‘Illegal’ Means Nothing to Addicts

New ban on fentanyl from China won’t work if core issues aren’t addressed

http://www.lifezette.com/healthzette/illegal-means-nothing-addicts/

I am beginning to believe that not the first person in any State/Fed bureaucracy has never taken the first course in Economics and/or they were not paying attention… Basic Economic law is the law of supply and demand… All these bureaucratic morons keep trying to tackle the supply part of that economic equation… which means that – even if somewhat successful – all they will do is drive up the price of  illegal opiates and do nothing about the demand for those illegal opiates… So those that are addicted to abusing opiates will have to find more dollars to keep from going into withdrawal with they call “dope sick”… which .. generally means that they are going to have to commit more crimes to get those funds to buy those illegal opiates. Since more are getting illegal synthetic opiates of various potency… and many are unintentionally ODing..  They are basically “circling the drain” and the simplest solution is to legalize/decriminalize all opiates and allow prescribers to legally treat/maintain those who are addicted..  You basically eliminate the “demand” and thus those creating the illegal supply… HAS NO CUSTOMERS.  Recently on one of the Louisville KY TV news .. a reporter quoted that abt 1/3 of the inmates in the Louisville/Jefferson county jail ( 1800 beds) have required DETOX. At a average cost of $5000/month for each inmate… isn’t that expensive mental health treatment ?

A ban set to take effect March 1 on the manufacture and sale of four different variations of fentanyl from China is being called “a game changer” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Not everyone is so sure.

It’s that easy.

The ban follows six months of talks between the U.S. and Chinese governments as well as the establishment of a new DEA office in China. The department announced the opening of the new office in the city of Guangzhou in January, adding it will most likely be staffed with two special agents pending final approvals.

“Sending two agents to China, a country with over 1.3 billion people, is like trying to empty the Atlantic Ocean with a tablespoon,” said one addiction specialist.

“My initial reaction is it makes for a nice press release but does little to solve the problem,” said Brian McAlister, founder and CEO of Full Recovery Wellness Center in Fairfield, New Jersey.

The ban may be a good step and could have some impact on illegal imports to the U.S. — China is the main supplier of fentanyl to our country. Agents on the ground could help, too. It’s been over a decade since anyone from the DEA has coordinated a crackdown on illegal trafficking efforts out of China.

But like any drug facing a crackdown, new drugs and the labs to support them are popping up all the time.

“Sending two agents to China, a country with over 1.3 billion people, is like trying to empty the Atlantic Ocean with a tablespoon,” said McAlister. “While it is good that both countries acknowledge the problem exists, unless we are willing to commit the money and personnel needed to make an impact, nothing will change.”

Drug overdose rates have reached epidemic proportions in the U.S., McAlister told LifeZette, and substance abuse disorder is listed by the American Medical Association as a chronic and potentially terminal disease.

“If any other disease was killing our children, ravaging our families and costing American society $660 billion dollars a year — a statistic provided by Joseph Califano, former secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare — and the government’s solution was to appoint two agents to stem the tide, heads would roll,” said McAlister. “The citizens of the United States need to demand action. We need to stop doing ‘more’ of what is obviously not working. The war on drugs has been a miserable failure.”

“This new government program between the U.S. and China may make people feel good for a few minutes, but is certainly not an effective way of combating the plague of addiction,” he added.

Related: Foster System Flooded with Orphans of Addiction

Better education at an earlier age needs to happen in the U.S., said McAlister. He and others call addiction a physical, emotional, and spiritual disease. More treatment programs and centers are desperately needed to address addiction issues.

Wisconsin just introduced legislation that will provide a total of $9 million to expand that state’s treatment alternatives and diversion (TAD) program, which offers alternatives to prison sentences for criminals with substance abuse problems. An additional $1.3 million in grants to counties would expand drug courts, allowing offenders to go through treatment as a means of reducing or avoiding a criminal conviction — and other states are looking to do the same.

In New Hampshire, a bill would double what the state is spending on treatment. In Staten Island, New York, a pilot program that just launched would allow for low-level possession offenders to be placed in a treatment program versus jail and multiple court appearances.

Related: High-Potency Pot Doubles Risk of Dependency

All are moves in the right direction — but education is key and must start at home.

“If parents wait until children are in junior high school to start driving home the importance of not trying the first drink or drug, then the moment has passed,” said McAlister. “It is much better to stop addiction before it starts. Think about the reaction parents have when they find out the school their child attends has asbestos. They publicly protest, keep children home, make so much noise that action is taken. Substance misuse is far more dangerous and deadly than practically any other challenge we face as a society. Parents need to take the same proactive stance with drug use in the schools as they do with asbestos. Until we say no more, and mean it, nothing will change.”

Filed under: General Problems