Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The problem is that in spite of this recent bust opiates have found their way into Morgantown. As a result you can expect to see a lot more muggings, armed robberies, and violent crime. I have seen the destruction caused by these drugs long ago as I grew up in a town that saw a influx of heroin back in 1994. Many former friends found their way to jail, died in overdoses, car jacked people, armed robberies, grand theft, these were good people but the addiction was so strong that they will do anything to get more money to feed their habit. The shame of it all is the over prescription of oxycodone is what has contributed greatly to this epidemic, how a medical professional could push these pharmaceuticals is just plain unethical and negligent. Aside for terminal illness, oxycodone should be outlawed. CT says the last thing we need is legalized pot, but medical marijuana is another thing all together, in many instances if medical marijuana was available 10 to 20 years ago to be prescribed as a pain killer we as a country would not be dealing with this opiate addition that we are now. People turn to heroin because its cheaper and easier to get now than oxycodone, the people that abuse this drug are not who you might thing, some are stay at home moms, many of whom are affluent who were given oxycodone for whatever reason and became addicted. 50% of the 3 million people abusing heroin and painkillers are women, 90% of them are white and most start using at 24 years old. If you know someone who is addicted I am sorry to say that the statistics in long term studies indicate they have a 50% chance of dying from opiate addiction/overdose and if they don't die from it they will spend their life lying, stealing and causing the people they love a great deal of pain.
They will still happen but Morgantown seems to be as on top of these things better than most cities. (but I agree treatment centers do more good than prison for many)
They will still happen but Morgantown seems to be as on top of these things better than most cities. (but I agree treatment centers do more good than prison for many)
Most of these people became addicted through no fault of their own. I'm no liberal, but it is society's responsibility to help them. It is shameful to send them to prison. Treatment centers are required, and it makes far more sense to spend money on those than it does spending even one cent for foreign aid.
Unfortunately many times state funded drug treatment centers just create environments for addicts to meet new addicts, opioids are a strong addiction, like the thirst you seek to alleviate with a drink of water, that is what opioids are to addicts. The treatment centers just give you one opioid (Suboxone) to get you off another. Imagine being in AA because you like to drink crown and coke and they prescribe you wine, what's the point? Again I believe a big part of the problem is the drug (pharmaceutical) companies paying doctors to prescribe their products. This is in my opinion a moral hazard that caused the epidemic of opiate abuse in this county. Big Pharma generates 300 billion a year in revenue, over 17,000 doctors receive payments and gifts for pushing their drugs. Sine 2009 the top 6 pharmaceutical companies paid doctors over 300 million dollars to push their products. In 2009 80% of doctors admitted to accepting gifts or payments from drug companies, 80%! From 2007-2010 Drug companies paid 7 billion dollars in law suites for paying doctors to push their products, Pfizer alone paid out 2.3billion dollars. I believe doctors are generally good people, altruistic people, but money is a funny thing and so is greed. Think about this, between 1998-2012 the pharma lobby in DC has spent 2.6 billion dollars influencing decisions and elections on Capitol Hill, creating PAC's to help get our publicly elected officials re elected for a vote in favor of their agenda. This is in part why I prefer small government vs. big government, bigger government is not better government it just creates more opportunities for corruption. Lastly, I recommend a book called So Much Damn Money; The Triumph of Lobbying and the Corrosion of American Government. You can find it at the Morgantown Public Library, it is an eye opener and even has a few nuggets about WVU and its hired gun in DC.
I don't disagree with anything you said there, and you can throw methadone into the mix too, but drug addicts are going to meet other drug addicts in any event, either while incarcerated or while attending meetings. Treatment centers are absolutely necessary to provide a controlled environment for learning skills needed to stop using. I also am not saying the criminal justice system should not be involved. Users should be mandated to go to treatment centers progressively from outpatient to 90 day residential programs, with successful program completion resulting in expungement of convictions. Many would not go through treatment unless forced to do it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
