The local Overdose Dept.

[Phil The Hammer]

I have 2 scanners that go 24/7 & monitor all emergency services in my area. Over half the calls EMS & fire depts. go on are drug overdoses. What a waste of $$ on those space cadets!

I wish Narcan had never been invented!

[bungholio]

I genuinely don't envy you hearing all about the drug overdoses. Space cadets????

[xirtamehtsitahw]

You know how the term "airhead" is sometimes used to describe someone of substandard intellect? The term "space cadet" = "airhead"...times 100. People who are SO stupid they cannot grasp the concept of a proper dosage of a certain drug. In most cases, it's one or two pills. These "space cadets" think that a whole handful of pills (or sometimes the ENTIRE BOTTLE) does a "better job" or will start "working faster".

No, numbskulls--it'll either get you rushed to the hospital to have your stomach pumped...or worse--you'll wind up in the MORGUE.

Just say NO, kids.

[Phil The Hammer]

What kinda STUPID does it take to buy some substance from a stranger, mix it up in water, & shoot it into a vein for the FIRST TIME, hoping it's what the pusher said it is ? That's 'WAY more idiotic than crushing up one's pain med & snorting it.

That's the kind of ODs I was referring to - generally, heroin, which has NO medical use. (I shoulda been clearer in my OP.)

What compounds the prob is that those bastards generally support their habit by stealing OUR stuff, or being whores selling lousy head jobs for $0.05 a go.

And our stupid govt. compounds the prob by having "needle/syringe exchanges"! That's a tacit admission they CANNOT CONTROL the crime!

The New-Age-Liberals say it's a "disease". Well, it IS, all right - its name is "Dimb-Ass-Itis" !

[Pyriel]

Needle exchanges are about controlling blood-borne disease outbreaks. And the uptick in heroin overdoses is widely attributed to users switching to a more easily acquired drug after their supply of prescription pills runs out. Oddly enough, it's easier to get illegal heroin than it is to get to illegally acquire prescription painkillers for some people.

We have a small town here in Indiana where prescription drug addiction rates exploded, people switched to injecting one type of painkiller, and others switched to heroin for various reasons. They also started sharing needles due to difficulty acquiring those, and then part of Indiana had the fastest growing rate HIV infection in the country. Once the state government instituted a needle exchange program, the rate of infection/detection began to taper off. It doesn't help with crime prevention or arrests, but it's better to have a bunch of addicts running around not trading HIV and lord knows what, on top of getting high and whatever else they get up to.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Heroin has no current medicinal use, but it, along with opium, cocaine and marijuana, were once available in small doses as medicines, in the 19th century. This was before their powerful addictive properties were known.

[Phil The Hammer]

Needle exchanges are like gun buybacks - a waste of tax $$. I have no sympathy for those idiots, and nothing for the govt. schmucks who aid & abet the prob with such goofy progs.

If some smack-head contracts AIDS, that's not MY prob. We can vote to not waste $$ on them. Just like someone playing Russian Roulette, they knew the risks involved, but chose, ON THEIR OWN, to take the chance.

Leave'em to swim or sink on their own! If their families wanna support them, fine!

Again, I wish Narcan had never been invented.

[Pyriel]

Except that Russian Roulette doesn't spread by methods other than pointing a gun at your head. If it was just a matter of protecting addicts from diseases you can only get from needle injections, I might agree with you. That's not the case, though.

It can also be done by loosening paraphernalia laws so that clean needles can be bought over-the-counter, but pharmacies tend to have their own policies because they don't want to serve such clientele.

[Phil The Hammer]

The key word is BOUGHT! While I can have some sympathy for those who get strung out on prescribed meds, I have NONE for idiots who shoot up illegal substances such as smack. In my area, that's the cause of 99% of the ODs emergency crews are called for.

Again, by having "needle exchanges, shooting galleries', etc. the govt. is tacitly admitting they can't control the prob, so, if ya can't beat it, encourage it! All levels of govt. should make it tough as possible for dopers to obtain either dope or paraphernalia to use it.

[BigBossman]

As for medication overdoses, my mother has been prescribed numerous medications from her doctor & one time got mixed up on which ones she was supposed to take. She ended up taking medication that she had already taken previously that she wasn't due for, intending to take another medication that she was due for. The good thing is the overdose wasn't too large an overdose that was life threatening, but she did end up having to go to the emergency room to get checked out.
The worst thing her medication did was make her feel very, very sleepy, almost to the point where she couldn't walk without loosing her balance. I actually had to go hang out over at her place while my dad was out to work after she got back from the ER. She's more organized on when & what medications to take now.

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I'm can kind of understand that since now, I'm taking 4 different prescribed meds from my doctor. I'm very careful about when I take mine though. I have to take Micardis, Metformin, Phentermine, & Victoza or sometimes Saxenda.

I take the Phentermine to reduce my appetite. Essentially, it tricks your brain into thinking its full faster. When I first started taking it, it made me extremely edgy. Since my blood pressure has been high, I've been taking the Micardis, which has helped lower it. Since I've been classified as pre-diabetic, I take Metformin. I was concerned about taking that because it must be taken with a meal. If it isn't taken with a meal, it can cause severe upset stomach, which is something to don't want to have to deal with at the office. I was very hesitant about taking Victoza / Saxenda. Its primarily designed for those who are diabetic, but can also be used by those who are pre-diabetic. Its an injectable drug. I'm not scared of needles, but was very nervous about injecting myself. The doctor told me that I had to inject myself in the thigh or the stomach. However the instructions said it can also be injected in the upper arm, near the shoulder just not in a vein or in a muscle. I had my wife give me the first injection. After that I worked up enough courage to inject myself. The Victoza / Saxenda has positive side effects & negative side effects. Once I got to the maximum dosage, I noticed that my appetite was further reduced. for dinner, I'd have a serving of rice or potatoes & then 1 piece of meat (either baked chicken or pork steak). Before taking the full dose of Victoza, I was able to eat what was on my plate. After the full dosage, I'd eat the side & only be able to eat half of the meat serving. On the negative side, I think it causes constipation. Without trying to be graphic There were times I felt like I had to take a piece of leather into the bathroom so I could bite down on it while going. Rather than getting another medication of an OTC drug to treat it, I decided to increase the amount of fiber I take in. A half container of prunes seems to do the trick.

I've been trying to loose a lot of weight, because it has affected me more & more for the worse physically. Walking two miles a day used to be nothing for me to do even when I weighed 350 LBS. As I gained more weight, it became increasingly difficult because I'd be short winded, my legs would get tired much quicker, my right knee would hurt while I'd walk up stairs, & my left upper thigh & hip would get numb after standing for a period of time. My weight got up to 487 LBS before I started loosing it. As of this morning I'm down to 447 LBS. I still have a long ways to go. I'm hoping to get my weight down to 220 LBS, which is what I weighed when I graduated high school. While I don't feel 40 LBS lighter, I have noticed that I can move around a little bit easier without feeling as winded or sore. I don't think I'm ready to try climbing stairs yet though. I don't want my knee to act up on me.

I know I'm getting off topic here, but bear with me.

I always make sure that I don't take medication differently than prescribed. Plus, I'm very organized about when I take my medicines. I take the Phentermine & Micardis in the morning when I wake up. I'll generally take the Metformin at dinner time (since that's generally the only solid meal I eat during the day. I typically have 2 Slim Fasts for breakfast & 2 for lunch). I'll normally inject the Victoza / Saxenda after dinner or sometimes before going to bed. That way I won't accidentally OD on anything.

If I had to choose a drug to be addicted to, it would be weight loss. As my weight goes down, my confidence level increases.

[Pyriel]

You're talking about wanting addicts to pay for a needle, I think, but you want it to be as tough as possible for them to get it? How's that work? A lot of them won't walk into a pharmacy in the first place because either law or store policy (liability, etc.) requires a prescription for needles, among other reasons. So they end up sharing. If there are tougher laws at all levels, making it still harder to get clean needles, I can only see that problem getting worse.

Last I looked, the CDC was in favor of exchange programs because of the reduced disease transmission and because they increase the chances for successful intervention with addicts. I'm not saying ostracism and strict paraphernalia laws (regarding needles) can't ever work anywhere, but in the aggregate they've seemed to push the numbers in the wrong direction. The government certainly shouldn't encourage drug use, but acknowledging that there's a problem, and that there might be a more effective strategy than, "clamp way the hell down on everything associated with it," certainly doesn't seem bad to me. If that just seems too counter-intuitive or unsatisfying to you, I don't know what to tell you.