I've only ever seen one addict who injected claw their way back, that I've known IRL. He went to jail for 9 months. And he got lucky as fuck. He was strung out as shit and got nailed with an ounce of pot broken into 1/8th baggies. They got him on an intent to sell charge. He pled guilty for the low sentence.

But yeah, see, that's part of where the story gets screwy. All too many of these people who end up being homeless, career addicts didn't intend that to ever happen. A lot of them were simply booted off their pain management prescriptions, and tried to fill in the gaps left by bullshit legislation that threatened doctors. And when they start having to pay $20+ per pill on street prices, suddenly "broke" is their new normal. Flipside? Were drugs simply legal, and companies competing to stock up the drug stores, then those who AREN'T intending to flush their entire life down in a wildly high haze, but just want to function like a normal person? Can do so.

It's the nanny state itself that's destroying a lot of these people. Not the drugs, not some ill intent, nor even poor choices.

true about the doctor's appts. i guess our perspective on gatekeeping is different. i view it as dangerous and it's a good thing to gatekeep it. you view it as dangerous as well, but want more freedom so it's not as hard to get for people. do i got that right?

This post was edited by ChocolateCoveredGummyBears on Feb 15 2024 03:53pm

Sort of, yes?

I value liberty more than safety. If somebody wants to self-delete by fucking with drugs that's kind of their problem. On the flipside, if ALL drugs are legal, and ALL are regulated for safety/purity in their respective forms, I strongly suspect that ALL drugs, both current prescription, current over the counter, and current illegal drugs will see their prices drop through the floor, while the competition to provide the purest and/or safest product will raise the quality of the drug/pharma industry as a whole. Just like it did with the Pot industry in states that legalized it.

But when it comes down to it, if I say, "I need a god damned inhaler!" and you tell me, "Go see a doctor." and I say to you, "I have 35 years worth of paperwork verifying I have asthma, fuck the doctor, and fuck the $100 inhaler from CVS. I'll just pop down to Tijuana and buy it for $5. Maybe grab some tequila while I'm there." Who's right? You who think I need some gatekeeper that's going to charge me $200 for a 2 minute chat to write me a script? Or me, who knows EXACTLY what I need, and has ZERO interest in some state-sanctioned nanny?

gotcha. i see where you're coming from. just wanted to get down the root of the issue to see where we stand.

i have to say you're not wrong about the inhaler and doctor stuff. there's also where the drug contagion can spread. sure you might not care if someone alt-f4s themselves, but by doing so, they could have shared that drug and it had negative effect on others. even worse if they bought it from someone else, participated in the drug economy and then alt-f4'd. the seller now got $ and thinks it was a good sale, meanwhile the buyer is 6 feet under. drug lord doesn't give a shit he got his $

obviously we can't control everyone but that should be a considered too

This post was edited by ChocolateCoveredGummyBears on Feb 15 2024 04:21pm

That's kind of the point though. I agree that when dealing with illegal drugs, even touching them is a huge risk. But when enough fenty has been pushed through our borders over the last decade to kill the entire nation's population 5 times over, you're simply talking about an intentional attempt to poison people. And it's seen some success, with 2023 having over 100K fenty deaths recorded. Those drug lords are PROFITING of the murder of US Citizens.

When I say I'd rather all the meth, heroin, coke, etc. all be produced and regulated in the US, and sold in appropriate dispensary/drug store style, like pot or liquor in states like Oregon where liquor stores are the only place to get it, verifying age becomes easy. And it's not our job to care if adults partake in drugs. But just knowing that the drugs will be pure, and not cut with poison, is a 1000x improvement. Further, just like how I can go down (if I wanted to) and buy an ounce of pot for $55 at the dispensary down the street rather than the $300 I'd have paid for way worse pot back in 2000, all the prices will come down, and the competition to make not merely the purest, but the SAFEST product will become king. Why? The Chinese and some of the Cartels may not care if their customers die after one use. When was the last time you saw a US Corporation want to lose a customer? That's just not a thing, right? They'd be giving away full info packets with every drug they sold with dosing info, etc. They don't want you to suffer injury. If you do, they lose a customer.

Anyhow, random thoughts, I guess. I don't believe in my lifetime that anything like this would happen. Everything has been about added protectionism, 25 year patents for pharma companies, etc. The trend is towards more restriction of nearly everything, not less. Exception: Pot and Mushrooms.