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In reply to the discussion: Can we please stop devaluing the lives of addicts and just treat them with proven science? [View all]Sissyk
(12,665 posts)47. Thanks, sabrina!
I'm sure most people have had to deal with it one way or another in their life; so I wasn't trying to gain support or sympathy more than anyone else (although I'm not saying you are doing that because I'm sure you're not).
Best to you!
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Can we please stop devaluing the lives of addicts and just treat them with proven science? [View all]
antigone382
Feb 2015
OP
I'm sorry for your loss. Opiate use is all around the neighborhood I live in; it's so
ND-Dem
Feb 2015
#40
We have just suffered a similar loss. I'm sorry you too have lost someone to this
sabrina 1
Feb 2015
#43
I am willing to consider your perspective, but I'd like to know your reasons.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#3
If you allow for "addiction is a disease" then yeah, they are somewhat comparable
Fumesucker
Feb 2015
#6
I am sorry for that. The guy I just lost was the love of my life. He fought like hell. And he lost.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#14
And can be stigmatized and their deaths celebrated by haters because they are gay.
freshwest
Feb 2015
#38
Point taken on parallels; but I think you are perpetuating the very stigma I'm talking about.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#16
Last point I'll make is that for at least one person, he *did* try, and he *did* want help.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#23
Yeah, it's hideous, and we wouldn't accept it for very many other health conditions.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#27
yes, there's definitely a link, which is why addiction is so often found in low-income communities -
ND-Dem
Feb 2015
#41
It sure does make it easy for the powers-that-be to write off these lives. I see it all the time.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#51
I don't believe it is a question of them not wanting help, or not wanting to be treated. I think
sabrina 1
Feb 2015
#44
I have too, Sissyk, and it is a very difficult thing to watch someone you care about
sabrina 1
Feb 2015
#46
No problem, I didn't take it that way at all. And you are right, I believe there are probably few
sabrina 1
Feb 2015
#48
I believe I stated the statistics on AA. And how it is VIEWED publicly. I do not believe it is
sabrina 1
Feb 2015
#58
Most definitely our culture's unhealthy attitudes towards substance abuse matter.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#9
I suggest people go and read the link because these numbers are Prescription and Over the Counter
SomethingFishy
Feb 2015
#15
The NPR story focused on heroin, but I am not exclusively concerned with it.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#19
Prescription opiates are one of the biggest categories of abused drugs, and these and benzos were
ND-Dem
Feb 2015
#42
It's fucking hopeless to be a young person from a poor neighborhood right now.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#50
This is why I won't take opiates or painkillers (again). I only use cannabis
NightWatcher
Feb 2015
#18
I know they are critically helpful to some and I don't want them taken off the market...
antigone382
Feb 2015
#21
I would love to hear more about this as we are all touched by it in some way.
smirkymonkey
Feb 2015
#29
Yes, thank you! And I do think that 12 step programs can be helpful to a lot of people.
smirkymonkey
Feb 2015
#34
Thank you for your sympathies. I did change the wording several days ago to remove said equation.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#49
Well, I think there was also a difference in scale in the 1980's and I don't want to minimize that.
antigone382
Feb 2015
#57