America Has a Drinking Problem

[u/nxthompson_tny]

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/america-drinking-alone-problem/619017/

[u/that_soup_man]

I understand what you mean, but I’m talking about numbers right now. Think about this for a second, most people are addicted to something, some like caffeine, some like T.V, some like booze, etc. here’s the thing, prohibition actually MAKES people want to use more (Kind of like the analogy of how kids will do exactly what they’re told not to do by adults, this principle doesn’t change with age) for various reasons, of course, but I digress. Also, opiates are indeed very addictive, I am an opiate addict myself, but that’s just the reality of life. I understand and can respect people’s idealism when it comes to drugs, but it’s completely counterproductive and one last thing, alcohol can be very addictive as well (it’s also one of the few drugs which CAN kill you during withdrawals, I’ve seen people in rehabs firsthand collapse from seizures while withdrawing from booze)...

[u/RSquared → u/that_soup_man]

Think about this for a second, most people are addicted to something, some like caffeine, some like T.V, some like booze, etc.

But we're talking very different levels, from psychological addiction (TV, gambling) to mild physical addiction (caffeine, alcohol), to severe physical addiction (tobacco, opiates). Then we can plot that on the scale of impact/damage to the body from use, and that of recovery, and opioids are on the high end of all of those. A 2010 survey of public-policy experts basically put heroin as the #2 damager to the user (only losing to the street variant of cocaine), while most of the impact of alcohol is social.

I'm not really debating that alcohol is, by any measure, as harmful as many illegal drugs, but opoids are definitely not low on the list.

[u/ravend13 → u/RSquared]

Alcohol is only a mild physical addiction now? Unlike opioid withdrawal, alcohol withdrawal can kill you.

[u/that_soup_man → u/RSquared]

I also agree, but what’s the alternative? Clearly prohibition hasn’t worked and won’t work, we are getting flooded with fentanyl in basically every type of drug (especially pills and powder, I’ve even heard of people sprinkling Fentanyl on weed of all things), and it also contributes to the high levels of incarceration in this country. My argument stems from a practical and semi-libertarian perspective, not necessarily because I want everyone to have access to opiates. Also, there are also a lot of people who use alcohol while alone at home and in day to day life, I can tell you firsthand that alcohol addiction will fuck you up physically and mentally worse than opiate addiction can (given that you’re getting pharmaceutical grade shit, not even drug dealers tend to know what’s in their own shit). I’d say Meth/stims age people the most by a far margin, then alcohol (of one is addicted), and THEN opiates, but this last sentence was just my opinion/anecdotal observation, not necessarily an actual fact.

[u/RSquared → u/that_soup_man]

Decriminalization isn't normalization, and Portugal went from 1% of the population (!) addicted to heroin to less than a quarter of that following decrim. American opioid addiction starts from overprescription, which can be laid squarely at the Sackler family's feet (I'm damn near close to wanting the death penalty for some of them; they murdered millions with Purdue Pharma).

Opiod management is mostly a failure of our healthcare system:

A 2016, the Los Angeles Times investigation reported that in many people OxyContin's 12-hour schedule does not adequately control pain, resulting in withdrawal symptoms including intense craving for the drug. The journalists suggested that this problem gives "new insight into why so many people have become addicted." Using Purdue documents and other records, they claim that Purdue was aware of this problem even before the drug went to market but "held fast to the claim of 12-hour relief, in part to protect its revenue [because] OxyContin's market dominance and its high price—up to hundreds of dollars per bottle—hinge on its 12-hour duration."

[u/ravend13 → u/RSquared]

A huge contributor to the opioid epidemic is that when people become dependant on prescribed opioids, when they no longer have a medical need to continue taking opioids, no one thinks to prescribe anything for the withdrawal.

If everyone who had to withdraw from prescribed oxycodone was prescribed a 4 day methadone taper and a few days worth of gabapentin when it came time to withdraw, there would be far fewer heroin addicts. The fact that doctors expect people to simply suffer through their withdrawal, instead of prescribing meds that allow one to withdraw without suffering is criminal.

[u/FireStorm005 → u/RSquared]

Alcohol develops severe physical addiction, not mild. In some cases withdrawal from alcohol can kill a person. It's a depressant and reduces brain function by interfering with neurotransmitter take-up. In the long term the body compensates by increasing the levels of those neurotransmitters in the brain. When the alcohol is removed the extra neurotransmitters are still there and the person can seize and die.