Another Exampleof The Government Failing Vulnerable People

[James Anderton]

In life everyone makes mistakes. Taking heroin just once is a mistake but because the drug is addictive physically and psychologically one mistake can ruin your life.

 

I have known people who use heroin on a recreational basis every now and then (every other month or so), Sure it is addictive and probably the most addictive available but using it once and becoming hooked is very very rare.

[the-rhymes]

I would do this...

 

1, Decriminalise all drugs. Not drug dealing, nor public drug use in parks etc.

 

2, Spend the money saved from locking up drug users on rehabilitation.

 

3, Treat all addictions as a kind of mental illness and treat hopeless users accordingly, they can be sectioned if they are a harm to self or others etc.

 

4, Spend money on education to stop the cycle of drug use. Help-lines like the one for quitting smoking for but for recreational drug users, the Talk to FRANK scheme is also very impressive.

 

5, Spend money on youth schemes to get youngsters into positive activities.

 

 

It wouldn't be cheap but how much do we spend on the damage done to society by drug addicts?

[Mortal Wombat]

ah crap there was another twenty pages after the reply i was replying to.

[matty]

I've read a good few moons ago that it is possible to "treat" a heroin addict with methadone for a cost to the National Health of something around £2 a day.

 

I would much prefer this to be done than the addict having to rob/mug/steal whatever to fund their habit.

 

I think that addiction to drugs should be treated as an "illness" and people give "help" accordingly.

 

Obvioulsy it's better for people not to become addicts in the first place, and I suppose education is the key factor here.

 

I think the anti heroin adverts in the 80's were quite a success, - the ill looking guy saying that he just "had a cold" - I think the reason this was so successful though, - is because it probably made people think that heroin use gave you zits!!!!

[Charles Flynn]

I've read a good few moons ago that it is possible to "treat" a heroin addict with methadone for a cost to the National Health of something around £2 a day.

 

I would much prefer this to be done than the addict having to rob/mug/steal whatever to fund their habit.

 

I think that addiction to drugs should be treated as an "illness" and people give "help" accordingly.

 

Obvioulsy it's better for people not to become addicts in the first place, and I suppose education is the key factor here.

 

I think the anti heroin adverts in the 80's were quite a success, - the ill looking guy saying that he just "had a cold" - I think the reason this was so successful though, - is because it probably made people think that heroin use gave you zits!!!!

 

I agree. A muti disciplinary approach is needed with health professionals, social workers, educators etc.

 

Taking methadone is substiute prescribing.. It has to be strictly supervised e.g. by the pharmacist but can be quite successful.

In some really bad cases of addiction injectable methadone or even injectable heroin is prescribed by licenced doctors.

 

I remember when I first started as a pharmacist I had to suppervise one addict in Manchester now there are hundreds.

[Lonan3]

After the considered and sympathetic posts, I'm probably going to sound like some kind of uncaring monster - but I can't help that. I have some sympathy for the predicament of addicts - but it is extremely limited. I think there is plenty of informaton/education available on the subject for anyone who has more than two or three active brain cells to know the dangers and the ultimate degradation that someone who uses heroin has to face - therefore, it is their own decision and, once they've (knowingly) taken it and stepped beyond the limits of what is acceptable in society, that society is no longer rsponsible for their welfare.

The jails that they are sent to need to become drug free (not easy to achiever, I believe) so that a six months sentence will mean simply going 'cold turkey.' If they re-offend, then a longer sentence - and so on until they realise that the drug simply isn't worth the pain and degradation they're going to have to face.

[Rog]

Peer pressure

 

Curiosity

 

Boredom

 

Depression

 

Youth.

 

All causes, especially when mixed together,

for people to experiment or resort to drugs.

 

Then before they know it, they’re trapped.

 

I believe that in the absence of making all substances legal (and that isn’t going to happen even though personally I think it should) people who do get caught up and become addicts should be given at least two detox and rehab sessions.

 

A third time – mandatory serious jail time or placed in a hospital for the criminally insane as that is precisely what they would be.

[nipper]

whilst i totally abhore taking heroin and coke people need asistance to break the habit in order to ensure that they themselves do not commit further crime against others in our society.

There are people who are able to afford as much coke etc. as they need.

 

So, there are many 'high society' druggies driving around in their BMWs.

 

The drugs only become a problem once money runs out to support the addiction and that's when the rest of us are effected. Your average pot smoker simply can't afford to enter the big time drugs scene.

 

Why do people take heroin? As an experienced addict told me - 'because it's the best'.

 

No one takes these drugs with the intention of ending up in the gutter, although that is where some of the Island's coke heads deserve to be.

 

Note that up to about ten years ago you could count the number of heroin cases ever reported on the Isle of Man on one hand. These days you can count as many each week.

[sarahc]

Well said Nipper. It's about time the problems of addicts are recognised and not just brushed under the carpet.

 

(my personal bugbear is the shocking lack of help available for alcohol addiction - but don't want to hijack this thread!)

[cheesemonster2005]

Well said Nipper. It's about time the problems of addicts are recognised and not just brushed under the carpet.

 

(my personal bugbear is the shocking lack of help available for alcohol addiction - but don't want to hijack this thread!)

 

The effects of alcoholism can be more devestating than, for example, the effects of cocaine, cannabis or ecstacy addiction. Alcoholism can be more of a problem because of the violence associated with it, its ease of availability and social acceptance.

[the-rhymes]

The 2 lads that I knocked around with that really got into smack deify logic. They didn't come from the council estates that I grew up on, they had nice homes in more middle class areas. I met them both at collage, they had an education and talent. One of them was described as the pupil with most promise in his subject (graphic design) in that year.

 

They didn't really get into clubbing and going to gigs, which was the big thing in Manchester in 1990. They listened to the music but in peoples bedrooms in a haze of smoke. They also found it difficult to say no, and they always wanted the next bigger, better buzz.

 

These lads didn't start off as car thieves or shop lifters but bright young lads into football, music and girls.

 

Anyway they tried it and liked it and it messed up their lives.

 

One turned into a thief, every time I saw him I cringed. He would always be after some money, a cigarette or a lift. He would invariably have some injury from someone who had battered him because he owed them money. He even robbed another good mate that had sat with him helping him get through his cold turkey a few days before. It was horrible to see a good friend in such a bad state. We decided to tell his parents what was happening to their son and then we did the only thing we could and walked away. As far as I know he moved to another part of England and has settled down and is no longer a junky.

 

The other lad managed to keep working and paid for his addiction. One of his friends who was in the same predicament and ended up hanging himself from a multi storey car park. The guy who committed suicide blamed my friend for a lot of things and spray painted these accusations all over the car park before he killed himself. I seen the lad in a club a few months back and he has a good job and no longer takes smack but he has replaced it with other things. He said that he must have been mad back then, I didn't point out that he's still mad.

 

I do know other people who took it and didn't have problems but I also know of people who became homeless and lost everything.

 

I never ever wanted to try the stuff, so it was easy for me. If your young and your around people who do this kind of thing do yourself and your loved ones a favour and walk away.

[thebees]

7 grams of heroin costs a lot more than £50. Margret O'really should have been sacked years ago, she is terrible at her job. Other anti-drug agencies have been told "Not to rock the apple cart" by her when they've started up. I know 5 people that have died of heroin over here....not one mentioned in the papers. Its all hushed up.

 

When has prohibition worked?? Once again - its the 'war on drugs' and the drugs are still winning.

 

Where do they get their drug prices from?? Cheap heroin but expensive E's and pot. Easily taken in.

[cheesemonster2005]

7 grams of heroin costs a lot more than £50. Margret O'really should have been sacked years ago, she is terrible at her job. Other anti-drug agencies have been told "Not to rock the apple cart" by her when they've started up. I know 5 people that have died of heroin over here....not one mentioned in the papers. Its all hushed up.

 

When has prohibition worked?? Once again - its the 'war on drugs' and the drugs are still winning.

 

Where do they get their drug prices from?? Cheap heroin but expensive E's and pot. Easily taken in.

 

Quite agree. I always remember newspaper articles quoting Moyle and someone being 'done' for 5 grammes of hash which was always quoted as being worth something like 100GBP.

 

Everyone is now aware that prohibition doesn't work but they're afraid of changing it for fear of being soft! Better to be soft than sorry when people start dieing, being jailed or wasting their lives.

 

The island has a massive heroin problem (per population) and the only sensible way to deal with this is by treating it as a social illness and not as a crime.