Solving the "opioid crisis"

[Azem.Ocram]

Acording to economic theory, Libertarianism enforces contracts. These violations violate agreed upon contracts. Therefore, an economic Libertarian should not be opposed to reporting said violations. Unfortunately, some “libertarians” are corporate cronies or otherwise paid off or in bed with businesses.

According to economic theory, Liberalism redistributes wealth to the worst off to make sure they are not too bad off while Libertarianism opposes wealth redistribution. Utilitarianism redistributes wealth and creates (and enforces) laws such that the most people are uplifted the most. Utilitarianism and Liberalism both arose from a thought experiment where the thinkers suppose they will be reincarnated at random (on the social ladder). The two best systems are to make sure you never reincarnate in too much misery or to make sure you reincarnate in the best situation most often. I am a Utilitarian.

 

[Peuri]

People are saying that nothing was done before, when the addiction problem was not affecting "white people" as much, but this is not entirely true is it? Wasn't there the whole war on drugs thing? Now, in hind sight the policy has been a failure, but it's not as if from the point of view of the contemporary political actors it was not a reaction to and an attempt to get rid of the problem. I'm not even saying that the policy choice back then was not in part racist, but still, they tried to do something about the problem.

I've watched a few documentaries on the problem, and it's pretty gross how these companies get even teenagers hooked after some sports injury or what ever. The drug companies should be held accountable for their lies and total disregard for the common good. But anyway, the more interesting question is, what is it about today's America (and other places for sure) that drive people to use drugs. If those problems are not fixed, and they might be impossible to fix or need a total reordering of socity to fix, drugs will remain a problem because someone can always turn a profit, be it legal or illegal dealers.

 

[Azem.Ocram]

I remember learning that many American soldiers grew addicted to heroin in Vietnam but every soldier that came home to a positive environment kicked the habit. I find it hard to believe that life in the USA above the poverty line can be compared to any warzone. Perhaps boredom is to blame?

This ties in with Kurzgazagt’s mini documentary on addiction.

 

[Lexicus]

Acording to economic theory, Libertarianism enforces contracts. These violations violate agreed upon contracts. Therefore, an economic Libertarian should not be opposed to reporting said violations. Unfortunately, some “libertarians” are corporate cronies or otherwise paid off or in bed with businesses.

Economic libertarians don't believe that government should restrict the type of contracts that can be entered into by individuals. Therefore they would not agree with the enforcement of contracts that only exist because labor laws prevent entering into contracts where (for example) people get paid 13 cents an hour and work in conditions that will kill them.

I remember learning that many American soldiers grew addicted to heroin in Vietnam but every soldier that came home to a positive environment kicked the habit.

Where the hell did you learn this nonsense?

 

[Timsup2nothin]

People are saying that nothing was done before, when the addiction problem was not affecting "white people" as much, but this is not entirely true is it? Wasn't there the whole war on drugs thing? Now, in hind sight the policy has been a failure, but it's not as if from the point of view of the contemporary political actors it was not a reaction to and an attempt to get rid of the problem. I'm not even saying that the policy choice back then was not in part racist, but still, they tried to do something about the problem.

I've watched a few documentaries on the problem, and it's pretty gross how these companies get even teenagers hooked after some sports injury or what ever. The drug companies should be held accountable for their lies and total disregard for the common good. But anyway, the more interesting question is, what is it about today's America (and other places for sure) that drive people to use drugs. If those problems are not fixed, and they might be impossible to fix or need a total reordering of socity to fix, drugs will remain a problem because someone can always turn a profit, be it legal or illegal dealers.

Teen agers? Catch up man. They created "ADD," better known as kids acting like kids, and promote Ritalin so that doctors can have kids hooked on speed by the time they reach puberty.

 

[Lexicus]

Teen agers? Catch up man. They created "ADD," better known as kids acting like kids, and promote Ritalin so that doctors can have kids hooked on speed by the time they reach puberty.

Yeah, no. My younger brother has bad ADHD, it's not a "made up" diagnosis. It's not "acting like a kid," without medication he literally can't function as a normal person.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Kids have never been "normal people."

 

[Lexicus]

Whatever, point being that characterizing ADD as a fake condition invented to sell medication is false, insulting, and potentially very harmful to people who have it.

 

[rah]

The real question is what percentage of kids that have been prescribed the drug have been accurately diagnosed.

 

[Peuri]

Teen agers? Catch up man. They created "ADD," better known as kids acting like kids, and promote Ritalin so that doctors can have kids hooked on speed by the time they reach puberty.

Mental health issues are notoriously hard to classify, because in the end the mental health issue is the normal functioning of the individual in question, but the behaviour is still not socially acceptable. Mental health diagnoses are basically value judgements on the personality of a person. It's not like diagnosing a common cold. But I agree, the mental health field is another cashcow for pharma companies because most people are just prescribed stuff and other therapy is minimal. So it's in the interests of the pharma companies to try to classify even more things as mental disorders, like shyness for example.

But then again sometimes (maybe even in most situations) the medicine help to improve life quality. For example I have a very close person to me, who had social anxiety. Taking the drugs allowed her to go into previously unbearable social situations and grow accustomed to them while being numbed by the drugs, and then get rid of the anxiety and the medicine altogether. She ran a talking group for people with social anxiety, and most of the other people just numbed themselves, but did not expose themselves to new situations, just expecting that the drug will just fix the problem. Needless to say that is very unlikely, but the pharma company sure is happy about their life time customer.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Whatever, point being that characterizing ADD as a fake condition invented to sell medication is false, insulting, and potentially very harmful to people who have it.

Before the invention of Ritalin, do you think ADD didn't exist, had yet to be discovered, or was recognized as just something some parents had to deal with?

 

[inthesomeday]

Woah when did Tim get on that ableist wave

 

[Perfection]

All i know is i need perscription amphetamines to sit in a box writing boring emails and word documents for 9 hours straight

 

[Azem.Ocram]

I know that Ritalin helps some but I also know that Ritalin is sometimes prescribed to those harmed by it because teachers (and occassionally parents) cannot deal with kids wanting to be physically active.

 

[Lexicus]

Before the invention of Ritalin, do you think ADD didn't exist, had yet to be discovered, or was recognized as just something some parents had to deal with?

I don't know the timeline, but yes, there was obviously a time before ADD/ADHD was discovered, when parents "just had to deal with" it. The same is true of any number of other developmental disorders, mental illnesses, and so on.

But if you're going where I think you're going, why not just come right out and say you think my parents were so incompetent or lazy or whatever that instead of "dealing with it" they resorted to medication to solve a non-existent problem?

 

[BvBPL]

Acording to economic theory, Libertarianism enforces contracts. These violations violate agreed upon contracts. Therefore, an economic Libertarian should not be opposed to reporting said violations.

Where does one report a violation in a libertarian utopia-in-the-making?

 

[stinkubus]

Privately owned courts, ldo.

 

[Peuri]

Or you could just hire your own little band of condottieri to get some payback.

 

[luiz]

While the companies pushing this trash are of course responsible, I resent even more the doctors that prescribe painkillers for people who have totally mild and normal symptoms. Nowadays people take painkillers to deal with muscle ache caused by a flu. WTH is wrong with people?

It's not availability that causes the problem. Growing up in Brazil I could get whatever medication I wanted without any prescription. Just walk into a pharmacy and ask for whatever, they would give it. But I never took a painkiller in my life (I did get anesthesia of course during medical procedures, but never bought that crap myself). The problem is people thinking that any discomfort should be numbed down by opioids.

 

[Azem.Ocram]

Where does one report a violation in a libertarian utopia-in-the-making?

Since such an environment would be one of the worst nonviolent dystopias, I fear there would be no way to report violations or the law would change to stop these human rights violations being illegal. I am NOT a Libertarian. I am a Utilitarian and an Epicurean. Some might describe me as a bleeding-heart Liberal because I care about those living in poverty and favor redistribution of wealth that maximizes utility of that wealth. $5 is a meal for a poor person (possibly a home-cooked family meal) while $5 is loose change to a rich person. One problem is that the wealthiest Americans have marginal taxation much lower than the middle class and those near the poverty line have marginal taxation above 100%. Another problem is that most influence and lobbying on the government is done by the wealthy elite.

However, I believe that certain edge cases/outliers should be allowed to slip through the cracks when it would take excessive resources just to prolong their suffering. I have been called classist and ableist for this belief. However, I have rarely been called self-righteous (despite knowing I am) because everyone who insults me would be a hypocrite for calling me out. Utilitarians don’t favor the wealthy elites or the impoverished homeless, they care about uplifting the most people by the greatest amount, which tends to favor the middle classes (including the working poor) though Utilitarianism attempts to reduce poverty.

Anyway, the invention and proliferation of extremely potent opiods has turned an already bad situation worse. Fentanyl is stronger than heroin, carfentanyl is stronger than that, and there are even more potent drugs where you can die of overdose from accidentally breathing in some in dust or handling the drug without gloves.