Anthrax Contaminated Heroin Hits Scotland

[looseliam]

Sadly, I doubt this will have an effect on anyone who uses.

 

[Lukeee]

If they die whilst breaking the law it is their own fault. I don't see why you think this is sad. Maybe I'm just a horrible person?

Edit: I do feel sorry for the people who love those drug users. I can understand that. I don't care about the drug users dieing though. They knew the risks when they started taking the drugs.

 

[swerve]

That is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!!

I don't use heroin -- but, if I did, I'd be SHOCKED (momentarily) to find that it was laced with anthrax...

I HOPE the authorities treat this at the SAME LEVEL of TERRORISM as when our lawmakers received letters with "white powder"...

But -- SADLY, I doubt it...

 

[frankfrank]

This is every bit as "terrorism" as the 2001 anthrax attacks in Washington D. C., Maryland and Florida were.

Because it's affecting drug users doesn't really change anything. What if instead the anthrax was targeting gays, who are also considered (by some) to be undesireables?

 

[swerve]

I just finished reading a book called "Methland" about the meth problems in rural America...

SADLY, our society sees people that are addicted to drugs as LESS than people -- RATHER than looking at the societal/economic/etc/etc pressures that induce people to start using the addictive substances in the first place...

Its REALLY SAD to see the same sentiment here on JUB...

 

[sabot3ur]

Its REALLY SAD to see the same sentiment here on JUB...

well everyone loves having something they can feel superior over others about. so you don't do heroin, awesome. great. good for you.

addicts usually aren't the most endearing people but anyone can see that this is disgusting.

 

[sabot3ur]

I wasnt saying that about swerve lol, it was about others. I understood him

 

[scrapple]

On the list of priorities, this has to rank about 2, 608. They're breaking the law. Who gives a shit?

 

[Nomenclature]

Addictions are a little more complicated than "users are stupid" cgymike. For most addicts they're caught in the grip of something much stronger than they are.

Not to mention that opiates are the strongest addiction on the planet. Will power alone is just about useless once you're an addict. Even if you go through rehab and stay clean for years, you will wind up using it again if it's available to you. . .even if it might have anthrax in it.

That's why i've always been smart enough to see what the drug does to people, but I genuinely feel sorry for people are addicts.

 

[freefall]

Strange thought that the government will take advantage of this issue instead of eradicating it.

 

[Joshua_me]

The point is anthrax or heroin it will kill more or less. It's poison - a toxic substance.

Actually, heroin isn't "poison".

Medically speaking, it's one of the safest drugs one can do. Opiates are everywhere, from poppy seeds to Oxycontin.

Theoretically, if heroin was administered correctly, that is- in the proper dose with a clean needle, people could live to a ripe old age on the stuff. They'd be addicts, yes, but heroin does little harm to the body.

The trouble comes from the misuse of the drug, and of course the fact that it's illegal and expensive. The illegality and expense of the drug leads to all sorts of problems, from dirty needles, incarceration and poverty.

People overdose, get HIV from shared needles and are forced into a life of crime and homelessness. This is NOT the result of the drug itself, but rather the society that surrounds it.

 

[spooger]

infected heroin shooters hole up in crack houses & shooting galleries .... become the cesspool of anthrax ... coughed and sneezed and bled into the air and on our streets and public toilets ....

infecting and crippling entire large cities that already exist "on the edge" ... underground dwellers, street walkers, sex merchants, over-strained infrastructure .... 1 or 2 million dead or infected in LA .... twice that in crowded nyc ...

the "anthrax flu" as it becomes known spreads across the planet, borne on the breath and blood of the unclean ... infecting the gullible and vulnerable ... THE END

 

[freefall]

Actually, heroin isn't "poison".

Medically speaking, it's one of the safest drugs one can do. Opiates are everywhere, from poppy seeds to Oxycontin.

Theoretically, if heroin was administered correctly, that is- in the proper dose with a clean needle, people could live to a ripe old age on the stuff. They'd be addicts, yes, but heroin does little harm to the body.

The trouble comes from the misuse of the drug, and of course the fact that it's illegal and expensive. The illegality and expense of the drug leads to all sorts of problems, from dirty needles, incarceration and poverty.

People overdose, get HIV from shared needles and are forced into a life of crime and homelessness. This is NOT the result of the drug itself, but rather the society that surrounds it.

Unfortunately, this is not precisely correct. On chronic usage, the body slowly adapts to the opiates, making them immune to the effect previously produced by the dose. When this happens, a higher dose is needed to show up the same effect. Hence the dose will keep on rising, even beyond the safe dose---most chronic drug users consumes heroins on a dose which instantly kills a healthy person who doesn't have any addiction.

On a very high level, heroin causes severe heart and respiratory arrest which leads into coma and death. Of course HIV and the society, unmistakably, plays a greater role in the morbidity rate. However, looking at the side effects of drug abuse (in this case, heroin), the drug is also among the ones contributing, either directly from its negative effects, or indirectly by influencing the life of the user.

 

[Knucklehead]

I think it's pretty fucked up.No doubt,it was the same kind of people I've noticed in this thread.The people that say the junkies are less than human,they broke the law so they deserve to die...

Being someone who is a recovered IV drug user myself,and someone who has a heroin addicted brother I am somewhat familiar with heroinm and the grip it has on people once they are ADDICTED.I wish stomach cancer on each and everyone of the self rightous scumbags that said the junkies deserve it,''because they broke the law.''

Nobody deserves that.Lest of all someone who is maintaining an addiction to keep from going into agonizing withdrawal pains.

 

[frankfrank]

Strange thought that the government will take advantage of this issue instead of eradicating it.

It's not called the CIA (Contraband Importing Agency) for nothing.

They make tons of money off of it...

 

[seven2go]

Not to mention that opiates are the strongest addiction on the planet.

Not necessarily: http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/hening.html

What if cigarettes were to be anthrax laced?
All smokers should die too?

 

[Lukeee]

are forced into a life of crime and homelessness.

What? They know it is addictive before they take it. They know they are going to have to pay for it. How did they think they were going to pay for it?

What if cigarettes were to be anthrax laced?
All smokers should die too?

If cigarettes were laced with anthrax they would. But that isn't going to happen. Cigarettes are legal. There are restrictions on what can go into them. People who choose to take heroin know it is illegal and know that there is no way for them to be sure it is going to be 'safe'. They know there is a risk that there could be something worse mixed in and they choose to take that risk. It is okay to say they are addicted and can't make those choices but they weren't addicted when they first started.

I really hope this story scares someone away from starting to use heroin. I think the side effects of the drugs alone are scary enough. I don't understand why people take them at all.

 

[pixie77]

I feel sad for any human sentient being who is suffering.

Matter, we are all in this together. People whose lives are destroyed by addiction aren't able to contribute to their full potential. That's a loss to everyone, including you.
And it means higher taxes for everyone and fewer services available to everyone.

I was hoping there would be a post with some compasion in this thread.

I cannot believe some of the other heartless posts here

 

[Lukeee]

People don't think they will become addicted. They think their will will be strong enough for them to cheat addiction.
Consider alcohol. Some people use it and become alcoholics. Others can use it without losing control. Many heroin addicts (and cigarette addicts) try the drug thinking they will be able to use it like other people use alcohol.

Why do they think that? Are they fucked up in the head? Dropped when they were a baby? Shitty parents? Crap education?
Anyone can see how many people are addicted to drugs and cigarettes. Everyone hears the stories and sees it in the news and around them everyday.
What makes them think they will be different?

 

[Lukeee]

Human nature. A sense of invincibility in the young.
One of the reasons teen pregnancy rates and teen car crash rates are so high.

How come it doesn't happen to all young people then?