a little perspective on drug relayed deaths
In 2014, opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths — 61% of all US drug overdose deaths — and 10,574 were related to heroin
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the inspector general in 2008 reported 180,000 deaths by medical error among Medicare patients alone.
An estimated 88,0008 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women8) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States
Most people have to fix their mistakes, doctors just bury theirs.
a little perspective on drug relayed deaths In 2014, opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths — 61% of all US drug overdose deaths — and 10,574 were related to heroin The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the inspector general in 2008 reported 180,000 deaths by medical error among Medicare patients alone. An estimated 88,0008 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women8) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States
Excellent perspective. The government must never let a crisis go to waste.
It takes significant effort—or gross stupidity—to "accidentally" overdose on legal (prescription) opiates, since the patient knows exactly what they're getting.
A yuge number of opiate OD's occur due to the unpredictable potency which occurs when they are purchased on the black market—which happens when they can't be obtained through a doctor.
The fact remains that there are many people who enjoy a significantly improved quality of life through legitimate, moderate pain management—and those people don't deserve to be treated like criminals just because there are idiots out there. And they do deserve whatever increased quality of life they can achieve by using this medicine.
I know someone who has ten pins and a plate in his surgically reconstructed ankle and two more in his knee, and taking opiates represents the difference between being able to walk, move around, and lead a relatively normal life, versus being a bed-ridden invalid who wastes away due from inactivity. I've never seen this person semi-conscious and drooling on himself like some stupid, selfish junkie—and therefore he shouldn't be treated like one.
In any event, accidental deaths could be greatly reduced if everything was decriminalized—for obvious reasons. Then, society could concern itself with rehabilitation, because draconian contraband law is certainly no solution. We've seen the legacy of failure associated with traditional, authoritarian Prohibition—which is the only thing worse than decriminalization...