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| Heroin for Addicts Works as Swiss Fix |
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Posted by FoM on July 31, 2001 at 08:35:44 PT By Susan Taylor Martin, Times Senior Correspondent Source: St. Petersburg Times 
In an old house near Switzerland's capital city, heroin addicts are getting ready for their midday fix. A young man with pierced ears cinches a piece of rubber tubing tightly around his arm. The brachial vein bulges out, making it easier to stick in the needle. The men with him have been shooting up for so many years, the veins in their arms have hardened. One man yanks down his pants and injects himself in the fleshy inner thigh. Another works a syringe into the thin skin on the back of his hand. Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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Comment #5 posted by Dan B on August 01, 2001 at 03:54:19 PT:
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| Patrick argues, "When prohibition ended did we become a nation of alcoholics?" and I have to say that is a good argument. Still, many would say that we did, in fact, become a nation of alcoholics, and I would tend to agree. The question, then, is why? The answer: people turned to alcohol as the principal method of intoxication because it has been, since 1937, the only legal intoxicant widely available without a prescription. If the other drugs were never illegal, I predict that drug abuse (not use, I'm talking about abuse) would never have become a big societal factor. In fact, it really is not a major societal factor right now, aside from the mass hysteria surrounding drug use. Consider this: By the government's oft-cited estimate, we have about 5 million "drug addicts" in this country (in actuality, the number of addicts is significantly lower than this: about 2.7 million, or about 1% of the population). Even if we accept the larger estimate, that is less than two percent of the U.S. population--hardly a significant problem. Further, if cannabis were legalized, we'd have a less harmful drug than alcohol to legally use. I predict that many would switch from alcohol to cannabis after discovering that it produces many of the positive effects without causing the disorientation, digestive disturbance, or hangover produced by alcohol. If more people switched from alcohol to cannabis, we would predictably have fewer highway accidents and less overall violence in our communities. More importantly, police could then be in a position to actually serve the community, rather than simply arresting as many citizens as possible in the name of the war on (some) drugs. I hope this makes sense. I'm tired. Dan B [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by J.R. Bob Dobbs on July 31, 2001 at 12:14:56 PT |
| Sounds perfectly reasonable - and a lot similar to the way heroin use was treated in the 19th century. People did it in private with a slight sense of shame, to be sure, but they didn't have anyone actively waging war against them. For examples, look at the movie Topsy Turvy, and the way some characters' opiate use affects the group as a whole, but not in the same way it would today. Also, the first few chapters of Sperber's biography of Humphrey Bogart give insights as to how his parents were able to live while both were frequent opiate injectors in the early 20th century. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #3 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on July 31, 2001 at 11:05:58 PT:
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| If you are a lying Amerikan bureaucrat. The answers are so obvious once these innovative European approaches are described. Too bad the ostriches will continue their postures and do nothing on this side of the pond. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by E. Johnson on July 31, 2001 at 10:28:21 PT |
| All these Sunday morning Christians in the US government forget that lying is still a sin when you leave church. And lying doesn't stop being a sin when you go to work for the federal government, either. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by Patrick on July 31, 2001 at 08:57:01 PT |
| The U.S policy of zero-tolerance is looking weaker every time the truth gets published. One of the fears of legalizing drugs is that that drug use will rise dramatically. I don't know for sure, but I doubt it based on the numbers being generated from Europe's programs compared to U.S. numbers with "the deterrent of jail" for drug use hanging over ones head. When prohibition ended did we become a nation of alcoholics? Once again, I ask congress to explain to the public why a weed that grows everywhere has more value than an ounce of gold? Me thinks it has something to do with your silly little war on drugs. You want to prevent drug use and abuse? Educate the children with the truth not scare tactics. [ Post Comment ] |
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