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I91 and heroine addiction

gladerider

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was watching anthony bourdain on cnn last nite. in the episode he was interviewing some folks in MA and NH about the seriousness of heroine addiction along I91. they were saying the problem is very serious. they specifically pointed out the middle class towns along I91, i was some what shocked. is this true?
 

deadheadskier

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Its a problem everywhere. Portsmouth NH is an upper class near us, I think there has been 3 overdose deaths in the last two months alone.

I blame doctors. Too many scripts for opiate based pain killers resulting in people getting hooked.
 

snoseek

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Also, 495. It all starts from meds, pills and as it gets expensive moves to powder. I'm in F&B and deal with this shit constantly....heroine is huge in the Northeast. Rural northern Me,nh, and VT are no exception. Out here im told coke is making a strong comeback, was lots floating around last winter for sure.

Throw your meds out after needed.
 

thetrailboss

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In a word, Yep.

Real epidemic in Vermont. I think it is a symptom of other problems though.
 

octopus

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i was born and raised in falmouth ma, its a big problem on the cape too.
 

gladerider

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this is unbelievable. i feel like i've been living under a rock or something.
i wonder if this is unique to NE or common across the country. i did see another show that said utah had the similar problem.
living in suburban NJ, i don't the problem is that serious here. this is sad.
 

snoseek

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this is unbelievable. i feel like i've been living under a rock or something.
i wonder if this is unique to NE or common across the country. i did see another show that said utah had the similar problem.
living in suburban NJ, i don't the problem is that serious here. this is sad.

It's all around, every state, region and demographic. It's just particularly bad in the Northeast, not a new problem. not sure the solution but could see treating users as sick people and less like criminals to start. Rehab is $$$$. I've worked with so many people that took the slide, from poppin pills, to snorting them and eventually when it gets too expensive and habit worsens heroin as its Cheaper. Sometimes it starts out as a prescription for an injury, some people are just wired like that.
 

twinplanx

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I lived in Ludlow, VT about 10 years ago. I was shocked at stories of people running down to NYC to pick up dope. :-(

Sent from my SCH-S735C using Tapatalk
 
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deadheadskier

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Its a problem everywhere. Portsmouth NH is an upper class near us, I think there has been 3 overdose deaths in the last two months alone.

I blame doctors. Too many scripts for opiate based pain killers resulting in people getting hooked.

missed this article in the paper last week; several local heroin / oxy dealers were arrested

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20141113/NEWS/141119534

That helps, but I still think a greater focus needs to be placed on doctors over prescribing opiate based pain relievers. 4 out of 5 new heroin users started by using drugs like oxycontin first

http://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/DR006/DR006/nonmedical-pain-reliever-use-2013.htm

As some know, my elderly neighbor recently had surgery around Christmas last year that put her into a rehab facility for five months. My wife and I cared for her dogs and affairs as she basically has no family. When she finally came home, the amount of Oxy's given to her (by a NH State run rehab facility) was shocking. She didn't even need them and there was enough supply to keep her looped for months. She eventually had a VNA take them all away. Hopefully that woman was honest and disposed of them. If you read the arrest article above, one of the drug arrests was a 78 year old man selling oxys. Probably a very similar situation and he found out how much money he could make by reading about it online.

Somehow regulations need to be changed so that docs are more responsible with the scripts they write. Shorter duration and lesser amounts of the drugs would be a start.
 
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HD333

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I saw that Bourdain show it was eye opening.

Dr's were told that opiates like Oxy were not habit forming (by the drug makers of course), as result they handed them out like candy. Now you see "regular" people who can no longer get their Oxy prescriptions filled turning to heroin. Crazy.
 

snoseek

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the sad part is if I was actually in pain right now it would be easier, cheaper and way faster to get them from a sketchy dude than a doctor or dentist and that's coming from someone that is a light to moderate drinker and weed smoker. Pills are easy as hell to find on the street....how the hell does large quantities like this get there? I never understood that. I mean weed, coke, mushrooms ect are all grown/produced exclusively via the black market but pills make that switch over along the line.
 

twinplanx

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I saw that Bourdain show it was eye opening.

Dr's were told that opiates like Oxy were not habit forming (by the drug makers of course), as result they handed them out like candy. Now you see "regular" people who can no longer get their Oxy prescriptions filled turning to heroin. Crazy.

How does anyone with a reasonable education not recognize that an Opiate is extremely addictive? Did they think it would be like poppy seed bagels? WTF

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Geoff

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Somehow regulations need to be changed so that docs are more responsible with the scripts they write. Shorter duration and lesser amounts of the drugs would be a start.

This was tightened up several years ago. Today, you can't write a refillable Opiate Rx and physicians are really scrutinized when they write an Rx. The street price of OxyContin and the other Rx opiates soared and made OxyContin unaffordable compared to cheap heroin.

Recently, they also reformulated OxyContin so it is lethal if injecte (injecting it blocks arteries in the lungs). That pushed the whole injection crowd to heroin.
 

deadheadskier

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All I can tell you is this spring my neighbor left the State run rehab with 120 instant release Oxys and 60 long release. There was an equal amount of another type of pain killer. That to me seems excessive. Especially when she had very little pain and was able to manage it with OTC meds just fine.
 

skiNEwhere

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It's worth mentioning that the U.S. comsumes 99% of hydrocodone (Vicodin) and 80% of prescription opioids worldwide......are we in more pain than other countries?

Hydrocodone is banned in pretty much every country in Europe, even the Netherlands. For the longest time it was a shedule III drug, making the users able to get refills on it without a new script and there being less regulation overall. Dr's have stopped prescribing these as much now, but like others have said, now a lot of these users are looking for another source to get a similar high.
 
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