Thoughts on the drug war.
The problem isn't drugs, we don't address the issue causing people to self medicate and numb themselves in the first place.
We need more funding for mental health. happy people don't do heroine.
Happy people don't vote along party lines just to spite the other "side." Sad, angry, and depressed people are easier to pit against each other for profit.
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The reports I've read associate stress with drug use
"Between 2006 and 2015 there were more than 515,000 deaths from drug overdoses and other drug-related causes. The economic, social, and emotional tolls of these deaths are substantial, but some parts of the US are bearing heavier burdens than others. "
The point is that this epidemic is not random, some areas have had more problems than others.
"High mortality rate clusters in Appalachia, Oklahoma, parts of the Southwest, and northern California
Low mortality rate clusters in parts of the Northeast, the Black Belt, Texas, and the Great Plains
Substantial within-state variation with West Virginia having the largest disparity between the highest and lowest rate counties"
Confronting the social/economic conditions that lead to higher stress and drug use is a major part in solving the problem.
From March 26,2018 report
cava
Level 7
Oct 28, 2018
1
Something evolved in our brains which responds SO VERY POSITIVELY to drugs! Every human culture has made beer...and, if they found it growing....marijuana. I'm torn...is it better to support people who want to live addicted? Or is it better to make drugs legal but VERY EXPENSIVE? I don't want children using them and I don't want to see people dying from meth addiction. It's a damnededly difficult issue....
LucyLoohoo
Level 9
Oct 28, 2018
0
We shouldn't be locking up users; money would be better spent on rehab and mental health. Unfortunately, the U.S. has built a for profit, industrial prison system; now with one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. As far as the cartels and dealers - legalizing many and pushing better education and prevention of use would be safer and reduce violence. The cartels (all, not just the ones South of the border) would resist (Note, a number of this year's California wild fires were arson and at least two wiped out millions of dollars in uninsured pot). Few things worthwhile are seldom easy and this is not a complex problem with a simple solution.
Beowulfsfriend
Level 9
Oct 28, 2018
3
You're right, of course....the big-money people LOVE private prisons....lots of profits, very little oversight.
Definately don't approve of the drug war and we certainly need more mental health care. Poverty is a big part of it too though. Depression and desperation in poverty is different than mental illness. It can be corrected with job opportunities, housing availability, being respected when seeking help or just being. That's why problems like drug abuse and mental health are so hard to fix. There is no one easy answer.
MsAl
Level 8
Oct 28, 2018
2
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