Drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in U.S.

[JackieDan]

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-me-drugs-epidemic-20110918,0,3886090.story?page=2&utm_medium=feed&track=rss&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20MostEmailed%20%28L.A.%20Times%20-%20Most%20E-mailed%20Stories%29&utm_source=feedburner

 

[Anti Federalist]

Fueling the surge are prescription pain and anxiety drugs that are potent, highly addictive and especially dangerous when combined with one another or with other drugs or alcohol.

Well, color me unsurprised.

How much better so many of these people would be if they could just smoke a joint and chill?

Look for this to increase as "modern life" drives more people insane.

 

[fisharmor]

The CDC's 2009 statistics are the agency's most current. They are considered preliminary because they reflect 96% of death certificates filed. The remaining are deaths for which the causes were not immediately clear.

I'm pretty sure that 4% "goon squad knocks down the door and starts blasting" fatalities is well within the realm of possibility.

 

[asurfaholic]

I thought the stats for deaths in car crashes were modified to not include those who died en route to hospital, or while in hospital.

I simply don't believe that more people die from drugs than car crashes. Not unless you consider smoking cigarettes and getting lung cancer, and alcohol related deaths "drug deaths."

 

[jmdrake]

Drug deaths are raging because of legal drugs so let's crack down further on illegal drugs.

 

[Working Poor]

I thought the stats for deaths in car crashes were modified to not include those who died en route to hospital, or while in hospital.

I simply don't believe that more people die from drugs than car crashes. Not unless you consider smoking cigarettes and getting lung cancer, and alcohol related deaths "drug deaths."

Have you seen the side effects on many drugs where death is an acceptable effect? The fda protecting us? yea right.. Also many people die from being given the wrong medications...

 

[00_Pete]

No guys, it's not because of government.

There are some things that are harmful to your body you know? Even if they "feel good".

 

[dannno]

No guys, it's not because of government.

There are some things that are harmful to your body you know? Even if they "feel good".

How many deaths from cannabis?

Cannabis is illegal.

How many deaths from government approved drugs?

By far the most, and surging.

Do some math.

 

[Anti Federalist]

I thought the stats for deaths in car crashes were modified to not include those who died en route to hospital, or while in hospital.

I simply don't believe that more people die from drugs than car crashes. Not unless you consider smoking cigarettes and getting lung cancer, and alcohol related deaths "drug deaths."

These are "approved" drugs that we're talking about here.

There are, what, over a 100,000 deaths every year due to "medical misadventure" in the approved medical establishment.

 

[Lafayette]

No guys, it's not because of government.

When people are killed by government agents and law enforcement because of the War on drugs i would have to disagree.

There are some things that are harmful to your body you know? Even if they "feel good".

Really?!?! wow thanks for opening our eyes to the possible danger of things we put into our body
/sarcasm

The issue is not that things can be bad for us, its a question of freedom of choice. How much control do we give the government over our lives?

 

[Jingles]

People should be able to put into their bodies what they please. They are taking the risk. The issue with prescription drugs is generally people perceive them as "safe" without understand drug interactions/opioid tolerance. Just because a doctor gives it to you doesn't mean you can be as reckless with it as you wish without realizing the consequences.

I'm absolutely for legalizing all drugs. I never liked weed and don't smoke it, but I have used every other drug in existence (mostly opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants, and dissociatives). When it really comes down to it, it is an individual's choice to use drugs and its an individual's choice to stop using them. There is no one that can make them stop unless they truly wish to (just ask any rehab/NA group/AA group. These programs are their to help, but it comes down to what the individual wants). So just on that premise the entire "drug war" is completely flawed. Then there are all the issues with gangs, cartels, the high black market prices that cause individual's to steal for what they could afford if there was a free market for these substances, the corruption, etc, etc, etc... It really comes down to families educating their kids and such. The state can't solve a medical/social problem like this by criminalizing it.

Also just as a testament to the powers of freedom and volunteerism look at how successful private voluntary groups like AA/NA are at getting people to stop using drugs/drinking as compared to our criminal justice system. The failures of prohibition should just speak for themselves by now, but people are so emotional and reactionary to the idea of legalizing drugs. Its like all the issues and flaws of the minimum wage, we all know it doesn't help, but we aren't supposed to talk about it.

 

[00_Pete]

How many deaths from cannabis?

Cannabis is illegal.

How many deaths from government approved drugs?

By far the most, and surging.

Do some math.

People abuse "government approved drugs" for the same reason they smoke weed...because it feels good.

Im all for the total legalization of ALL drugs...My post was all about libertarianism and personal responsability, take all the drugs you want, just don't cry or blame someone/something else when they harm you.

 

[jmdrake]

No guys, it's not because of government.

Are you sure about that?

 

[Working Poor]

Are you sure about that?

Haliburton White and Bama Blue for sale...

 

[asurfaholic]

These are "approved" drugs that we're talking about here.

There are, what, over a 100,000 deaths every year due to "medical misadventure" in the approved medical establishment.

Thanks for clearing this up. Its still hard to believe, but itsterrible too. Doctors are the new mafia, with pharm execs for kings.

Cannabis is definitely the Ron Paul of drugs. Big govt /media doesn't want us to believe this stuff is actually alright, in reality its the best thing ever.

 

[WilliamC]

The word is iatrogenesis.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iatrogenesis

Iatrogenesis, or an iatrogenic artifact (pronounced /aɪˌætroʊˈdʒɛnɪk/, 'originating from a physician') is an inadvertent adverse effect or complication resulting from medical treatment or advice, including that of psychologists, therapists, pharmacists, nurses, and dentists. Iatrogenesis is not restricted to conventional medicine: It can also result from complementary and alternative medicine treatments.

Some iatrogenic artifacts are clearly defined and easily recognized, such as a complication following a surgical procedure. Some less obvious ones can require significant investigation to identify, such as complex drug interactions. Furthermore, some conditions have been described for which it is unknown, unproven, or even controversial whether they are iatrogenic or not; this has been encountered in particular with regard to various psychological and chronic-pain conditions. Research in these areas continues.

Causes of iatrogenesis include chance, medical error, negligence, social control, unexamined instrument design, anxiety or annoyance related to medical procedures,[clarification needed]and the adverse effects or interactions of medications. In the United States, an estimated 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year may be attributed in some part to iatrogenesis.[1].

Not included in the above but very much a preventable cause of death in hospitials is secondary bacterial infections, especially of multiple-antibiotic resistance strains, the vast majority of which could be eliminated by more stringent cleaning and disinfecting and enforcing hand-washing and such for visitors to the wards.

While I'm certainly no medical expert it does seem that there will always be some level of iatrogenic deaths in a society that seeks to help people through medical treatment, but it also seems that there is far less emphasis on preventing these deaths than there should be, and the political clout of the big pharmaceutical companies is obviously a big factor behind this.

Of course many patients do bring upon themselves a lot of bad health practices and this is a contributing factor, it's not all due to mistakes by practitioners.

 

[dannno]

People abuse "government approved drugs" for the same reason they smoke weed...because it feels good.

And the reason many people don't choose the safest substance is because it is illegal.

My post was all about libertarianism and personal responsability, take all the drugs you want, just don't cry or blame someone/something else when they harm you.

No, your post was insinuating that we shouldn't blame government when they make safe substances illegal and legitimize the deadly ones. I absolutely believe it is their fault.

 

[asurfaholic]

Just look at how FDA treats nature food and natural healthful foods and supplements

 

[Jingles]

And the reason many people don't choose the safest substance is because it is illegal.

While I understand your reasoning behind this it doesn't change the fact that their are people that simply don't like weed and don't want to smoke it. Maybe they prefer alcohol or heroin or etc... Its not the drugs themselves per se that cause the problems as much as how they are used, the individual themselves, and various other factors. Drug prohibition contributes to the extremely large majority of our ills with drugs.

For example with opioids any physical damage done to the individual is associated with the route of admission. If someone isn't using clean unused rigs (or sharing them like a dumbass), sterilizing the injection site, using clean water (ideally you use sterile saline solution), properly filtering (ideally with a wheel filter, but this would be a non-issue if we had a free market for drugs since they would be pure) etc, etc, etc that's where the disease, infections, and such come from that are associated with IV drug use. Overdoses are people essentially not understanding what they are putting in their body/not understanding what their tolerance is to the drug they are doing. If someone with very little tolerance to opioids IVs a whole bundle of heroin was it the individuals poor decision or was it the drug? Now simply apply this to the "prescription drugs", which are for the most part various opioids such as hydromorphone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, fentanyl and various benzodiapines (although most deaths associated with benzos are in combination with alcohol and or opioids for drug interaction reasons and it is very difficult to overdose on benzos alone). Was it the individual's decision to take the drug at unsafe levels in relation to their tolerance or was it the fact that they had a prescription (or purchased it in the black market in some manner)?

The point I'm trying to make is essentially that it isn't the drugs as much as the individual's responsibility with those substances. Like someone could smoke weed, be lazy, and not go into work, and get fired. But someone could like to smoke weed and have a steady job and be successful, etc... There are no good and bad drugs as much as its more of the individual's decision of how they use them/act/etc/etc/etc... I never chose to do other drugs personally because "weed was illegal". I never liked weed and instead liked opioids (especially heroin) better. I don't use drugs or drink anymore, but believe me the reasons people choose to do opioids, benzos, etc, etc, etc isn't because weed is illegal.

 

[dannno]

The point I'm trying to make is essentially that it isn't the drugs as much as the individual's responsibility with those substances. Like someone could smoke weed, be lazy, and not go into work, and get fired. But someone could like to smoke weed and have a steady job and be successful, etc... There are no good and bad drugs as much as its more of the individual's decision of how they use them/act/etc/etc/etc... I never chose to do other drugs personally because "weed was illegal". I never liked weed and instead liked opioids (especially heroin) better. I don't use drugs or drink anymore, but believe me the reasons people choose to do opioids, benzos, etc, etc, etc isn't because weed is illegal.

I think if all drugs were legal then drug abuse as a whole would go down, but use of cannabis would increase pretty drastically both medicinally and recreationally.

One problem with cannabis compared to other illegal drugs is the distinct odor. My friend walked into 7/11 back in the days when people still carried herb in baggies and the clerk immediately said "Wow, that sack smells incredible!" No other drug that I can think of off the top of my head has such a strong distinct (yet pleasant) odor. It makes people paranoid to carry it around and to use in general, but it all goes back to the legality.

I've known very few people, however, who do illegal drugs who do not enjoy herb as well. It's great for taking the edge off other substances (not to mention sobriety )