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Meth fills hospitals with burn patients
AP ^ | January 23, 2012 | Jim Salter

Posted on 01/23/2012 9:03:02 AM PST by Mount Athos

A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle.

The influx of patients is overwhelming hospitals and becoming a major factor in the closure of some burn wards. At least seven burn units across the nation have shut down over the past six years, partly due to consolidation but also because of the cost of treating uninsured patients, many of whom are connected to methamphetamine.

Burn experts agree the annual cost to taxpayers is well into the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addiction; healthcare; methamphetamine; riskybehavior
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To: Mount Athos

Yet another cost of the drug war. Churches and families can protect against drug use; governments can’t. All they do is create an avalanche of unintended consequences: costs, crime and corruption.


21 posted on 01/23/2012 10:06:50 AM PST by Buchal ("Two wings of the same bird of prey . . .")
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To: headstamp 2

Meanwhile, it has now become impossible to get the only over-the-counter medicine that actually helped my sinus condition.


22 posted on 01/23/2012 10:20:11 AM PST by madprof98 ("moritur et ridet" - salvianus)
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To: Buchal
Yet another cost of the drug war. Churches and families can protect against drug use; governments can’t. All they do is create an avalanche of unintended consequences: costs, crime and corruption.

In the libertarian delusional utopia all drugs are legal and everyone will live happily ever after. Drugs like meth and krokodil are extremely addictive after the first use. It turns users into psychopaths who will do anything, and I mean anything, to get their next hit. So don't be surprised when you are leaving your cocaine and ecstasy fueled orgy at 2 a.m. that you are mugged and killed by a meth addict. Do you know how to create a libertarian? Take a conservative and remove all common sense.

23 posted on 01/23/2012 10:24:54 AM PST by SVTCobra03 (You can never have enough friends, horsepower or ammunition.)
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To: Mount Athos
Attempting to give a damn...
....
.....
......
System error: failed to give a damn.

"Lets mix caustic household chemicals that react vigorously when exposed to air in a flimsy container within inches of our face, just so we can get high, drop out of society, fail at life and die young. What could go wrong?"

24 posted on 01/23/2012 10:34:35 AM PST by jboot
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To: dennisw

Meth isn’t as evil as krokodil. Look it up... eww...


25 posted on 01/23/2012 10:51:33 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: Joe 6-pack

Ah, you beat me to it. Didn’t see your post.


26 posted on 01/23/2012 10:53:58 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: headstamp 2
“The improvised system first emerged several years ago, partly in response to attempts by many states to limit or forbid over-the-counter access to pseudoephedrine. Since then, the shake-and-bake recipe has spread to become the method of choice.”

Looks like The War On The Bill of Rights Some Drugs is having Unintended Consequences....

27 posted on 01/23/2012 10:57:09 AM PST by kiryandil (turning Americans into felons, one obnoxious drunk at a time (Zero Tolerance!!!))
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To: goseminoles

So we make drugs legal in the US.

More people start using the drugs , but they start seekin a higher level of high. Sothey start cooking these things in their kitchens. They add a littls gasoline sone paint thinner. maybe even a little propane.

Bathtub gin during prohibition was nothing compared thi this stuff, and if we m,ake drugs legal they can go buy the fixin’s right over the counter.

Another argument against legal drugs. Legalising drugs is stupid.


28 posted on 01/23/2012 11:06:55 AM PST by Venturer
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To: Joe 6-pack

Horrifying.


29 posted on 01/23/2012 11:09:05 AM PST by livius
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To: SVTCobra03
Do you know how to create a libertarian? Take a conservative and remove all common sense.

A libertarian is a liberal who wants a tax cut

30 posted on 01/23/2012 11:10:27 AM PST by dennisw (A nation of sheep breeds a government of Democrat wolves!)
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To: goseminoles

krokodil is as evil as meth...I hope it never makes its way to America. So far only Russians make and consume it.


31 posted on 01/23/2012 11:12:10 AM PST by dennisw (A nation of sheep breeds a government of Democrat wolves!)
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To: Mount Athos

Darwin often works in strange and mysterious ways.

But the butt-hurt libertarian haters have certainly swarmed out of the woodwork for this article...


32 posted on 01/23/2012 11:20:11 AM PST by The Electrician ("Government is the only enterprise in the world which expands in size when its failures increase.")
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To: goseminoles
Lousy reporting. How hard is it to include actual data? or at least links to real data?

According to this, the Meth heaviest-use states do not agree with the article.
Oregon #1, Hawaii #2...

Text tabulation by State

With a link to the map version.

33 posted on 01/23/2012 11:28:31 AM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: Publius6961

Im on a phone. Im not so savvy.


34 posted on 01/23/2012 11:40:42 AM PST by goseminoles
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To: goseminoles
Im on a phone. Im not so savvy.

Sorry. I was not referring to your thread.
I was referring to the AP story.

35 posted on 01/23/2012 11:43:19 AM PST by Publius6961 (My world was lovely, until it was taken over by parasites.)
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To: dennisw

It will get here eventually. Nasty stuff, but there’s no shortage of people here that will go for it.


36 posted on 01/23/2012 11:45:55 AM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: SVTCobra03
Drugs like meth and krokodil are extremely addictive after the first use

I had an acquaintance in college ("friend" is too strong a word, he was the roommate of a drinking buddy of mine) who was absolutely fearless. He tried anything, including just about every illegal substance known to man.

He once told us that "Crack" was the only drug that scared him, and that he'd never do it again. Said that he was high before he exhaled the smoke.

I've occasionally wondered if 1) He's still alive and 2) What he'd think of Meth and today's other drugs that make Crack look quaint and anachronistic.

I think that those who advocate for drug legalization equate today's drug use with a couple of joints of 60's Panama Red. Sez me, it sounds like the difference between shooting a bullet, and throwing it.

37 posted on 01/23/2012 12:30:45 PM PST by wbill
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38 posted on 01/23/2012 1:27:52 PM PST by TheOldLady (FReepmail me to get ON or OFF the ZOT LIGHTNING ping list)
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To: SVTCobra03

If all drugs are legal, everyone will not live happily ever after. Many people will kill themselves with drugs, perhaps even more than now. And gradually the addiction gene, if any, may diminish in the gene pool.

The one thing that will happen for sure is that drugs will be cheaper; there is no reason they should cost more than over-the-counter medications. And common sense tells me that is going to lead to less crime. You can argue that increased usage will offset this to some extent, but I am convinced that the net effect on crime can only be positive.


39 posted on 01/25/2012 5:27:30 PM PST by Buchal ("Two wings of the same bird of prey . . .")
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