Tipping Point? Vermont governor confronts deadly heroin crisis as public health problem

[Katashi_itto]

JUDY WOODRUFF: A governor broke with tradition yesterday and devoted his entire state of the state address to drug addiction.

Peter Shumlin, the governor of Vermont, urged residents to open their eyes to the growing problem in their front yards, rather than leaving it only to law enforcement, medical personnel and addiction treatment providers. Shumlin argued the facts speak for themselves.

In Vermont, since 2000, there has been a 770 percent increase in treatment for all opiates. He stated: "What started as an OxyContin and prescription drug addiction problem in this state has now grown into a full-blown heroin crisis" and -- quote -- "Last year, we had nearly double the number of deaths in Vermont from heroin overdose as the previous year."

It turns out Vermont is not the only state facing this crisis. According to the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, the number of deaths involving heroin surged 45 percent between 1999 and 2010.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/12/vermont-gov-confronts-deadly-heroin-crisis-as-public-health-problem/

[hobbit709]

1. And where did this flood of heroin come from?

Most likely Afghanistan. Thank you Shrub.

[Katashi_itto]

2. Well at least Republicans can now say they helped create jobs.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. More likely Mexico...

Pretty sure all the afghan opium goes to Europe's junkies....

[Comrade Grumpy]

20. And Iran's and Pakistan's.

[firsttimer]

3. Maybe missed it but does it give actual numbers of deaths in Vermont?

It said 45 % increase but is that 11 deaths up from 7 deaths in 2012? or something like that.....


It's not like Vermont ER's are over flowing with heroin over dose deaths.

[Agschmid]

4. Not quite an answer... But more insight.

http://healthvermont.gov/research/documents/subab_mortal_ocme_0113.pdf

[firsttimer]

5. From that data it sounds like prescription drugs cause more of a problem not heroin

[enough]

11. The Gov says it started with prescription drugs, but has moved over to heroin now. (nt)

[Jesus Malverde]

6. Oxycontin nation...nt

[MrScorpio]

9. Bingo

Oxy is heroin's gateway.

[Jesus Malverde]

10. Oxy is the perfect trainer.

1. It comes from a doctor, must be safe.

2. wow this feels good

3. It would feel better if I smoked or injected it.

4. wow I love injecting oxy, it's pure, safe and gets me high as hell, but it's getting so expensive.

5. here try this heroin, it's cheaper!

6. I used to think heroin was nasty and the people who used it were sick junkies but OXY has shown me the light!

7. Injected opiates .....new best friend forever!

[cali]

16. some of us actualy need prescription painkillers.

I have a terribly painful condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. sometimes I'm literally nauseous from the pain which feels like someone is pouring molten sugar on my foot and leg. I don't abuse the opiates I take. If I'm in moderate pain, I just deal, but if I feel the burning ramping up and I take the painkillers before it gets too bad, I can often keep it from getting to the worst stage. I've tried fucking everything- from Lyrica and gabapentin to acupuncture and nerve blocks.

[Jesus Malverde]

18. Sorry to hear about your pain, that sounds terrible.

Drugs are a strange beast. What is attractive to some is not to others.

I suspect your relationship with opiates associates them with great pain, rather than great pleasure.

The thought of using opiates means your in great pain.

Some only associate opiates with pleasure. The pain comes in the absence of them.

[Jesus Malverde]

8. When you think about the crap that they are injecting into their veins...

Impure heroin

old syringe

dirty spoon

straight into your veins...unfiltered into your liver, brain and heart...

[LuvNewcastle]

12. One thing they touched upon that was true was that a lot of these heroin

addicts are people who have pain and they need medication to deal with it. The DEA has made doctors scared to death to prescribe opiates, which are the most effective treatment for pain, so people find Oxycontin and heroin on the black market to kill the pain. If the Loritabs or Percocets were available to them, they wouldn't be out looking for alternatives. This is a government-created crisis, and much of it could be solved by letting doctors prescribe what their patients need without harassment by the DEA.

[Demeter]

15. The thing with maintenance opiates

is that it leads to shutting down the whole body: appetite and digestion, interest in life, activity.

I work with elderly. Those on oxycontin die, and rather rapidly.

[LuvNewcastle]

17. Oxycontin is a very strong drug. I'm talking about the weaker ones, like Loritabs.

I know a lot of people who take them and who have been taking them for years, but the only effect they see is a reduction in their pain. Plenty people can handle them just fine, and I think it's ridiculous that it's becoming so hard for them to get their medication to help their pain.

Even if they're allowed to have the drug, they have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it. Sure, they are addicted, but it's better for them to be addicted to a mild or moderate opiate drug than to be in pain all the time. Some of the milder opiates could be over-the-counter. People could OD on them, but they can also OD on Tylenol. Norco seems to be effective enough, and they're basically Loritabs with reduced Tylenol. To combat the hard drugs like Oxycontin and heroin, I think we need more access to the mild opiates, not less.

[Demeter]

24. That's a very sensible argument

which means it will be ignored by "experts"

[WhiteTara]

13. If we get out of Afghanistan the supply

would be smaller. Thanks CIA

[H2O Man]

14. Recommended.

Good OP; interesting comments.

I live in rural, upstate New York's Southern Tier. In our area, the number of high school kids using heroin has caused alarm. Rightfully so. A doctor in my community recently requested that our school board provide some type of introductory education for parents, who tend to be unaware of the extent of the problem. As I am the board member with experience working in that field, I was asked to write an article for our school newspaper.

Last Thursday, the board reviewed the article. It made them uneasy, as the facts are disturbing. Being retired, I had the time needed to research the issue -- talking to area police, human service workers, and young folks. As noted in this thread, there are two primary sources of heroin in the US: Afghanistan (powder) and Mexico (black tar). And it's not being imported by high school students.

Criminal groups from NYC get young men to bring it up Rt 17 to Binghamton; from there, they go either north to Utica, or east to Oneonta. For years, they used the bus system; arrests at the bus station led to the use of cars.

In small towns between the cities, they rent motel rooms, or apartments, and set up shop. Every year, when I did the "jail group," the young NYC guys would say they were only busted because locals were racists. I'd say, no, it's because you are stupid. No means of support, with a steady stream of kids coming to your door, attracts attention. As did gang-identification in clothing.

As noted in this thread, the use of Rx opens the door to heroin. Young people can score small amounts for cheaper than they can buy pot. In an economically depressed area, kids buy what they can afford.

We have an unhealthy relationship with "drugs" and "medicines" in our culture. I'm not worried about adults smoking a bowl or drinking a beer in the privacy of their own home. But no teenager benefits from using heroin.

[Zorra]

19. Here is what I was told by several young women between the ages of 20 and 23:

I sometimes get the opportunity to train young people for work at a non-profit. One day while I was training a very bright, "2 jobs saving for college" type 23 yr old trained EMT, I asked her about the drug scene among high school age kids, and people her age.

Her exact words were that "heroin is the drug of choice". I asked her about this phenomenon, saying not long ago meth seemed to be the most common drug, She said that meth had gotten expensive, because the chemicals to make it had become much more difficult to procure. So I asked her, "Why heroin?" She said she thought it started out with kids ripping off their parents oxycontin, and kids started using it, and the demand for it skyrocketed the price. However, low cost Mexican heroin began to become available, and she quoted me an average price for some common amount that users buy, and I can't remember how much it was exactly, but it seemed shockingly low. She said heroin was cheap, and it was easy to get. I live in rural area of the southwest, and this totally shocked me, and continues to worry me, as I have had very negative experiences with heroin addicts during the course of my lifetime. Her story was later corroborated by two 20 yr olds and a 21 yr old in separate respective instances.

I asked all of them if they had ever done heroin, and one of them said she had. I gave my "heroin lecture" to all of them, it goes something like this ~

"Heroin quickly becomes a lifetime commitment. It's like an abusive spouse. People stay with it because they become dependent on it, even though they know it is hurting them, because it is so nice to them sometimes - when they get high from it after jonesing - and it whispers its lying sweet love for them all the time. Once you are strung out on heroin, it becomes your life. It will take your heart, spirit, and life away, and it will become your master, and you will live to serve it. It will tell you to lie, steal, cheat, murder, do these things even to those you once loved back when you could still love someone or something other than heroin. And you will gladly do all those ugly things, just to feel the comfortable numbness of the illusion of heroin's warm embrace. You will learn to loathe yourself 24/7, because all your love, and morals, and everything that was ever good for you, or good about you, is dead. And even if you stop using, you cannot divorce him, or annul your marriage to him. All you can hope for is a permanent trial separation, because he will come to you every day for the rest of your life, whispering his undying sweet love for you, you will have to struggle every day not to get back together again.

I want you to promise me that you will never even try heroin. and if you have tried it, to never do it again... If I ever hear of you doing heroin, I will hunt you down and find you and personally kick your ass". (smiling, but only half joking).

Any young people reading this who are considering using heroin? This is real. Heroin is pure evil, and once it owns you, you become it. Nobody's life is ever worse than it can ever be on heroin.

What your life will look like after your honeymoon is over and the realities of your life together with heroin begins.
http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-arnade-photos-of-bronx-addicts-2013-12

[randome]

22. Nice speech.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game. -Existenz[/center][/font][hr]

[Zorra]

23. Thanks, but I didn't really create it; I just copied and pasted it from real life. nt

[Barack_America]

21. They're cutting it with synthetic opiates...

With no real concern for the combined strength, and no real interest in informing their buyers about what they are actually getting.