Saturday, June 14, 2008
Drugs and Death
I'm a former narcotics prosecutor who believes that narcotics do serious damage to people and society. When I was back in Detroit I went through neighborhoods close to where I went to kindergarten that were decimated by de-industrialization, racism, and finally crack cocaine. Narcotics do bad things to people and communities. I know that both the use of drugs, the sale of drugs, and the locking up of so many people for drug crimes played a role in turning large parts of the East Side into semi-rural areas.
That said, too often the "war on drugs" is also an alarmist war on truth. We try to scare people out of using drugs and support a massive law enforcement effort with exaggerated claims and images. One of those enduring images is that of people overdosing on drugs, lying dead on the pavement after a drug binge of marijuana, heroin, or cocaine.
The truth is that while some illegal narcotics, particularly cocaine, lead to overdoses, they trail the number of deaths caused when people overdose through recreational use of prescription drugs. According to the New York Times today, the Florida Medical Examiners Commission reported the number of people in that state who died directly because of drug use in 2007, by drug:
2,328 Legal Opiods (Vicodin, OxyContin)
843 Cocaine
743 Benzodiazepine (Valium, Xanax)
110 Heroin
25 Methamphetamine
0 Marijuana
Since they are coming from the people who do autopsies, I give these figures real credibility. Of course, they don't take into account two variables. First, they don't account for indirect deaths, including traffic accidents involving those stoned on pot or OxyContin. Second, they don't factor in the total number of recreational users, but I would imagine that the number of marijuana users would equal or exceed the number of OxyContin users. They also factor in only the deaths caused by drugs, not the degraded health caused by (for example) meth use.
So will we see a war on Xanax and OxyContin? After all, they both are in competition with effective alternatives that do not have the same recreational uses.
I think we all know the answer to that.
Comments:
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It would be pretty impressive if someone could overdose on marijuana, considering that no one really knows how much you would have to ingest in order to overdose on it (I've read as much as around 46 pounds).
I've always found our country's position on drugs very perplexing. In my mind, alcohol is the most dangerous drug out there. More families are torn apart, more children are beaten, and more people die as the result of alcohol than any other drug (I bet there are more deaths due to alcohol than all illegal drugs combined). The hypocricy is incredible. I remember in a PC exercise where a student argued that the defendant was smoking marijuana and that's why he was aggressive and shot the victim. Osler stopped the person in their tracks and said "have you ever been around someone who was smoking pot? I'll tell you that aggressiveness is not a characteristic they exhibit." I got a kick out of that, but apparently there are a lot of people out there like that student.
I know that drugs can be dangerous, but it such a fallacy to to say anyone who uses cocaine is a drug addict and you'll be hooked and you'll die, which is exactly what many people believe. I've seen many people use marijuana regularly and be good members of society; I've also known people that used cocaine recreationally and are not in rehab or six feet under.
I just believe that if you want to use and you're not affecting me, go for it. I know that's kind of cliche, but it's how I feel. I'm sick of spending money locking up people and spending billions on the war on drugs. Prevention, treatment and education are much better uses of our resources.
I know that drugs can be dangerous, but it such a fallacy to to say anyone who uses cocaine is a drug addict and you'll be hooked and you'll die, which is exactly what many people believe. I've seen many people use marijuana regularly and be good members of society; I've also known people that used cocaine recreationally and are not in rehab or six feet under.
I just believe that if you want to use and you're not affecting me, go for it. I know that's kind of cliche, but it's how I feel. I'm sick of spending money locking up people and spending billions on the war on drugs. Prevention, treatment and education are much better uses of our resources.
# posted by 
: 8:02 PM
: 8:02 PM
Amen to all. I tend to believe education and responsibility are preferable to sticking people in cages.
Love,
Matt
Love,
Matt
# posted by : 8:57 PM
: 8:57 PM
Tydwbleach--
Shopping is not the same as alcoholism. How different would your life be if one or both of your parents had been addicted to shopping instead of alcohol?
Shopping is not the same as alcoholism. How different would your life be if one or both of your parents had been addicted to shopping instead of alcohol?
# posted by : 9:56 AM
: 9:56 AM
ps-- I'm only saying that because tydwbleach previously mentioned a parent who drank too much.
# posted by : 9:57 AM
: 9:57 AM
I was not trying to minimize addiction to things, I was saying that you can use legal drugs the in the way they were intended to be used and not get addicted to them.
Alcohol was a part of my childhood. I think my mom drank because she was extremely unhappy and either BiPolar or Manic Depressive... the debate rages on about which one... but it was not the main thing... it was literally a fraction of all of the dysfunction. She still kept her job, got a master's degree did all this stuff.. she was just reallllllly mad or reallllly sad all the time about almost everything. The drinking just made those times Extra Fun.
I stay away from all recreational drugs and I always have. I drank in college, who didn't? However, I am lucky enough to have realized somehow early on that I could depend on pretty much no one around me, and if I was going to be happy I would have to build my own happy life with great friends, etc, and have my own happy family one day, which I have done. I am extremely happy, though I may be addicted to complaining about my house exploding and living with a goat.
Not everyone grew up with a great supportive family, and that is sad, but it is truly what you do with the cards you are dealt that matters in the end.
I don't know if drugs should be legal, because if they were it would take the profit out of it. I also realize that the people in bad neighborhoods etc that deal drugs and kill each other over them maybe felt hopeless, and its part of maybe a culture they are born into, and they do not know there is another way to live. But then, I also know that life can be extremely harsh at times, and some people escape I guess. If people could just try to stay safe when they are drinking or dropping acid or whatever the hell they are doing then maybe it would not harm other people.
I have a goat to feed. I have to go.
Alcohol was a part of my childhood. I think my mom drank because she was extremely unhappy and either BiPolar or Manic Depressive... the debate rages on about which one... but it was not the main thing... it was literally a fraction of all of the dysfunction. She still kept her job, got a master's degree did all this stuff.. she was just reallllllly mad or reallllly sad all the time about almost everything. The drinking just made those times Extra Fun.
I stay away from all recreational drugs and I always have. I drank in college, who didn't? However, I am lucky enough to have realized somehow early on that I could depend on pretty much no one around me, and if I was going to be happy I would have to build my own happy life with great friends, etc, and have my own happy family one day, which I have done. I am extremely happy, though I may be addicted to complaining about my house exploding and living with a goat.
Not everyone grew up with a great supportive family, and that is sad, but it is truly what you do with the cards you are dealt that matters in the end.
I don't know if drugs should be legal, because if they were it would take the profit out of it. I also realize that the people in bad neighborhoods etc that deal drugs and kill each other over them maybe felt hopeless, and its part of maybe a culture they are born into, and they do not know there is another way to live. But then, I also know that life can be extremely harsh at times, and some people escape I guess. If people could just try to stay safe when they are drinking or dropping acid or whatever the hell they are doing then maybe it would not harm other people.
I have a goat to feed. I have to go.
As with most things, following the money gets you to the answer. Drugs are a multi-billion dollar world industry. Much of their profitability comes from their black market nature, and their deleterious societal effects continue to ensure that a nearly universal underworld of organized crime exists. As you pointed out in our criminal practice class, the ones that get prosecuted are more often the end users and mid-level dealers. It's hard to get at the head of the operation because of the way things are structured in organized crime syndicates. But this head of the operation reaps unthinkably large profits, and I'm willing to be that a good amount of those profits become "campaign contributions" to public officials.
The worst part about our drug education, however, is how shockingly naive it is. It is built off of the theory that if we puff up the scariness and danger of drugs, it will decrease the desire to do them. But this only encourages thrill-seekers to take them, and ignores the very basic human desire for cheap and fake euphoria that drives us to consume drugs -- I know that whenever I want to relax, I'm not above grabbing a beer, or when I need a quick burst of energy, a caffeinated beverage. I know that the physical effects of these drugs are, ultimately, chemically-induced, and how dangerous both alcohol and caffeine are (far more dangerous than many illegal drugs). But that hasn't stopped me from doing them.
What we should be doing is giving people the scientific facts about drug use, giving them the information to make their own responsible choices. Those who fail to make responsible choices must suffer the consequences, often penal, that result from doing things that jeopardize the remainder of society. We can't prevent drug use, but we can at least make sure we have a well-educated populace about the subject.
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The worst part about our drug education, however, is how shockingly naive it is. It is built off of the theory that if we puff up the scariness and danger of drugs, it will decrease the desire to do them. But this only encourages thrill-seekers to take them, and ignores the very basic human desire for cheap and fake euphoria that drives us to consume drugs -- I know that whenever I want to relax, I'm not above grabbing a beer, or when I need a quick burst of energy, a caffeinated beverage. I know that the physical effects of these drugs are, ultimately, chemically-induced, and how dangerous both alcohol and caffeine are (far more dangerous than many illegal drugs). But that hasn't stopped me from doing them.
What we should be doing is giving people the scientific facts about drug use, giving them the information to make their own responsible choices. Those who fail to make responsible choices must suffer the consequences, often penal, that result from doing things that jeopardize the remainder of society. We can't prevent drug use, but we can at least make sure we have a well-educated populace about the subject.
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