Flesh eating drug ("krokodil") makes appearance in Joliet, Ill.

[aligncare]

You jump to conclusions. Personally, I have never said anything about legalizing any substance. I have always maintained substances should be decriminalized, and abuse handled by medical professionals—not the criminal justice system. Also, I don't think anyone wants to see heroin sold in Walgreens, except maybe the addict.

[aligncare]

I don't think you should legalize deadly drugs.  I don't see anything wrong with responsible people using recreational drugs. 

The biggest thing that I think should be done, is to examine why our society has so many people willing to risk their health or their life just to get high.  If we can "fix" what is wrong in our society, then I don't think we would see the drug problem we're seeing now.  It's our society that is sick - addicted to the drugs of dependence, the easy-way-out, short term thinking, lack of accountability - and no spiritual core to keep us strong.

Exactly. Attack the cause–not the symptom. All I've ever said is treatment, rather than punishment, is better for the individual and for society both in the short and long term.

[Liberal_Spy]

You jump to conclusions. Personally, I have never said anything about legalizing any substance. I have always maintained substances should be decriminalized, and abuse handled by medical professionals—not the criminal justice system. Also, I don't think anyone wants to see heroin sold in Walgreens, except maybe the addict.

You can buy drugs at Walgreens that are just as bad as long as you have permission from a doctor.

[EC]

You can buy drugs at Walgreens that are just as bad as long as you have permission from a doctor.

Just a very quick heads up - I think a medical professional (AC in this case) knows that 

[Oceander]

You jump to conclusions. Personally, I have never said anything about legalizing any substance. I have always maintained substances should be decriminalized, and abuse handled by medical professionals—not the criminal justice system. Also, I don't think anyone wants to see heroin sold in Walgreens, except maybe the addict.

[olde north church]

As a side note, while recuperating from my medical issue last year, they treated me with morphine.  I'm allergic, drop dead allergic, to aspirin and other NSAIDS.  I asked the nurse about becoming addicted to morphine, with visions of ancient oriental men tossing opium into open sores on their legs to feed their addiction. 
She said you don't become addicted to morphine, you would become addicted to laudanum.

[Lipstick on a Hillary]

You CAN become addicted to morphine of course, but doctors don't worry about it all that much when its being used to treat pain from an acute illness or injury. 

[truth_seeker]

One more thought.

How many of the law and order conservatives here think that we should have arrested Rush Limbaugh because he abused hydrocodone?

Now, how many of the law and order conservatives here think we should arrest that black teenager in the inner city who is taking and selling hydrocodone?

I hope your response is not *crickets*

Taking and selling are different. Hydrocodone is heroin in pill form.

Rush=Taking without prescription, mandatory rehab & public service.

Teenager=Taking and selling, rehab for taking, prison for selling.

[SouthTexas]

One more thought.

How many of the law and order conservatives here think that we should have arrested Rush Limbaugh because he abused hydrocodone?

Now, how many of the law and order conservatives here think we should arrest that black teenager in the inner city who is taking and selling hydrocodone?

I hope your response is not *crickets*

The law should be equally applicable to all, catch is, it's not.  Never has been and never will be.  Those with money can buy their way out, regardless of race, creed, or color.   How many in the Hollyweird crowd, not really known for their right wing sensibilities, play the never ending "get out of jail free card" by claiming to go to rehab?  Congressmen that drive into monuments or off of bridges...

The differences in sentencing between crack and  powdered cocaine definitely need to be addressed because there is no difference in the drug, but the comparison between a very well off celebrity and an unknown inner city kid is BS. 

[EC]

I don't think you should legalize deadly drugs.  I don't see anything wrong with responsible people using recreational drugs. 

The biggest thing that I think should be done, is to examine why our society has so many people willing to risk their health or their life just to get high.  If we can "fix" what is wrong in our society, then I don't think we would see the drug problem we're seeing now.  It's our society that is sick - addicted to the drugs of dependence, the easy-way-out, short term thinking, lack of accountability - and no spiritual core to keep us strong.

Spot on, alice! 

I usually approach drug use from the perspective of addiction, due to my own experiences, but most drug use is "just because." Down our local pub there is a steady procession of men going into the gents of an evening to do a line or two of cocaine. If the local dealer doesn't show up, they are fine about it, so they aren't addicted - they are just bored.

[mountaineer]

You can buy drugs at Walgreens that are just as bad as long as you have permission from a doctor.

Just as bad? You do realize that certain drugs are legally prescribed because of their potentially good effects, don't you?
Every Rx drug out there has potential side effects, but medical professionals consider the benefits to outweigh the costs for that particular patient. When we "self prescribe," not so much.

[musiclady]

I don't think you should legalize deadly drugs.  I don't see anything wrong with responsible people using recreational drugs. 

The biggest thing that I think should be done, is to examine why our society has so many people willing to risk their health or their life just to get high.  If we can "fix" what is wrong in our society, then I don't think we would see the drug problem we're seeing now.  It's our society that is sick - addicted to the drugs of dependence, the easy-way-out, short term thinking, lack of accountability - and no spiritual core to keep us strong.

Absolutely agree with that, alice.

Drugs are merely a symptom of society's personal and spiritual problem.

Until that is solved, the drug problem remains.

[musiclady]

You jump to conclusions. Personally, I have never said anything about legalizing any substance. I have always maintained substances should be decriminalized, and abuse handled by medical professionals—not the criminal justice system. Also, I don't think anyone wants to see heroin sold in Walgreens, except maybe the addict.

Sorry.  I misunderstood.

I wasn't sure what you meant by 'you law and order' people.  It sounded like a pejorative to those of us who don't want deadly drugs legalized.  (SOME people do want them to be legal).

[Rapunzel]

To return to the subject of this thread.......

Just in case anyone is thinking about using the new street drug Krokodil, here is what it does to you ALL OVER YOUR BODY!!!

A powerful heroin-like drug that rots flesh and bone has made its first reported appearance in the United States, an Arizona health official says.

Known on the street as "krokodil," the caustic homemade opiate is made from over-the-counter codeine-based headache pills mixed with iodine, gasoline, paint thinner or alcohol. When it's injected, the concoction destroys a user's tissue, turning the skin scaly and green like a crocodile. Festering sores, abscesses and blood poisoning are common.


Frank LoVecchio, the co-medical director at the Banner Good Samaritan Poison & Drug Information Center, told KPHO-TV that Arizona health officials have seen two cases during the past week.

"As far as I know, these are the first cases in the United States that are reported," he said. "So we're extremely frightened."

[Lipstick on a Hillary]

Taking and selling are different. Hydrocodone is heroin in pill form.

Rush=Taking without prescription, mandatory rehab & public service.

Teenager=Taking and selling, rehab for taking, prison for selling.

No it is not derived from heroin, its a derivative of codeine.   The stuff they put in cough syrup.   
Nice shoehorn in of a Rush slam though.

[SouthTexas]

To return to the subject of this thread.......


 

Wow, that may leave a scar!

This makes more sense being in the neighborhood of where injections are made.  Some of the other pics where the people had lesions on their head, made no sense. 

Also seems to be akin to the flesh eating bacteria.

[truth_seeker]

No it is not derived from heroin, its a derivative of codeine.   The stuff they put in cough syrup.   
Nice shoehorn in of a Rush slam though.

The narcotic, prescription pain meds are "spoken about" as heroin in pill form. The meaning is a high, from a socially acceptable, medically prescribed substance, as opposed to the illegal, criminal world of counter-culture heroin.

I'm sorry I was not clear enough about that, for you. As for Rush, there was no slam. I said mandatory rehab & public service.

 

[mountaineer]

Forget Krokodil, Here Are the Real Drug Threats in the U.S. . Caffeine?!? 

[aligncare]

Excellent article, mountaineer. Concise, accurate information; that's one of the primary ways you combat drug abuse. Arrest and incarceration has not worked to stem abuse.

[aligncare]

Alcohol is society's darling—the acceptable intoxicant.

An entire "bar" culture established around libation. Schools that train bartenders, TV segments on best holiday cocktails and cooking with alcohol...

Think I'll finish this on the other thread, "Flesh eating drug ..."

... thousands of books on wine and beer tasting, reverent pilgrimages to Oktoberfest, beer commercials seen by millions of children on Super Bowl day—and a good time was had by all.

We drink to celebrate. We drink to toast occasions: holidays, weddings, births, deaths, christenings, the weekend, a friend stopped by, a raise, a job loss. Oh, look! The sun came up.

[EC]

Some of us drink to deal with life. 

Stupid, yes. Understandable - yes. Normal - sadly.

[aligncare]

So my point is, why do we as a society arrest and incarcerate those who choose different toxicants, some that are arguably safer than the darling intoxicant? I think the answer is ignorance and politics. (Sorry for the redundancy)

[EC]

So my point is, why do we as a society arrest and incarcerate those who choose different toxicants, some that are arguably safer than the darling intoxicant? I think the answer is ignorance and politics. (Sorry for the redundancy)

I can't answer. Most of them I am indifferent to. Two of them - both currently legal - have a terrible effect on me. One merely kills me (nicotine) while the other puts me into the "Not someone you want to introduce to your Mom" section (booze).

[Liberal_Spy]

So my point is, why do we as a society arrest and incarcerate those who choose different toxicants, some that are arguably safer than the darling intoxicant? I think the answer is ignorance and politics. (Sorry for the redundancy)

Gotta have a reason to keep the war on drugs going and pay for turning the police into a domestic military.

[SouthTexas]

Gotta have a reason to keep the war on drugs going and pay for turning the police into a domestic military.

Somewhat now, but that has not always been the case.  Chinese had wars over opium in the 1800s.