General Discussion

Erose999

(5,624 posts)

31. One wonders how much of drug culture is just a social construction. I mean when you hear "heroin

Mon Feb 3, 2014, 06:21 PM

Feb 2014

addict" a very specific set of images comes to mind. But people have been medicating with opiates for centuries. And some portrayals of opiate use from the past don't match up to our current narratives.

I wasn't aware, for example, the Sherlock Holmes was on the cocaine and morphine. Those parts had been scrubbed from the Penguins Childrens' Classics set of Sherlock Holmes novels I was given as a child, lol.

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Are most heroin "overdoses" a myth ? Heroin was more pure before WWII but... [View all] KurtNYC Feb 2014 OP

Alcohol, in combination with heroin pscot Feb 2014 #1

People who knew Janis Joplin Warpy Feb 2014 #4

I've read that most of the health issues are due to dirty needles and infected veins. tridim Feb 2014 #2

I also know of a doctor who was stealing the Schedule 2 narcs from his own shared practice KurtNYC Feb 2014 #6

That's horrible! I'm so sorry. Even if it was years ago, still... nomorenomore08 Feb 2014 #37

When they cut it with UncleMuscles Feb 2014 #3

That's another source for ODs Warpy Feb 2014 #5

I lost a guy I knew in college to a Fentanyl OD. TheMightyFavog Feb 2014 #60

Yes. And if THAT is what killed someone then they should say "Fentanyl OD" KurtNYC Feb 2014 #7

As to why experienced users OD... wercal Feb 2014 #8

Thats what happened to Gram Parsons too. He relapsed and couldn't handle his former dose. Erose999 Feb 2014 #18

my kid is in recovery and we are very involved elehhhhna Feb 2014 #26

I sincerely wish you the best with your kid's recovery wercal Feb 2014 #45

Your right thats been my professional experience... Historic NY Feb 2014 #53

My friend mixed it with coke and benzos. bravenak Feb 2014 #9

Benzos Aerows Feb 2014 #13

I hate them too. bravenak Feb 2014 #17

Yes, please let me come back Aerows Feb 2014 #19

I felt worse medicated than sober. bravenak Feb 2014 #20

Some are mild BainsBane Feb 2014 #21

Try Ativan if you really want to have your world Aerows Feb 2014 #23

Edited BainsBane Feb 2014 #28

I had a psychiatrist laundry_queen Feb 2014 #58

I'm just very sensitive to things. bravenak Feb 2014 #25

People can react very differently BainsBane Feb 2014 #29

xanax supposedly causes mildly euphoria elehhhhna Feb 2014 #32

Yep, agitated I am familiar with Aerows Feb 2014 #35

They act as a stimulant for me Aerows Feb 2014 #22

Whoa!! bravenak Feb 2014 #30

I'm fairly petite Aerows Feb 2014 #34

Wow. That's the opposite of what it is supposed to do. BainsBane Feb 2014 #36

I know! Aerows Feb 2014 #39

they affect people differently. for me a low dose simply prevents anxiety attacks. dionysus Feb 2014 #24

My experience as well Kelvin Mace Feb 2014 #46

i hear ya. klonopin is a miracle. dionysus Feb 2014 #49

Benzos are well known for the paradoxical effect some people experience. SaveOurDemocracy Feb 2014 #47

People do overdose and it has to do with a unregulated dose being sold on the street. Jesus Malverde Feb 2014 #10

I have to wonder why anyone would take heroin to begin with Aerows Feb 2014 #11

Over the years I've lost more friends to alcohol abuse than drug abuse. dipsydoodle Feb 2014 #63

They don't start out with heroin. Sparkly Feb 2014 #66

Heroin was orignially marketted as a safe alternative to morphine; hedgehog Feb 2014 #12

It could be the bouncing on and off the drug. Barack_America Feb 2014 #14

Due to the fact that the only Heroin you can get is black market madokie Feb 2014 #15

When Jerry Garcia died back in mid-Nineties, truedelphi Feb 2014 #16

Yeah, Jerry had some long-running lifestyle issues. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #38

Jerry Garcia.... sendero Feb 2014 #42

the heart disease and diabetes killed him. poor Jer. dionysus Feb 2014 #50

My brother-in-law died of a heroin overdose justiceischeap Feb 2014 #27

One wonders how much of drug culture is just a social construction. I mean when you hear "heroin Erose999 Feb 2014 #31

It's already known - and reflected in the CO and WA measures passed by voters - that pot smoking nomorenomore08 Feb 2014 #43

Street purity is low. When it goes up OD's spike jberryhill Feb 2014 #33

Some Scandanavian countries have harm reduction programs for heroin addicts that allow them to use Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #41

Considerably jberryhill Feb 2014 #55

Jacksonville, FL & Shreveport, LA both did this over 100 yrs ago... Eleanors38 Feb 2014 #61

As others have noted in the thread, relapsing is particularly dangerous for some opiate addicts. Warren DeMontague Feb 2014 #40

One of the factors H2O Man Feb 2014 #44

Pure heroin isn't the problem, pure BS is Ligyron Feb 2014 #48

Clueless response. nt Earth_First Feb 2014 #51

Speak from firsthand knowledge do you? Ligyron Feb 2014 #52

How is that clueless? jberryhill Feb 2014 #56

exactly Ligyron Feb 2014 #65

When I lived in England OwnedByCats Feb 2014 #59

For several years sammythecat Feb 2014 #68

Definitely worthwhile to develop something OwnedByCats Feb 2014 #69

"in controlled doses" Sparkly Feb 2014 #67

Purity issues cause overdoses. Spider Jerusalem Feb 2014 #54

Possibly, or maybe he had stopped using and then suddenly started back at his old "dose" ecstatic Feb 2014 #57

Great thread, rec. nt Demo_Chris Feb 2014 #62

The best man at my wedding died of an overdose Marrah_G Feb 2014 #64