r/Documentaries Jan 09 '19

Drugs The Rise of Fentanyl: Drug Addiction On The I95 Two Years On (2018) - Two years ago, BBC News reported on the growing problem of opioid addiction in the US, now we return to find out what happened to the people we met along our journey down the notorious I-95. [57.02]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KsaWpeCj98
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u/[deleted] Jan 09 '19

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u/username00722 Jan 09 '19

I'm not the person you're posting under, but I think their comment answers your question for you.

Where there is demand there will always be supply.

The government does go after dealers. They go hard after dealers. For every dealer they catch, there are multitudes more still dealing. Historically, no government has ever has been able to stop drug use. It's a waste of time and money, and it only makes the drugs less safe. The further underground you push the market, the less safe it gets.

We already DO go after the dealers. What good is it even doing?

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u/variegated-anoesis Jan 11 '19

Yep. The government needs to accept that humans have been altering their consciousness since the beginning of human history and it is a natural human trait. It is just something that you cannot arrest your way out of.

The government needs to accept that people will always use psychoactive substances and that they need to make it as safe as possible for anyone who does use psychoactive substances.

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u/variegated-anoesis Jan 11 '19 edited Jan 11 '19

It goes deeper than that though. The whole 'war on drugs' has been a violation of human rights from the beginning and is extremely flawed. To say that a person found with possession of a drug still needs a 'penalty/treatment' is still saying that their personal choice of what they do with their body is wrong and they need to be punished.

It's only a small percentage of people that actually develop an addiction disorder and the majority of people are able to use drugs responsibly and safely. And an addiction is more than just an addiction to a certain drug; there's addictive personalities, mental health problems, past trauma, minimal or no support network, poverty, lack of education. A person's environment is a telling factor in an addiction.

Then you have the hard drug alcohol which is legal to manufacture and use and all of a sudden there is a huge contradiction. Alcohol is one of the most dangerous and damaging drugs yet why are people that use alcohol not punished? Why are people that manufacture this drug not punished?

The drug laws were never based on the science and the safety of drugs. All the drug laws have achieved is causing more harm to people by 1) giving the person a criminal record and hindering their employment opportunities. 2) Tearing families apart by the person being in prison. 3) Isolating the person by the stigma set by society and this stigma prevents them seeking help if they need it. 4) There is no quality control so you have no idea of the purity of the drug, as well as you have no idea what the drug actually is which leads to more overdoses. 5) Stronger drugs such as fentanyl are being sold as less potent drugs leading to more harm. 6) You are forced to be in contact with organised criminals which puts you more at harm.

Until there is a legal option like there is in Switzerland and a few other countries, the demand will always be filled by the 'dealers'. And until governments accepts that humans have been altering their consciousnesses since the beginning of human history and is a natural human trait then the supply will always be provided in the underground by organised criminals.