huge if true
Is this headline not a tautology?
Fewer overdoses explains the reduction in overdose deaths? Ya don’t say.
Edit: I understand the point of the study, I just think the headline is poorly worded
Naloxone helps mitigate the effects of an overdose, it doesn’t prevent overdoses (or at least isn’t used for that purpose). An overdose is not always lethal.
The research suggests that the observed reduction in overdose deaths was not primarily due to increased use of naloxone.
No, it’s science: fewer overdoses means fewer deaths of overdose. Undeniable logic. As the science should be.
I can think of a dozen better ways to word the headline
science “journalist” did a shitty job of interpreting science? no!
I’m not into street drugs (the hardest stuff I ever did was liquor, and these days my drug of choice is black coffee) but I have to imagine knowing that any batch of them could kill you would be a significant deterrence for anyone who can still think rationally.
Edit: I’m done arguing with people who have zero reading comprehension. Feel free to make retorts against an argument that was never made, but I’m done responding to people who are either didn’t read what I actually wrote or are just straight up trolls.
I get what you are saying, completely fair.
Alcohol is actually worse than opiates from nearly every perspective, it’s one of the few addictions that can kill you just for quitting, and regularly killing people on both overdose and chronic usage (plus the societal cost of destroying the lives of people around the alcoholic). Compared to the actual damage your brain and liver takes from a bar dive and the added damage to the social fabric, i’d rather take a bunch of opiates and nod off for a few hours - most problems with opiates come from criminalization and unsafe environments.
I can speak from personal experience with fentanyl withdrawal that there is not much space for “rationality” when the need hits, and the danger becomes an abstract that does not deter anyone. I was hooked by my doctors on medical products and not street heroin, mind you. I’d compare it with the need to drink that glass of water when absolutely dehydrated on a hot day, with added intensity and pain. You are cold and nothing can warm you, your nose wont stop running, you can’t rest because your muscles on every part of your body cramp (worst for me were the cramps in the musculature around/between the shoulder blades which prevented me from keeping any position longer than a few minutes, closely followed by the intestinal cramping), and every single thought in your brain revolves around getting the next hit to get out of this situation, just as you would think about finally getting that glass of water you crave.
The body produces opiates for itself in small amounts, but if you add them externally, 2 things happen that make it a bodily need: your body reduces the amount of opiates it produces (which have an important function in regulating body temperature and muscle tone), and your body tones down the intense signal, so whatever opiates your body produces are not enough to keep everything running. Getting that system back to normal working conditions can take a pretty long time.
And then there is the aspect that the feeling opiates give you is not experienceable in any other way. It’s like the warmest, softest hug you’ll ever get, and a state of bliss. This makes it hard for people like me who already have psychiatric issues and recurring depression to even consider stopping - nothing else i’ve experienced in my life has ever come even close to that wave that washes over you and takes away all the pain and doubt.
I only was lucky enough to confess my problems to my primary care physician in a phase of acute withdrawal - i just couldn’t take the rollercoaster of “high or in withdrawal” anymore - that landed me in a substitution program. I am still addicted, but without both the positive and negative sides messing with me i can manage my life.
I agree that alcohol is worse in many way and never said otherwise, there are a lot of people putting words into my mouth here.
I’m going to save you some time and frustration and just let you know: You’re being down voted because you seem to be treating drug addiction like a personal failing rather than the disease that it is.
Knowing the thing you are addicted to could kill you is not a significant deterrence when you are addicted to something like heroin. You just feel terrified and also addicted. Clearly you don’t understand addiction, and shouldn’t be passing judgement on to others.
I am being downvoted because people misread my post, I never said that. If someone is addicted they aren’t really able to think rationally anymore, but that doesn’t mean they’re stupid, and I never said it did.
The argument that fentanyl can be equated to apples though? That is 100% maximum stupid.
Also, it is a fact that eating enough apples to kill you is physically impossible so the argument is all that dumber. For a science community there sure are some wildly ignorant and trollish responses.
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. Addicts are perfecrly capable of thinking rationally. Acting rationally is another thing, but the desire for more heroin becomes a PHYSICAL need. And your.body and mind have a hard time rationalizing NOT taking something that every signal in your body tells you that you need. A heroin addict trying to kick heroin is akin to you trying to quit eating food. Nobody misread your post, they just all knew more than you.
bullshit on rational thinking, that goes out the fucking window plenty of times
you CAN but it doesnt mean you WILL
i struggled with addiction and it 100% hijacks your thinking too sounds like YOU don’t understand
the smug comments itt are fuckin gross all around
The question was about whether or not addicts are capable of thinking rationally. As someone who grew up with heroin addict parents and struggles with addiction myself, I promise you I know what I’m talking about.
Apple seeds have a significant amount of cyanide in them and you shouldn’t eat too many.
Don’t you know this, rational thinker?
who the fuck eats apple SEEDS??? fuckin stupid argument that trivializes addiction. YOU are the asshole trivializing things with crazy urban legend arguments
brb, doing apples recreationally lmao
fuck off with that bullshit
Explaining what the other user meant isn’t an argument lol
lol
lmao even
One can “overdose” on any number of seemingly benign substances is the point of the original comment.
Should I add 2+2 for you next?
Addiction isn’t rational
Don’t take this the wrong way, but what you said reads like you don’t know how any of the things you’re talking about work.
I’ve had friends kick cigarettes and heroin and all of them still drink Monster, for example.
Apple overdose will kill you too.
Apple? I’m more of a Linux guy tbh, but I’ll admit, they make good hardware (mostly).
If that was a typo for alcohol, you’re damn right it will! Alcohol is far more dangerous than many drugs that are illegal in most places (for example, cannabis has killed… checks notes …0 people, ever).
IMO, it is a hard drug, especially in liquor form and I would not be surprised to learn that it has killed more people than most street drugs just because of the erroneous view that it is somehow not a drug so people disregard the danger due to social acceptance.
I meant fruits.
Were you trying to be funny or… ?
Edit: OK, I am guessing you are the one downvoting and given your lack of a response I can only assume you meant that in earnest so I’ll go ahead and tell you, “That’s an asinine argument to make against shit that actually kills people and destroys lives, not to mention it’s physically impossible to eat enough apples to be killed by the tiny amount of cyanide found in the seeds.”
Feel free to correct me if that’s not what you meant, we can only make assumptions since you’ve chosen not to clarify so far. Right now I am under the impression that you’re making an absolutely ridiculous argument. Again: It is physically impossible to eat that many apples and that might be the least stupid part of your argument.
Nah, it’s clear to most people that simply calling others dumb for using drugs isn’t effective at anything but making yourself look like an uncaring asshole who lacks empathy.
If you are trying to claim that I did that, please point to the post where I said it. You can’t, because I didn’t.
“….anyone who can still think rationally.”
Come on, we’re not as stupid as you think drug users are.
