I know this question is odd, but unfortunately we have a lot of unhoused addicted people in my city. I often see them sitting on a bench bent at the waist in half like a rag doll, or standing somewhere half bent over, like stooped over nodding out I guess? I don’t really know anything about substance use, but it’s such a strange sight, what substances cause them to bend over like this?
Poor souls. The mayors of big cities here have asked the provincial government to declare a state of emergency due to homelessness and addiction being so rampant, but Doug Ford doesn’t give a shit about them.
I’m actually pretty pissed off that people are trying to take fentanyl off the market completely. It needs to be a highly controlled substance but to take it away from the burn ICUs and hospice units is wildly inhumane.
Agree 100%. In a controlled setting it is a highly effective drug and a legitimate advancement for healthcare.
The supply of fentanyl out there isn’t coming from legitimate use. It’s all from overseas labs. So taking the legal stuff off the market would be a mistake.
Honestly, in my opinion, even the “illegal” use should be legal. I’m not a drug addict (besides caffeine), but I have a very progressive opinion of drugs. People are going to use them whether it’s legal or not. All that making it illegal does is pushes it into the shadows. Instead we should be providing education and testing, and helping people who choose (or have gotten stuck) using the drug to use it safely.
Fentanyl isn’t evil. It’s just a particularly strong opiate. It has the potential to at least be a cheaper option for people using opiates to self medicate, and, at least with testing kits, they could get whatever fix they want more safely. The biggest issue with fentanyl is that other drugs are laced with it, and you don’t know what, or how much, you’re getting.
Yah NIMBYs really don’t seem to understand that their neighborhood almost definitely already has a safe consumption site for one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs known to man. While opiate withdrawl can have fatal side effects, withdrawal from this drug can actually kill a person outright with nervous system dysfunction and continuous seizures until the person suffocates. And these locations actually distribute the drug in addition to supervising it’s use. We call them “bars.”
Do you think it should still be legal if it were proven that repeated use causes irreparable brain or body damage? I know one can make the same argument against other legal drugs, sure. But the Fentanyl family of opiates are just so powerful and so easily severely damaging. I see people that have abused long term and its pretty obvious they will never be functional again even if they get clean. At what point does individual freedom to damage one’s body or mind become too destructive to society as a whole? What would happen if everybody did it? What happens when the addicted wants more than their legally allowed dosage? Now we’re back to square 1 with illegal markets. It’s a super complex and tough issue for sure and I’m not saying I have any answers, but it really makes me question if there is a safe way for society to sustainably recreationally use Fentanyl. It’s just such a slippery slope.
Yeah, I think it should still be legal. I don’t think the government should be given the responsibility (and authority) to be people’s doctors. We need laws that prevent you from doing harm to others, like DUI laws, but them determining if it’ll harm yourself? I don’t think that should be for them to decide. If we do that then you end up with Puritans saying something like “clouding your mind is causing harm to yourself” or something like that and it’s all illegal.
Not everyone is going to do it. That’s a slippery slope fallacy. Regardless, it’s going to be done anyway. Making it illegal only pushes it underground and makes it more dangerous. I’d rather it be done openly where people can make informed decisions and not feel endangered by asking for help.