Heroin use up dramatically; Low prices, high purity drive `epidemic'

Boston Herald ^ | Dec 18, 2002 | Michael Lasalandra

[MrLeRoy]

Prices are down, which means that supply is up, which means that the War On Heroin is failing. Surprised?

[MrLeRoy]

Wod_list ping

[1L]

Prices are down, which means that supply is up, which means that the War On Heroin is failing.

Maybe. But the two alternatives are no war and legalization, which means much lower prices and more purity. This study shows that would increase dependency. So much for drug legalization wackos thinking.

[AppyPappy]

I guess if murder rates go up, the War on Murder is failing.

The War on My Fat Ass is failing this Christmas. I need to become a soldier in the War of Going To The Gym.

[AppyPappy]

Better yet, make it legal and let the lawyers in the deal. The Tobacco Settlement will be NOTHING compared to the heroin settlement.

[mr.pink]

A bag of heroin now costs only about $4, Mumbauer said.

Cheaper than beer or a joint in many cases.....that's scarey.

[Phantom Lord]

This is a good thing. After all, Drug Czar John Walters recently said that MJ is more dangerous and more of a problem than Heroine. Looks like people are taking his advice and switching from MJ to Heroine.

[Kenton]

I see the harvest from Afghanistan has arrived.

[kidd]

I'm surprised you posted this. This article is a strong argument against unrestricted legallized recreational drug use.

If you're fishing for people who think the WOD is an unquailified success, I don't think you'll get too many bites.

[BlackbirdSST]

The War on My Fat Ass is failing this Christmas. I need to become a soldier in the War of Going To The Gym.Nah! Don't worry about taking the initiative yourself, you'll soon have a gubermint employee making sure your fat ass is dealt with, the very thing you clamor for with more intrusive gubermint. Blackbird.

[MrLeRoy]

the two alternatives are no war and legalization, which means much lower prices and more purity. This study shows that would increase dependency. So much for drug legalization wackos thinking.

Wrong. The reasons for ending the failed War On Some Drugs are that the WOsD leads to the following: deaths of innocents in drug-turf wars; deaths of users due to contaminants and unexpectedly high potencies; enrichment of criminals; and corruption of the justice system by enriched criminals. (Not to mention that it's wrong to imprison people for acts that violate nobody's rights.)

[dirtboy]

But the two alternatives are no war and legalization, which means much lower prices and more purity

Actually, the WOD is largely driving this trend. Pot is bulky and difficult to smuggle, so it costs $100-$300 an ounce, whereas heroin is compact, and the purer you make it, the more money you get for the same volume brought it.

Like all other government endeavors, the law of untintended consequences is at play here - by lumping pot in with hard drugs, the government has made a much less harmful drug (pot) much more expensive than a very dangerous drug (heroin). I hope they're happy...

[MrLeRoy]

This article is a strong argument against unrestricted legallized recreational drug use.

Wrong. The reasons for ending the failed War On Some Drugs are that the WOsD leads to the following: deaths of innocents in drug-turf wars; deaths of users due to contaminants and unexpectedly high potencies; enrichment of criminals; and corruption of the justice system by enriched criminals.

Not to mention that it's wrong to imprison people for acts that violate nobody's rights. Protecting people from their own bad choices is liberal policy, not conservative.

[monkey]

"Heroin deaths are suffocating our society," he said.

Maybe your society.

There are a lot of percentages in this article, but they don't tell much of a story without absolute numbers. Big percentage increases often mean small numbers.

[kidd]

LOL!

Yeah, I'm losing the WOMFA too.

I attribute it to cheap chocolate. A bag of M&Ms costs less than a six pack of beer. And they're cheap and accessible too.

[MrLeRoy]

I guess if murder rates go up, the War on Murder is failing.

Correct. What's your point---to remind us that many murders are caused by the War On Some Drugs? (Dealers in legal drugs like alcohol don't kill each other.)

[AppyPappy]

I AM a government employee (kinda). I work part time at night for the college.

[sneakypete]

Prices are down, which means that supply is up, which means that the War On Heroin is failing. Surprised?

Of course I'm surprised. How can this be? Ain't we spending billions on this War on Drugs every year for over 10 years now? Maybe we should start spending trillions and declare the Constitution null and void,and give hard time in a feral prison to more pot smokers? Yeah,THAT oughta do it,along with giving fighter-bombers to local sheriff's departments and attack helicopters to the state police!

[trebb]

I thought that Klinton had the war on drugs firmly in hand - I guess he had something else firmly in hand )))))))))

[shrinkermd]

"Low prices and increased purity have caused heroin use to skyrocket in Massachusetts, with a new study showing the drug is the No. 1 reason for admissions to treatment programs and hospital detox units as well as overdose deaths"

The Libertarians must be happy. Aren't they the ones who always tell us the way to go is to legalize, make it cheap and avoid all those prisons?