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These are some great points. In particular, we need to reduce the stigma on addicts, especially those that [try to] recover. Mind you, reducing the stigma is hard, because the stigma doesn't come from a void, or from laws, it comes from the cumulative experience people have with addicts, which are less than great. In another piece from the same story, http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-oxycontin-everett/, read on Brandon Smith, who ended up spending all his savings and belongings on drugs, ultimately resorting to robberies. Personally, the first addict I ever met ended up stealing my winter jacket within 3 month of working in the same building, in the middle of a heavy winter. Robbing and stealing are not great ways to build sympathy or trust. I happen to share the experience to shrugging off nicotine addiction. It was very easy to get hooked [peer pressure played a role], and surprisingly hard to get rid of. In my case, took a few weeks of fighting my body with reason. From what I hear, opioid addiction is stronger, thus I'm having a really really hard time believing that having over-the-counter opioids that anyone can "try a few times" is going to be anything but a major disaster. The best strategy for most people is to never use opioids. Simply not worth the risk of ruining one's life for a very short time gratification. Given the reality of rebellious teenagers / young adults, I'd much rather have no easy legal path for opioids. Sorry, no opioids in a supermarket locker that you can get by just showing your driver license. On the flip side, I believe we should still crack down hard on dealers, to keep pressure on the supply side. Which leaves us with the people caught in the opioid trap. While we already fund addiction research, see https://www.drugabuse.gov/international/research-funding-lan..., we probably could do more. We already have rehab clinics where at least some form of palliative care is to be found, though we should seek to make rehab and rehab clinics a better experience. Whether that includes availability of drugs, I frankly haven't seen any relevant research indicating that's a good idea, and I see some evidence [prescription abuse, see the original article] that it is rather dangerous. |