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Hard drugs on the NHS
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Surprised no-one has brought this up, unless it's mentioned in the Drugs Forum ( 
), but did anyone see this story.
What do you think?
), but did anyone see this story.What do you think?
0
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Incidentally, where would the NHS buy the Heroine from?
Grow their own I guess. I hear that there are some new farms opening in Afghanistan
More to the point though, where will they get the money from?
Secure the warlords compliance to ship cheap heroine to the UK!
Scandal and conspiracy and Clare Short!
Is Heoine actually very expensive? Given the potential savings from reduced crime it might be a good deal financially.....
But there are big problems with a plan like this.
1) You cant smoke pure diamorphine, therefore if someone comes to a doctor with a smoking heroin habit your forcing them to change to needles, thus almost certainly making the addiction worse.
2) A cocaine habit is unending, giving cocaine users supply is just plain NUTS, they will just snort everything that you give them and always want more. They will probably be aggressive and soon their heart will just burst.
Plus would it not be better to put the money into treatment centers and such, just giving out drugs isnt going to solve the problem.
Personally I have NO respect what so ever for Claire Short given her stupid dithering over the war.
BUT ...bong brings up an interesting problem in that you cannot smoke white heroin ...b.p. standard heroin that is.
there are hundreds of tons of perfectly legal opium imported into the uk for the manufacture of morphine codiene etc so supply is not a problem.
there is an alternative to clare shorts idea and that is ...leave things as they are ...an ever growing problem, rising crime, disease etc. illegal hasn't worked for the last thirty years so why do you think it will do any good to carry on down that road?
addicts work in the nhs, the police, the social services etc ...as long as their supplty is there it doesn't impact on theirs or your life. if it's illegal then it impacts massively on society as a whole.
addicts are not dirty cabbages sat in a corner plotting their next crime believe it or not ...though some are becuase of the stupid laws that exist.
At least she understands that addiction is a medical condition.
The NHS, IMHO, should get involved. The proviso I give is that it has to be linked with a "weaning off" approach. If that is to happen then I would gladly see the NHS supporting drug addiction in the same way that we look after smokers and alcoholics.
BTW Do you have any idea of how much it already costs the NHS to deal with the implications of drug addiction?
For every one pound put into treatment two pounds is saved in crime, so even if you dont like the idea of addicts getting given 'free' drugs, it is the cheaper option.
I think a move towards totally decriminalising drug users of any kind and treating it in a far more medical way would do a lot of good.
People using heroin and crack are escaping, you have to try and treat what they are escaping from. Other wise the problem will not get solved.
Yep, just recently
Yes.
Also from what morroccan and bongbudda were saying, not only would it help improve people's lives, it should have economic advantages, too.
We just have to accept that some people are going to use them and try to reduce the harm as much as possible. And this doesnt mean handing them out left right and center, or going 'soft' on the ones that are dangerous. Despite what the Mail and Expess will tell you.
You're not going to justify that are you?
I dont need to justify it do I ?
MOK asked what we thought, I said I think it stinks ?
the model that most drug services use these days is the bio-psycho-social model, which encompasses the medical model. This means basically that there are 3 components to addiction, biological (or medical), psychological (i.e. users state of mind/emotion) and the social context in which the drug use is taking place.
Clean unadulterated heroin on the NHS would remove a lot of the disease and crime associated with heroin use, most professionals working in drug counselling and rehab agree. In fact heroin is not that harmful to the body (certainly less so than alcohol and tobacco), its prohibition that causes most of the problems.
why do you think it stinks?
Ok for a couple of reasons.
1) any medication I need I dont get free, even if its antibiotics I still have to pay for a prescription. Now im presuming the drugs would be as they say 'free' so why is that right that if I have a medical condition and I need medication I have to pay and drug users get them free?
2) Alcoholics need drink just like a drug user needs drugs. so should alcohol be given to alcoholics to feed their habit? Cigarette smokers are addicted to nicotine does that mean they get cigarettes to feed their habit?
3) Drug users get a lot more help than most people. Why should they get more help and why should anyone feed their habit ? If they want to come off drugs then yes give them help to quit but dont give them drugs. They need to tackle the root problem not feed them drugs.
2) alcohol and tobacco are both legal. They are very easily available, users don't usually steal or commit other crimes to feed their habits. They are also not cut with possibly dangerous contaminants and the dose is known. Not the case with heroin, due to prohibition.
3) they get a lot of help because they need it. Most people with chaotic drug problems have mental health problems or have suffered some form of abuse in their lives. A maintenance dose of heroin would stabilise a lot of users and prevent them comitting crime to feed their habits, it would also keep them healthier. The cost of providing this would be far outweighed by the saving in the reduction of crime, burden on the NHS etc.
But yes, I would expect users would be asked to address the underlying issues of their using. A heroin scrip could be used in conjunction with counselling and a reduction programme. But even if it wasn't, it would still society a lot of money and heartache.
Alcoholics and smokers very rarely, if ever, turn to crime to feed their habit.
Alcohol and smoking yes they are very easy to get hold of but still very addictive, especially cigarettes. Lets look at people on low income who feed their habit before they feed their children ? People who smoke or alcoholics who can and do some types of crime. What about the shoplifter, the alcoholic who needs a drink so he turns to thieving ? It may not be as serious as some crimes that drug users do but its an ever increasing crime. People who smoke also need that next fix of a cigarette so if they dont have money where are they going to get the money for a cigarette ?
I think there should be a lot more help for any person suffering from something like addiction to anything. Drug users do tend to get a lot more help when in reality quitting smoking can be as bad as quitting drugs. I dont begrudge anyone help but I think its unfair that one group of people get a damn sight more help than any one else.
Thats true, but you'll find most heroin addicts who do actually NEED the drug, not just want it, will steal if they don't have sufficient funds to pay for it. And lets face it, we don't always have enough money to do whatever we want with it, it's just the addicts will turn to crime in desperation.
And then theres the unemployed addicts...
What about the national stop-smoking campaigns? Free nicotine plaster trials? Stop-smoking phone lines?
Here they even have a specialist at every pharmacy to help out making plans for people who want to stop smoking.
Cigarettes are legal and therefore get a lot of attention. Smokers get supportive attention. The attention drug users get is negative.
Its the same with a smoker, when you have smoked for many years to actually quit is very hard. Im lucky I have been able to fund the cigarettes, but what if I wasnt so lucky ? or the smoker who is on benefit and robs Peter to pay Paul so they can buy cigarettes, or the person who is unemployed and gets a provident loan with interest rates that are disgraceful just so they can have money to buy fags ?
See it does happen and im talking from the good knowledge from a firend of mine who actually did just that, but Provident loaned her £100 and I beleive she had to pay back £140 and that was about 3/4 years ago. She had no money, no fags so went and got a loan.
Any person who is addicted to something must want to pack in, so it does not matter how many things like no smoking campaigns there are if the smoker is not ready to quit they wont.
Ive never had free nicotine plasters so cant comment, I didnt even know you could get them free.
Id disagree about the help drug users get, there is help out there but its the same with anything it wont come to you, you have to go and get help.
Of course not. Never have I claimed so either.
But fact is that it is cheaper and more accesible to stop a smoking habbit than a drug one.