01:44 PM - Edit history (2)

During the crack addition epidemic in the late 80' s early 90's, African Americans were treated like trash. There was no public outcry of 'crisis' and 'we must help them'. No sympathy for the addict or the addict's family. AAs were jailed, treated like lepers and left to die crackhouses. Families were destroyed. Fast forward to present day. The response to opioid addiction is sooooo different. It's treated with sympathy, dare I say coddling of the addict and ( oh my) called a national crisis. Heck police officers even carry Narcan. I just wonder why there is such such completely different response (from the public and police ) to opioid addiction. Something's different ...just can't put my finger on it.

The double standard is infuriating.

Somehow we must switch to a new paradigm. Maybe when the current generation of old mean white people die off, the next generation will be able to see more clearly that we are all one and a slight to one is a slight to all

+1000

that is indeed pure racism

opiate addict would disagree at how you characterize their oh so sympathetic treatment. Coddling? Yikes, join the real world.

like this one but never ever mentions how Grandma Smith with cancer has to drag herself to the doctor and to the pharmacy and judged a drug addict for taking meds that give her any quality of life. I agree with you.

I totally agree with you. I think the double standard you pointed out is very clear. The crack epidemic was never treated as a health crisis. There was no empathy for anyone involved. Now there is no empathy for patients who have serious chronic pain issues — the DEA doesn’t give a shit about destroying their lives to look victorious in the “drug war.”

Now our dea spends its time attacking doctors and patients — the press pushes the daily “white heroin addict because of opioids so outlaw opioids/punish doctors so real patients will commit suicide and save us money” propaganda. They still don’t care.

These people may need to be off the street and in treatment for at least a year. Currently, the way most of them get off the street for at least a year is by being convicted of a felony. That saves their lives, at least temporarily, but it sets them up for failure when they get out. They are packed into for-profit prisons. Their records are marred for life by felony convictions. Some states even force them to pay for their incarceration after they get out by working jobs they can't get. It's insanity.

Commitment is no longer a viable option. There are too few beds in mental institutions. Rehab time is usually way too short, a month or less. These people need a place to go where they can stay clean, get three sqares, develop good education and work habits, and be treated completely as non-criminals in every way. I don't know what the mechanics of getting them into this kind of rehab would be, perhaps a mix of voluntary and involuntary commitment.

We need something. A cure would be best. Absent that, these people need some rational, humane, effective alternatives.

health infrastructure is non-existent. When my daughter became depressed, it was very difficult to get her help. She nearly died before we could get what was needed, and we have private insurance.