Norway to test free heroin for drug addicts

[Masark]

This. Opioids are DANGEROUS. As in, they have a good chance of killing you unless they are used very carefully.

Nonsense. Opioids are quite safe given consistent purity and quality. We've literally been using opiates longer than we've been using writing.

The current epidemic of overdoses is almost entirely due to drugs incompetently adulterated with fentanyl and derivatives, making dose control impossible.

So if this works in Norway maybe some of the states are sure to try it out.

What? It working in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark isn't enough evidence for them?

[Kithelle]

Trust me, if you're not taking it already, you don't want to.



In the case of heroin, the question about 'want' is rather moot. At a certain point, you actually need. Heroin creates a physical dependency that is extremly difficult to get rid of. I'd have to read up on the specifics of the program, but this actually might help some people. Finding the balance will be tricky, though. If they have a guaranteed constant supply of it, it might 'pacify' them. You'd need to decide it on a case by case basis under strict supervision, though.

SO basically its cheaper to enable them than to fix them? Really lovely system

[Najnaj]

You can't tax it.

All the states that've legalized weed have illegal weed sales too, why? Cause it's cheaper.

So the only thing that happened in states that legalized weed is that the people who don't mind paying the premium for legal weed don't have to worry about cops knocking on their doors and there is a expensive new state weed bureaucracy, with inspectors, regulators, etc.

Legalization of weed didn't take anything away, it just added a new thing.

It took away most of the market for illegal drug selling. The fact that it is not 100% effective does not mean it isn't working well.

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Stop saying "free" its free for the scum, not for the tax payer.

It is probably a saving actually so better than free. Each US homeless person costs the tax payers $36 000 and I would assume more in Norway. Get junkies of the streets and into housing is not a cost, it is saving.

[Perryn]

I'm pro legalization of most milder drugs, and for programs that (as much as possible) ensure addicts have a realistic alternative to street drugs with all that entails.

That said, aiming for the heaviest addicts first seems less of a drug rehabilitation action and more crime/health focused. Not bad in itself but it'll take more to get them out of the dependency circuit.

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It is probably a saving actually so better than free. Each US homeless person costs the tax payers $36 000 and I would assume more in Norway. Get junkies of the streets and into housing is not a cost, it is saving.

Interesting, what is included in this cost in the US?

[Varitok]

People really need to learn the difference between decriminalization and Legalization.

Good on them, it will save money in the long run and maybe give the addicts an avenue to get out of that life, Good on you Norway. Ignore the people without sense.

[Skulltaker]

SO basically its cheaper to enable them than to fix them? Really lovely system

Fixing is a very relative term. At a certain point, there is no fixing them. But seing as you prefer to roll your eyes instead of educating yourself on the matter, I'm fairly sure you're unable to comprehend the matter at all. I'll still give my best.

Heroin, and other opiates, are some of the most devious things a human can do to his or her body. It creates an actual physical dependancy, it has the potential, given repeated use, to permanently change your brain chemistry and its physcal composition. Those are processes not easily reversed. Heroin attacks both neurons and hormonal receptors. Withdrawel symptoms will start showing a few hours after the effects of the opiate wear off, but have been observed up to a month after last use. The final stage of addction is opiate use disorder, at which point the patient is basically bejond saving. It creates a chronic need to use drugs that in some cases will supercede the need to sustain yourself. You'll try to get drugs over food, or sleep. That is almost irreversible. People reaching that stage of addiction almost always end up killing themselves.

It is extremly hard to imagine just how hellish an addiction like that is. I used to look down on addicts during my student days. It changed drastically when I had a 19 year old girl as a patient during my internship who had cut off her own hand, because someone had offered her to buy her a fix if she did it.

[yetgdhfgh]

Honestly think if we just started to call it diamorphine and not by its brand name heroin then these sort of initiatives could be easily swallowed by the general public.

Believe it or not in the UK we give heroin to people who are about to die its called palliative care and the heroin or Diamorphine is absolutely dirt cheap to make.

Honestly i believe if we charged addicts maybe 1 dollar per clean vial of diamorphine that is supervised then not only would the clinic make money but addicts would no longer need to steal hundreds of dollars just so they can get some dangerously unclean shit that is cut with god knows what and could possible contain the lethally strong Fentanyl!

Basically the war on drugs is lost so we need a new strategy called harm reduction yeah i know some people will say 'just let them die' but we all know that aint gonna happen so why not just give them what they want which is super cheap and lets see crime rate plummet and our jails emptied so we can start putting real dangerous criminals away instead of addicts who just want to get high.

[Torto]

Can't we go back to the good old days and put drug users in jail?

[OrcsRLame]

I hope this works out. Somehow I feel like this is going to backfire in some unforeseen way, but hopefully I'm wrong.

[Unholyground]

You are joking right? People are smoking, knowing what it does!
The same would happen with drugs

Nope, smoking is not the same thing, you could smoke your whole life and be fine. Some harder drugs will kill you pretty damn fast.

[Martymark]

"Norway to greatly reduce it's heroine addict population"