Librarians Learning to Treat ODs

Jon said:

I have a friend that was a librarian. He loved it due to his quirky anti-social nature but he hated what his job became. "Homeless babysitter" was how he described his job and that was before this epidemic

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Displaced Bama Fan said:

I agree with JT - That is extremely unsettling. What is driving this heroin "epidemic?"

Is it unemployment numbers? Hopelessness? How are folks getting access to the heroin/affording it?

One of the (many) negative effects of the US invading Afghanistan was that the poppy crops started growing again. The Taliban cut them down.

Mexico is also a leading poppy producer. Maybe instead of all the anti-Mexican rhetoric we need to work a little more closely with our neighbors on some compromises (yep, Mr. Xenophobic DBF said that). Maybe we need to contract with Canada's sharpshooter and take out a few Mexican drug lords.

I think this also ties in to the educational opportunities discussed in the other thread as well. Instead of telling every kid they need to go to college, figure out their skill sets and put them in some real life job training opportunities so this despair and hopeless feeling can be overcome with some creativity, ingenuity and new skill sets that give the kids a feeling hope and not dread.

It seems we are slipping from a 1st world country and slowly descending into a 3rd world country.

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Research now suggests that abuse of these medications may actually open the door to heroin use. Nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before starting to use heroin. Some individuals reported switching to heroin because it is cheaper and easier to obtain than prescription opioids.2-4

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92tide said:

part of it is people getting hooked on prescription opioids, then they can't get them any more and switch to heroin

link

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Intl.Aperture said:

One of the ways in which our urge to medicate anything and everything has returned to bit us in the keister. I'm a huge fan of modern medicine but it does not surprise me that in an age of knee-jerk prescriptions we end up with people turning to more powerful alternatives.
I used to laugh at homeopathic medicine (and sometimes I still do!) but it's gained legitimacy in certain arenas and I think it warrants more attention as a semi-effective alternative or ancillary to modern medicine.

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"By definition", I begin
"Alternative Medicine", I continue
"Has either not been proved to work,
Or been proved not to work.
Do you know what they call "alternative medicine"
That's been proved to work?
Medicine."

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Intl.Aperture said:

One of the ways in which our urge to medicate anything and everything has returned to bit us in the keister. I'm a huge fan of modern medicine but it does not surprise me that in an age of knee-jerk prescriptions we end up with people turning to more powerful alternatives.
I used to laugh at homeopathic medicine (and sometimes I still do!) but it's gained legitimacy in certain arenas and I think it warrants more attention as a semi-effective alternative or ancillary to modern medicine.

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Jon said:

I hate to be pedantic (actually no I don't) but Homeopathy is literally nothing and I mean nothing. There is a difference between natural remedy, like say eating Ginger for an upset stomach and a Homeopathic Remedy which by it's own definition is either pure sugar, water or alcohol with no trace of any other ingredient.

There is also no such thing as "alternative medicine" As Tim Minchin notes in the Beat Poem Storm (can't link due to words but it is awesome please google)

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Intl.Aperture said:

Pardon me, I meant natural remedies or alternative (and I mean alternative not in the current cultural assignation but the ACTUAL meaning of the word "alternative.") treatments.

Case in point. I was recently treated for a non-life threatening disorder. Instead of medicating, which was a valid course of action, the doctor instead started me on physical therapy, stating that he "hated to prescribe something if it could be solved in another way."

I appreciated that option and the treatment has worked wonders. If more doctors (and I know there are many good ones who do this) took similar actions we may not be in as much of a pickle. Though I sill think it would be an issue to some degree given just how well some of these medications work and the severity of the afflictions many of the poor folks are saddled with.

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