the world is what we make it
Pharmacotherapy- fighting Drugs with Drugs
Click the above link to read the report at Cognitive Liberty.
I have a friend who knew someone with a heroine addiction. A doctor prescribe another drug to combat the effects of heroine addiction. The kid with the heroine addiction overdosed on the "prescription" drug and died. He died, not from the heroine, but from the "antidote" to heroine addiction. Ironic, isn't it?
The doctor who prescribed this drug failed to acknowledge to broader effects of addiction. His short sightedness cost the kid his life.
The point is, drugs are a problem in society because we've failed to acknowledge the neurological ROOTS of addiction. In short, everything about our world relative to "conscious experience" is determined through a cascade of chemical reactions in our brain. Everything can be addictive to some degree, which is why people in America buy too much, consume too much, and live an ever increasingly stressful lifestyle.
Our society, in it's complexity, promotes drug use, especially alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription drugs. These are they real gateway drugs, we need to de-criminalize certain illegal drugs, or we'll maintain a legal double standard which will ultimately ruin our society.
The War on Drugs needs to be re-examined under intense scrutiny. Until we in America do this, we'll support a tragic legal system which further deteriorates basic human rights.
2 Comments:
Dear Sourmonkey,
I accidently posted my comments below this entry. But I could say a lot in reference to your suggestion that we legalize drugs. First I agree that addressing the roots of addiction are necessary to combat the problem. However addiction to food and addiction to crack are two completely different things. Crack, Meth, Angel Dust, these are very dangerous substances that destroy people lives. It is a logical fallacy to say that because A has C and B has C then A and B are the same. There is some similarity between different types of addictions but it doesn't mean that they are all the same.
I think our sentencing for drug offenses is too severe, but I don't think it is simply because people want to punish addicts. It is that there is great amounts of violence and crime that result.
You comment that a doctor did not meet a friend's addiction adequately. I of course do not know the situation. But in general I think we should be careful of blaming the treating institutions (while there are cases of great neglect and incompetance). People are not machines. They have a will that must participate in the treatment.
blessings,
Luke Smith
Well, first off, I should clarify that the kid was a friend of a friend of mine. When I heard the story I thought it was sadly ironic. I didn't really mean to suggest that the doctor was at fault, just that it was society's fault for accepting this "drug versus drug" method to "cure" addiction. We can't stigmatize drug users by implying that addiction is a disease that can be treated with a pill. We can't treat drug users like they have a disease that can be treated with a pill. Were doing more harm than good.
I'll create a new post to finish the rest of my thoughts.
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