The recent death of Prince and a rash of overdoses in the NE have brought opiate addiction to the foreground again. I say again because this is a periodic plague in this country. In the 1940s, heroin was a big problem but, to be very blunt, not many people cared because it mostly affected the black ghettos. Sorry, but we were even more racist then than now.
Heroin made a big comeback in the 70s. It was cheap and a lot of folks I knew were trying to come down from the hangover left by the acid days. That was a bad plan. Now, we are swamped with high quality heroin from Afghanistan. Odd, the Taliban had stopped opium growing, then, when we invaded they started again to finance the war. Even more odd is the fact that some of our allies there are opium smugglers and now we have a glut of junk. Of course, I am being sarcastic. The American CIA has a long history of drug smuggling, from Vietnam to Columbia and now to Afghanistan.
The timing is obvious. The pharmaceutical companies flooded the market with Oxycodone, which was said to be non-addictive. Of course, it turned out to be horribly addictive, supplies got cut off as doctors put away their prescription pads, and folks everywhere discovered that they had to feed the monkey on their back. And, right on time, cheap heroin shows up and suddenly you have Moms and Dads, even Grandmas and Grandpas, nice middle class folks, out scoring smack.
But, that aside, what of the drugs? Well, they have medical use. They are the only really effective pain killers. Anti-inflammatories work by easing inflammation which, to a degree, eases pain. Opiates kill pain. And that is the problem. They work better than anything else and they are highly addictive. For those suffering chronic pain, I empathize, having been through bouts of that myself. I have no answers except to say, avoid opiates as much as possible. Sorry, that's not much help, but it's all I have.
Then there are 'recreational users' although what's so much fun about sleeping is beyond me. That is really all you do when high on opiates, doze. However, there is a less obvious effect, well 2 really. One, seldom mentioned is the rush of warm pleasure that flood the body when the drug hits. It really is an amazing rush and it is over quickly, so, using for that reason is idiotic. Then, after the rush, you feel wonderful in an odd way. When you are awake enough to notice, you feel like you are in a warm, little cocoon. safe and completely unattached to the world and its woes. You are completely at ease and I understand the attraction of that, but, again, the feeling is short lived.
Opiates come in many forms, but there are 3 basics. First, opium; usually smoked, not easy to get, and relatively mild. Second, codeine, one component of opium; I never found it to be that great as a pain killer, but, short of terminal illness, it's about all a doctor will give you. It always made me cranky and constipated (a side effect of all opiates). Third, morphine and its derivatives; the other component of opium, it is vastly superior to codeine as an analgesic and much more pleasurable. All 3 have this in common, they are powerfully addictive and withdrawal is nightmarish. I have been with friends who were withdrawing and it is brutal. They all agree that if you imagine the worse case of flu you ever had and multiply by about 10, that is what withdrawal is like.
If you have to take opiates for any medical reason, be very careful. Keep the doses minimal and get off the drug as soon as you can. If you take opiates recreationally, you are an utter fool and you need to get yourself into rehab ASAP.
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