50 Heroin Overdoses In 2 Days In Cinci

[Belsnickel]

(08-29-2016, 02:41 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: http://m.wlwt.com/news/what-happens-after-first-responders-save-heroin-users-from-overdoses/32605024

Its not that they are not talking to police. Its that police arent even there. And paramedics cant arrest someone.

If we're talking about OD incidents, then I get what you were saying. I am talking about drug abuse overall. But it is interesting that police aren't showing up to those calls. I'd be interesting to really get into the why of that.

(08-29-2016, 02:41 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Its crime and punishment. From my understanding there are places you can go and seek help without fear of arrest. Cops arent the ones you need to talk to if you seek treatment. Prison doesnt need to be a rehab center. It needs to be viewed as punishment. You screwed up. You got caught breaking the law now accept your punishment. 

And this is why, to me, use of drugs should be decriminalized. A lot of people are ill-informed about this stuff and even though there are places they can go to get help and not face punishment, they are under the impression they still will. I don't want prison to be a rehab center for drug addicts, bu tI want us to be more accepting of the idea that addicts don't need prison, they need rehab and often therapy.

(08-29-2016, 02:41 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Isnt there some psychology involved here? Negative outcomes lead to different decisions. Positive reinforcement leads to repeat behavior. Oh you made a fatal mistake... Well here we will bring you back to life , give you a clean needle for next time, and you can even go to this cool little room and shoot up so if you OD we will be right there to save you. And please have no fear of being punished. But hey drugs are bad. 

Except that is not at all what I am advocating. Rehab is a long, difficult journey that really never ends. Getting an addict on that road is not positive reinforcement in any sense. If anything rehab, especially forced rehab, could still be considered positive punishment (negative reinforcement is something else) because of the loss of liberty that would still exist. It would just be a more productive system than locking them up and giving them no support structure to actually break their addiction.

Addiction is as much mental as physical. When you incarcerate someone you can (potentially) break the physical dependency. Not always the case as drugs do find their way into our prisons. But the mental addiction is not being treated, and in fact may be made worse due to the incarceration.