Hard Drugs Ruining Society

[Racoon]

Portland, Oregon is a nice place to live. So is Vancouver, WA., just across the Columbia river.

However, there is a disturbing trend going on. Its Methamphetimine use!:cup: ( Clark county is now "Crank" county )

" Tweekers " as we call them seem to be everywhere! I believe Meth is the worst problem because Tweekers are capable of just about anything. Just yesterday, some Meth head stabbed a police officer in the face with a screwdriver. ( officer is ok )

Traditional junkies ( heroin ) aren't nearly as bad, because they usually nod off. Whereas Tweekers are fully energized and up all night; which is the perfect time for crime that will fund their next fix.

Crank use is huge! Crimes are up, and there isn't enough jail space for all of 'em.

Identity theft, which is such a big deal now, is directly related to Meth use.

Its pretty easy to spot a tweeker; there are some telltail signs.

It seems like a scourge that can't be erradicated; They're making the stuff in Mexico now to ship up here, although there's plenty of "labs" around town.

The Sociological effects are profound:eek2:

 

Does your city or town have these problems too???

Is there a solution to this epidemic???

[Drip Curl Magic]

Tweekers are definately easy to spot... I think we should just take them all out into the woods and shoot them all. Stimulant drugs are horribley addicting... and it's sad to see so many lives ****ed up by these things. I used to live right across the street from a full blown tweeker house. At any given point in time, there would be 20 people running around the house and front yard.... all sorts of wired:eek_big:. And the house would get raided once a month or so.... but that NEVER stopped them from coming back. Tweekers are ****ing way too much. There isn't really anything we can do to stop them, seeing as how they have so much more energy than us. I think the only thing we can do... is promote entheogenic drug use as apposed to stimulant drug use.

[Racoon]

Crank Culture: Stealing bikes, taking apart electronics, talking on CB radios ; while red sores ooze out the poison and teeth fall out.

Losing weight ( the Jenny Crank Diet ) Neglecting their kids, Arguing loudly over stupid stuff. Talking to God while walking in the road.

[Tarantism]

yeh, i agree with sean.

 

but just dont blame the psychadellics. haha.

 

 

regards,

(((tarantism)))

[Celeste]

Absolutely one of the dirtiest drugs known to man.

I've known many tweekers in my life (lived in, and worked at UMC hospital in Las Vegas, the tweeker capital for 8 years) and their whole way of life and it's hold on people/tweekers gets just disgusting.

 

I've seen some tweekers go from 6 figure jobs to living in the streets, had two close acquintances die from the ****, known 3 that ended up in prison.

I had one ex-brother in law shot, another stabbed, both by tweekers.

I've treated and worked with tweekers that have totally lost it and became psychotic. I've treated and cried with and for the children they abuse and neglect.

I've treated and/or seen the irreversible and sometimes fatal effects. I've seen the sores, the infections, the pneumonia's, the seizures, the cerebral hemorrhages, the heart attacks, the anorexia, the arrythmia's, the rotten teeth, the psychosis, the aggression. (that's just naming a few)

I've been lied to, threatened, stole from, and even grazed by a bullet by tweeker/s.

 

It's absolutely the most vile, disgusting and dirty drug I've seen.

 

I don't know what the solution is....I just know the statistics on users, the long term effects, and the lack of success of treatments/relapse after detox, and it's not pretty. Uggghhh...this topic is to near to my heart.

[Tarantism]

oh and, racoon:

 

i am very sorry that your comunity is being overrun by such terrible filth. i truely hope that things improve as far as that goes.

[Boerseun]

Tweekers, huh?

 

First time I've heard of it. Honestly. But it does sound like a terrible drug.

 

I may be naive, or stupid or something, but I could never understand the appeal of drugs. I smoked weed a couple o' times, basically through peer pressure, being young at the time, etc., but it simply didn't 'do it' for me.

Of course I party with the boys, we have fun, I have (quite) a few beers, etc., so I'm not an anti-drug anti-alcohol prudish bore, but I simply can't see the need to go for anything stronger than beer. I kid you not. I don't understand why people do this to themselves. Okay, you get hooked. Then you're stuffed. But you have to take that first hit in order to get hooked. And that's the point. Don't take the first hit. Simple. It's not worth it. See peer pressure for what it is, and tell your so-called friend to go screw himself when he offers you some strange stuff.

[Loricybin]

yeah man. i've dealt with some idiots that use that stuff. but, even worse, i've met some awesome people who do too.

 

i've talked to some bums before, especially in fremont and alameda county. they're mostly good people, but they all smoke a real screwed up drug.

dirty things like meth are counter productive, because after a while you can't do anything without them.

 

what happens in your brain and body on amphetamines is really ****ed up and crazy.:cup: :cup: :cup: :cup: :confused:

[GAHD]

I know quite a few who destroyed their lives with meth; I know about as many that took the ride, crashed, burned, and and recovered too. '*****' asthey call it around here is by far the dirtiest drug I've seen, and also one of the easyest to make and make a few dollars off of(as the toiletbowl chemists will proudly say).

 

Is there a cure? It's certainly not my government's 'free crack pipes and needles' program.

 

Drug use is easilly more prolific nowadays than in the 60s, but they're serving their purpose keeping my generation from burning down the universities and destroing the oil rigs, even if the moral fabric has to suffer for it.

 

...off to work, more later.

[Tarantism]

yeah man. i've dealt with some idiots that use that stuff. but, even worse, i've met some awesome people who do too.

 

 

as have i. what is unfortunite is that those cool people tend to turn not cool and generally all-around the opposite of what they once were. its horrible, because from what i know, that drug has destroyed some really beautiful minds.

 

but i know what you mean.

[Drip Curl Magic]

yeah man. i've dealt with some idiots that use that stuff. but, even worse, i've met some awesome people who do too.

 

I've read studies that suggest that most of the people who get addicted to hard drugs, started out with brilliant minds. For some reason, lots of intelligent people need an escape. I think it might be because when an intelligent mind realizes how insignificant human beings are... they are more likely to be the ones to give up, realizing that anything we do is futile.

[Tarantism]

I've read studies that suggest that most of the people who get addicted to hard drugs, started out with brilliant minds. For some reason, lots of intelligent people need an escape. I think it might be because when an intelligent mind realizes how insignificant human beings are... they are more likely to be the ones to give up, realizing that anything we do is futile.

sean, you have just hit the nail on the head i would say. human beings are frustrating to view and observe sometimes, simply becuase their existance is so phallic that its almost disgusting how they dont realize it.

 

but yeah, you put it better of course.

[bpjg2fat]

I've read studies that suggest that most of the people who get addicted to hard drugs, started out with brilliant minds. For some reason, lots of intelligent people need an escape. I think it might be because when an intelligent mind realizes how insignificant human beings are... they are more likely to be the ones to give up, realizing that anything we do is futile.

 

Isn't that why the mind of a genius pothead is just the greatest thing ever? :cup:

[Loricybin]

well, it is sad how futile we are in the long run, but look at the things we've come up with.

 

our species have had a SERIOUS impact on our environment,

good OR bad.

 

it's as if we are temporarily signifigant.

 

HILARIOUS

[GAHD]

@BPJ : Everything is the greatest thing in the world when you're high.

 

Continuing my previous rant...Meth and Crack are two of the worst chemical scourges to hit north america.

 

The only 'cure' I can think of is in iself quite nasty: find the crack/meth heads, and inject them with some other chemical(s) that makes them VERY allargic to meth or crack. All of a sudden every fix is just as bad as, if not worse than, the withdrawl.Of course, that's a human rights violation so it'll never happenbut it's an idea anyways.

 

As long as the Jibbernaughts and Crack heads keep their habits to themselves there isn't much the rest can or should do. The only other thing you can do is leave the drug users alone, and target the real criminals: theifs and abusive people.

 

Yes sometimes the drugs motivate people to those paths, and that is the only time anybody should step in and deal with it.

[CraigD]

Methamphetamine is not a new drug - it was first synthesized in 1920. It's not always been illicit - in the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely prescribed as a weight-loss aid and for the treatment of depression, narcolepsy, etc. While its clinical usage is much less than a half century ago, it is still prescribed – for some severe narcoleptics, it remains among the few effective treatments, and may be the only effective treatment.

 

Pharmacologically, it's a fairly safe drug for a healthy person. As with any strong stimulant, people with compromised hearts should not use it, as it increases heart rate, and pregnant women should not, as it can induce premature labor, and is strongly linked to low full-term birth weight.

 

The major limitation of methamphetamine as a therapeutic drug is how very quickly one develops a tolerance to it. Like most drugs effective in the treatment of depression, meth works by increasing synaptic serotonin levels. Unlike newer and more successful classes of antidepressants, such as the SSRIs (Prozac, Welbutrin, etc.), the synapses respond almost immediately to these increased levels by reducing the amount of serotonin they excrete, so by just the 2nd dose, much more meth is required to get the same stimulant effect. Fortunately, this tolerance is short-term, so after a brief (as little as 24 hours) time without the drug, it can again be used with full effect. Thus, effective long-term use of meth requires one to follow a careful on-off use schedule.

 

Note that in the above, I’m referring to pharmaceutical methamphetamine. Illicit meth – “crank”, etc. – which is commonly derived from the over-the-counter antihistamine pseudoephedrine (Sudafed, Sinutab, Pediacare, etc.) – may contain all sorts of intentional or accidental contaminants. Since on-demand access to pharmaceutical methamphetamine is currently limited, for all intents, to MDs, pharmacists, and soldiers, nearly all recreational users are at the mercy of these black market versions of the drug. Without the supervision of an MD or other capable clinician, many, possibly most people don’t understand the importance of a careful dosage schedule, nor the drug’s potentially deadly health side-effects - principally malnutrition due to its strong appetite-suppressing effect. That, like many stimulants, meth produces a feeling of super-human endurance, invulnerability, and high self-esteem, makes it even more dangerous, as an out-of-control user may ignore these side-effects, literally to the point of death.

 

I fear that efforts to help meth addicts are hurt by hyperbole-filled language describing it as “instantly addictive poison”, etc. A user’s experience makes an immediate lie of these claims – initial use feels clean and invigorating, effectively treats depression, and enhances performance at work or school. The greatest danger comes from the user’s likely near total lack of understanding of the drug’s steep tolerance curve, their common, impulsive belief that it reduces their need for food, possible contaminants in black market supplies of the drug, and physical and emotional danger from dealers and fellow users.

 

I think the best solution to the meth problem is increased access to qualified health care. Although I can’t support the speculation with statistical data – data about illegal drug use is notoriously unreliable and difficult to obtain – I wonder if the recent US “epidemic” of meth use correlates with the trend of decreasing availability of affordable state and employer-provide health insurance, and the increase in “cost sharing” – deductibles and high co-payments - for those who do have insurance. Another trend I’ve noted, anecdotally, it that young MDs and other medical clinicians entering the healthcare workplace seem increasingly “conservative” in their lack of compassion toward people seeking help with weight management and depression, an effect I believe is due to the message promoted by state and industry sponsored advertising campaigns such as “the Antidrug”, which demonize potential drug users. Patients are more reluctant to discuss their needs and illicit drug use with clinicians, and clinicians to respond supportively.

 

All of these factors, I believe, are a recipe for growth of an out-of-control and health-threatening black market.

[ldsoftwaresteve]

CraigD. 100% agreement from me, nice job.

I've never taken the stuff knowingly, but I don't like it when I'm told I can't. The problem with drugs is that society has treated people under the influence as people that aren't responsible for their actions.

I never have understood that. A person who is impaired by drugs should be responsible for their actions if they knowingly took the drug. If anything, penalties should be greater to emphasize that doing things that alter our awareness is dangerous and should not excuse one from responsibility for their actions. Just double the penalties.

Let us have access to drugs with no restrictions. Just hold us accountable for any actions taken under the influence.