Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group

Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by dools on Monday October 19, 2015 @08:21PM (#10416708)

Heroin is chemically identical to diamorphine that you receive in hospital unless it's been adulterated. The most serious side effect is constipation. Heroin was available over the counter for decades and caused few serious problems (people were no more addicted to it than coffee). It was sold in much lower concentrations so risk of overdose was virtually non-existent.

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by api on Monday October 19, 2015 @08:30PM (#10416745)

I've known heroin users, and I also know chronic alcoholics. Heavy consumption of alcohol is at least as bad as a heroin habit and can be as hard or harder to quit.

Both are fairly dangerous drugs. One is legal.

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by dools on Tuesday October 20, 2015 @03:45AM (#10417930)

I've never used street heroin but I was a very heavy drinker up until 1.75 years ago. I cut down gradually after having my first child, til the point when I stopped for a year. I had my first drink again in February of 2015 and have had alcohol semi-regularly since then without issue. I discovered that the problem was I drank too fast. I had learned to use alcohol incorrectly, I think if my parents had shown me how to drink when I was 12 - 14 and gradually introduced me to the effects and how different rates of consumption and different forms of alcohol can effect you I would have been better equipped to have a healthy relationship with alcohol. As it was I learned from my friends (the blind leading the blind ... literally). Still, I'm really fucking glad alcohol is legal, because if I was drinking moonshine I would have been in serious trouble and probably wouldn't be alive now.

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by dorfsmay on Monday October 19, 2015 @11:58PM (#10417337)

Can you consume heroin without getting addicted and without necessarily wanting to up your doses?

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by dools on Tuesday October 20, 2015 @03:42AM (#10417917)

Yes I was in hospital on diamorphine for 3 weeks (had a little button to deliver it to me). When I left hospital I had oxycontin and endone pain killers, both of which are opiates. I've not used them since.

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by chc on Monday October 19, 2015 @08:25PM (#10416724)

The addiction can be a pretty serious side effect.

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Re:Prohibition was primarily the work of one pressure group by dools on Tuesday October 20, 2015 @03:41AM (#10417914)

Not if you have a steady, cheap supply of the product you're addicted to. I'm pretty seriously addicted to caffeine, but I don't have a problem with that because I can get high quality coffee very cheaply.

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