England UK

Steady_Eddy wrote:
> Actually,
> the present system of doctors prescribing medicine is working very
> well. Doctors are the ONLY people qualified to prescribe drugs. I
> exclude the obvious "over the counter" medicnes. Having trouble with
> withdrawl? Take a fucking asprin and get off of the dope Jisbird. The
> system is working very well. CASE CLOSED.

Actually, there is a LEGAL and SAFE alternative for drugs and it's
available
everywhere. It's called ALCOHOL. Go ahead and drink until you choke on
your own puke, it's ok, it's perfectly legal and it's perfectly safe.
Otherwise, why would it be available everywhere in lethal quantities
for recreational purposes? Drug laws make perfect sense. We need to
keep kids off the drugs and supply them with copious quantities of
alcohol to ensure they keep off the drugs. If they die due to alcohol
abuse, that's fine because alcohol is legal. As long as they stay off
the drugs, everything is fine.
Drugs must remain illegal to protect the innocent young impressionable
children. We must send a strong and clear signal to todays confused
teenagers that it's perfectly ok if they want to drink themselves to
death as long as they keep off the evil drugs.
See, nothing irrational or unintelligible about drug laws. Politicians
have figured it all out perfectly. Want drugs? Use alcohol! CASE
CLOSED.

>
> Jasbird wrote:
> > <http://society.guardian.co.uk/drugsandalcohol/story/0,,1807093,00.html>
> > Rooms for improvement
> >
> > As needle exchanges celebrate their 20th anniversary, two new reports
> > call for increased help for Class A drug users
> >
> > Diane Taylor
> > Wednesday June 28, 2006
> >
> > The Guardian
> >
> > Maggie is shivering and sweating. She's withdrawing from heroin and is
> > craving the crack cocaine she injects with it. Her boyfriend, Bill,
> > arrives with the precious packages of "brown and white" - heroin and
> > crack. They will inject both drugs together in a practice known as
> > speedballing. Both are street homeless and hurry off to find a quiet
> > doorway to get their fix.
> >
> > Cocaine does not produce the intense physical withdrawal symptoms of
> > heroin, but it does cause a powerful psychological longing among regular
> > users. Maggie and Bill have sterile needles in their pockets to inject
> > with, picked up from a local needle exchange.
> >
> > In 1986, the UK was among the first in the world to establish needle
> > exchanges, where injecting drug users can pick up free sterile needles
> > and return used ones for safe disposal. The aim was to prevent the
> > spread of HIV transmitted through sharing dirty needles.
> >
> > The UK's first needle exchange began operating in Peterborough in early
> > 1986, and the first pharmacy scheme, operated by Boots, began in
> > Sheffield in the same year. The policy has been successful. According to
> > Health Protection Agency statistics published in April, just 4% (1,241)
> > of the total number of people living with HIV in the UK (22,099)
> > contracted the virus through injecting drugs.
> >
> > As needle exchanges celebrate their 20th anniversary, two new reports
> > call for an extension of harm-reduction policies to tackle the
> > increasingly complex patterns of drug use among the Class A addicts of
> > today.
> >
> > The first report, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is a study by the
> > Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms. Following an
> > appraisal of 65 drug consumption rooms in six European countries and
> > Australia and Canada, it concludes that similar places should be
> > introduced here on a pilot basis.
> >
> > The second report, based on research from the Psychiatric University
> > Hospital in Zurich, has found that giving heroin on prescription to all
> > heroin addicts who request it has led to a decline in the overall number
> > of addicts in Zurich by 4% a year - although the average length of time
> > each user spends on the drug has increased. Drug-related seizures and
> > overdoses have also declined. Supervised consumption of heroin is
> > currently being trialled at the National Addiction Centre at King's
> > College, London, and three more schemes are due to be rolled out this
> > year.
> >
> > Injecting rooms are an extension of, rather than a departure from,
> > existing needle exchange policy. As well as the clean drug paraphernalia
> > to which they already have access, users will have a clean room to
> > inject in and medical staff on hand in case anything goes wrong. The UK
> > has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, with 1,388 deaths
> > in 2003. If anyone overdoses or has a seizure in a drug consumption
> > room, they can get immediate medical attention.
> >
> > Despite the government's longstanding commitment to the provision of
> > needle exchanges, a Home Office spokeswoman says: "Drug consumption
> > rooms do not form any part of our strategy." She adds that such venues
> > would increase the risk of localised dealing, antisocial behaviour and
> > acquisitive crime.
> >
> > The Zurich report says that medicalising heroin strips it of its
> > illicit, seedy glamour and so makes it less attractive to the
> > uninitiated. As well as improving the health of drug users, one of the
> > arguments for prescribing a Class A drug such as heroin is that the
> > shady types trafficking and dealing it become redundant. But this
> > argument is flawed. If heroin was the only Class A drug in use, the
> > Swiss model could work here. But vast numbers of Class A users are
> > wedded to the heroin-crack combo, sometimes injected together, sometimes
> > heroin injected and crack smoked separately, and sometimes both smoked.
> >
> > Heroin addicts can stabilise their lives with a regular dose at regular
> > intervals and may decide to reduce or end their use of the drug. Some
> > doctors are happy to prescribe it because, apart from its addictive
> > quality and the risk of infections from injecting, it isn't innately
> > damaging. Cocaine, on the other hand, damages the heart, can lead to
> > strokes, and can induce paranoia. It has a more-ish effect -
> > particularly in crack form - costing some users between £500 and £1,000
> > a day. If doctors agree to prescribe heroin but not cocaine, drug users
> > will still consort with dealers and the link with crime will not be
> > broken.
> >
> > Unsustainable system
> >
> > Danny Kushlik, of Transform, the anti-prohibition organisation, argues
> > that if doctors won't prescribe cocaine, then retailers should sell it
> > instead because the current system of prohibition is damaging and
> > unsustainable.
> >
> > Gary Sutton, of the drugs organisation Release, isn't convinced by the
> > argument that making heroin uncool will deter people from using it.
> > "Heroin isn't a loser drug or a winner drug," he says. "With very few
> > exceptions, the people I have worked with who are opiate-dependent are
> > depressives or are suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress."
> >
> > Meanwhile, Maggie returns, her shivers and sweats vanished after her
> > fix. In theory, the new proposals sound good, she says, but in practice
> > they might not work for her and other Class A drug users.
> >
> > "Prescription heroin sounds fantastic, but I'd still go to my dealer for
> > the crack," she says. "And I suppose some people might sell their heroin
> > to buy more crack. It would be nice to have access to clean works all
> > the time, but what the 'experts' don't seem to understand is how sick we
> > get when we start to withdraw. It's always a struggle to get money
> > together for my next fix, and as soon as I've bought my drugs I need to
> > inject them straight away. If using a drug consumption room means
> > half-an-hour or more of travelling across town to reach it, feeling as
> > if I've got the worst flu imaginable, then forget it."
> >
> > · SocietyGuardian.co.uk/drugsandalcohol
> >
> > - - - - - - -
> > 1) "The Report of the Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption
> > Rooms", Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2006
> > http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=785
> > (to down-load PDFs in 6 / 7 parts)
> >
> > 2) "Incidence of heroin use in Zurich, Switzerland: a treatment case
> > register analysis"
> >
> > The Lancet 2006; 367:1830-1834
> >
> > HTML (copy):
> > <http://www.ourrights.0catch.com/swiss.heroin.summary_lancet.367.1830-4(2006).html>
> > (Charts NOT in colour, version ripped from photocopy - go to The Lancet
> > to pay for the original with colour charts)