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throwawaysmetoo t1_ir7r53c wrote

Good. I'm originally from KY and it's been bad for a long time. They need way more than 1. I've known so many people who are just stuck in addiction. If I had stayed there then I'm pretty sure I would be the same way, I was heading in those directions until my family yanked me out of there.

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tta2013 OP t1_ir7rcoc wrote

I'm in healthcare. I took care of someone whose hooked on heroin as long as I have been alive some time ago. It was rough. Anything like this would make things easier for us to take care of and save people.

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grimtrigger86 t1_ir8kbur wrote

Can someone addicted to heroin ever truly shake it? Serious question because I've been led to believe no.

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velveteentuzhi t1_ir8r3dc wrote

I believe like with any other addictive substance the answer is yes but it's hard. I've heard of some people who have kicked the habit, but unfortunately it usually takes the person genuinely wanting to quit and having resources to- whether that's friends/family, rehab, etc.

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superbouser t1_ir9cfv1 wrote

My friend was a raging H addict for 20 years. Skin popping speed balls he collapsed his veins & The abscesses began leaking 24/7. Imagine trying to sleep with chunks of infected black tar draining out of your muscles onto the bed. Literal dead flesh.

He moved up north into the country & not having any access he chooses to have a few drinks. Managing a hardware store. Girlfriend. It’s never too late. Life restored.

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sushimane91 t1_ir9uyjc wrote

Seven and half years clean myself.

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pollywantsacracker98 t1_ir9xjes wrote

No judgment here. But I’m wondering how you even begin? Like I’m sure you know the risks but you proceed regardless? Or was there a lack of understanding?

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sushimane91 t1_ir9y8x5 wrote

Was young and dumb. Had a lot of bad things going on and was about 16/17. Just didn’t want to feel things and was already addicted to pain pills so it was an easy/cheaper transition. Never in 1000 years would I do the shit that’s on the streets now though. Russian roulette every time you use.

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ilmst15 t1_irb2t83 wrote

I had a bit of a cocaine addiction for a couple years and I can tell you that when you first start out on an addictive drug like that, you think to yourself "wow, this isn't nearly as big a deal as people make it out to be." And then after a while as it dawns on you that you're addicted, you tell yourself "well sure, it destroys some people's lives, but I can keep it under control." And maybe you can, for a while. Some of the people I know who "have it under control" are deteriorating before my eyes.

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TheWinRock t1_irc01av wrote

Young people are REALLY bad at looking at the big picture and assessing risk. There are also lots of people that are convinced for too long that they won't become addicted for x, y, or z reason.

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ilmst15 t1_irb2bym wrote

I personally know multiple heroin addicts who got clean. I get what you're saying because opioids in general are some of the most perniciously difficult drugs to break away from, especially when the withdrawals can literally kill you, but it's very important to spread the message that it's possible. I would never want a heroin addict to hear people saying that it's impossible to quit and thus feel like they might as well not bother trying.

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Moorlok t1_irbcaps wrote

Even if it's technically a yes, if people like Lemmy and Steve-O went on the record saying they've never tried it because it terrifies them, I'd stay very far away from it.

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downonthesecond t1_ir7ruyv wrote

With over 200,000 overdose deaths since 2020, most would be benefit if opioids were regulated and made over the counter.

The war on drugs has failed. The demand for these drugs is only increasing while even more pills are being laced with fentanyl.

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Isthatglass t1_ir9gdyz wrote

Increasing "safe and legal" access to opiates is how we created the opiate epidemic in the United States, reopening the pill mills won't stop opiate addiction or deaths.

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Mclovin4Life t1_ir9h1sv wrote

I think it had more to do with Crack cocaine being sold by the government to fund their various coups in Latin and South America with a sprinkle of needing a large incarcerated population because America needs its slave labour thereby needing a scapegoat to throw people in jail.. I.e. war on drugs.

Studies show that decriminalized drugs and proper support and education on said drugs does far more to lower drug use, drug overdose and death, than the current policies have. In fact, it’s cheaper too.

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Isthatglass t1_ir9hd9u wrote

You missed the part where those are 2 very different facets of the war on drugs and opiate addiction was heralded in by the companies that made the pills fraudulently advertising them as being addiction free. Legalization and decriminalization help to end casualties of the war on drugs but education and decreased access to opiates stops opiate deaths. Opiates were never without safe supply the supply caused the problem. For every death from fentanyl being somewhere it shouldn't there are dozens from it being right where it was always intended to be... sold as an opiate.

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[deleted] t1_ir9l5nw wrote

That’s such an ignorant take. The deaths started when pill prices went sky high as result of crackdown on prescription practices and people started switching to heroin because it was cheaper. That street heroin quickly became all laced with fent. Reopening pill mills would literally reduce deaths because pharma quality opioids are incredibly physically safe.

You can’t eradicate demand for drugs, no country has ever managed to, you can only either push the production and supply to the unregulated black market or produce your own drugs with state-mandated quality control.

This is just alcohol prohibition debate all over again, and we all know how well that worked.

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Zawn-_- t1_ir90knf wrote

What's worse with fentanyl is that now fentanyl can be found in some prescription meds. Awkward when you get fentanyl from the pharmacy.

Edit: when you weren't looking to buy it.

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Colbywoods t1_ir9c8eq wrote

Fentanyl can’t be “found in some prescription meds.” It was always a prescription med and like other prescription meds you need a prescription for it. And it’s almost exclusively reserved for the treatment of severe pain in cancer patients in outpatient pharmacy. They’re not slipping you fentanyl patches for the sniffles

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EmilyU1F984 t1_ir9csio wrote

What bullshit is this?

Fentanyl was and is a prescription drug? Both IV fentanyl in a hospital setting and patches were around much longer than fentanyl contaminated street drugs.

Like what? Obviously you can get it from a pharmacy. It‘s an extremely important drug to reduce endless suffering in healthcare.

Maybe you are thinking about fake prescription drugs like supposed Oxycodon Tablets not containing any oxycodon but rather fentanyl?

But they are made by the same guys that sell heroin and fentanyl contaminated heroin.

They just press it into pill form to dupe people into thinking they are getting genuine OxyContin tablets or whatever.

If you get fentanyl from a pharmacy, you are likely suffering from terminal cancer, or another extremely painful condition, and on your way out.

Hey you can even get lollipops and nasal sprays with fentanyl, made for breakthrough pain. Because they only last an hour. For when you regular around the clock opioid pain medication isn‘t fully keeping the pain in tolerable ranges.

Also guess what: there‘s drugs much more potent than fentanyl that are legal prescription drugs! Omg how could that be?

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KmartQuality t1_ir9m65w wrote

I thought fentanyl was basically the limit of opioid power.

Why would you (you the patient or you the pharma company) want something stronger? Just take more? It's still a teeny tiny bit of actual substance.

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EmilyU1F984 t1_ira2qtl wrote

Because those opioids don‘t just work on one linear scale.

The duration, etc also vary.

And just giving more increases he non opioid receptor mediated side effects.

Plus you wanna painkill elephants as well.

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WittyUnwittingly t1_ir9iiqm wrote

Can you cite your source? Do you actually mean to say that QC in the supply chain of some legitimate drug is so poor that it's getting laced with Fentanyl?

I'd be interested to see what this is actually about, if it's not just a misunderstanding. Fentanyl can be obtained legally from a pharmacy.

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WarmAppleCobbler t1_ir8kg4x wrote

> Narcan vending machine

People need access to meds, they do. But damn is that some dystopian-cyberpunk level bullshit

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tta2013 OP t1_ir8xue0 wrote

Given the number of people I've taken care of who came back from OD. This is an essential break-glass for emergency lifeline.

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TodayIEarned t1_ir969xf wrote

If it we’re a “break glass” solution it would be free.

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InkBlotSam t1_irbbzdr wrote

Especially when the NARCAN snags, and you're over here trying to shake the vending machine while you're OD'ing

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BeeBench t1_ir8iwov wrote

It was emptied the first day which is great.

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Antonio9photo t1_ir9efw8 wrote

>"It's video-monitored, so I went back and watched the video, wondering if someone was coming in and taking five or six or ten, but I never saw that," Mattingly said. "I would go outside when someone would pull up and watch them, and they’d take one and sit there and read the literature, so I think it’s doing some good.”

damn, love it, ppl should also know most organizations in ur area have mail in free narcan, I got mine just in case I see one or something

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HSGames t1_ir9psdg wrote

After seeing all the heartless comments here about "not solving the problem" here's the thing. The problem can only get solved with people that are ALIVE, I'm pretty sure someone that dies from an overdose isn't going to be able to agree to treatment. Unless you all have some other way to revive them, then you can share it with all of us.

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dualsplit t1_iray8mz wrote

My motto about harm reduction is “a dead addict never gets clean.”

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ilmst15 t1_irb33i7 wrote

Most people who get addicted weren't having a great, happy, and stress-free life. If you don't want people addicted to drugs, you have to address the root causes that drive them to it. To ignore those and then punish them for having an unhealthy response to an unhealthy situation is just cruel.

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Matthew_C1314 t1_ir8l8fk wrote

Used to live in that county about a decade ago. Had no idea it was that bad, I specifically lived in Radcliff.

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Big_Forever5759 t1_ir9hwl9 wrote

The reason for many (most) overdoses is because people will quit for a bit while having a high tolerance and then take the same dose they took before quitting. So it’s not people going overboard with drugs, it’s actually people trying to quit and when coming back (really hard to quit) they just fry their brains. It’s just how opioids work in the brain.

So if you know someone and suspect of fentalyn/opioids just mention this fact…. Out of the blue , no context needed. One of those “oh I read in the news….”

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donkeynique t1_ir9qw5k wrote

That's what happened to my dad. Used to do hard drugs including heroin in his early 20's, kicked the habit for decades. In his late 50s he had bad back problems, and all his doc would prescribe were opioids despite him telling his doc he was an addict.

The pain was so bad he took them as infrequently as he could manage hoping he could deal with it, but he spiraled back into addiction. Eventually he lost access to a prescription, and he and my uncle, who was going through the exact same problem, decided to go back to heroin. Both overdosed and died on what we assume was their first time trying it again.

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CDewfus t1_ir9ogy0 wrote

Can verify. Quit weed for a week. Took a 10mg edible. Did not have a fun time.

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pmmbok t1_irbyqmv wrote

That's quick desensitization, I guess I'd call it. Interesting.

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caresforhealth t1_ira28z5 wrote

Too much trouble for the state to fund life saving meds for drug addicts so this is the dystopian neoconservative solution.

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KmartQuality t1_ir9l25r wrote

This thing is video monitored outside a police station. The chief of police even looks at the license plates of the people that use it!

Oh, man. And what does he charge?

Why not just put it at the laundromat or the Walgreens or the truck stop by the interstate?

I suppose it's a good idea but I absolutely don't want small town cops knowing that I just purchased narcan.

Also, I had no idea it was approved for over-the-counter distribution.

Edit. Walgreens already has it. It is $145! Is his police station drug overdose machine collecting thousands of dollars a day?

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smthngwyrd t1_irh2nu5 wrote

Our local agency will provide it for free and they’ll only ask if you know how to use it. No other questions asked

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KmartQuality t1_irhmk8x wrote

What kind of agency?

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smthngwyrd t1_irjee3d wrote

Treatment center

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KmartQuality t1_irjenmj wrote

Oh, just like the jail then.

Cool.

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smthngwyrd t1_irjf8ot wrote

Jail gives it out for free or probation centers?

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KmartQuality t1_irjl0ls wrote

The original post talks about a vending machine near the front door of the sheriff office is some Appalachia county.

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fridayfridayjones t1_irab5lz wrote

I’m glad people will have access to it but god, how sad that it’s necessary.

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Intransigient t1_irbvwsi wrote

> All negative comments will be removed and will possibly result in a ban.

So… not really a place for discussion, is this? 🤔 Just an echo chamber of universal approval? What’s the point of even allowing comments? 😅

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Latter_Guest4236 t1_ircewzj wrote

Is there a cop standing next to it? That would kinda repel people.

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TwinkleStarr420 t1_irfkcmk wrote

What about an insulin vending machine or how about a azt vending machine? Nah just keep enabling addicts reckless behavior and punish the ones who are actually suffering

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noah_river t1_irfnfr2 wrote

That's awesome to see. Demonizing addicts, arresting them and treating them like shit doesn't help anyone. Things like this save countless lives but often get shut down by NIMBYs who think addicts deserve to die.

Another thing that would really help fight the opioid epidemic is doctors prescribing physical therapy instead of pills wherever possible. So many people became addicted against their will because they were prescribed painkillers to function, and sometimes PT is the safer and more effective option!

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agree-with-me t1_ir9exmw wrote

Whatever you do America, DON'T solve the underlying problem. Just sell us something more.

I'm sorry, but this is hardly uplifting. America is broken.

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vasya349 t1_ir9fu66 wrote

You can only break your addiction if you’re still alive. This is a good step towards helping.

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Latter_Guest4236 t1_ircf6y8 wrote

Its a sign American attitudes are changing. A very conservative lock em up state like Kentucky showing some some compassion is a step in the right direction.

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Joseluki t1_ir9i4px wrote

LMAO how is this uplifting news? There are so many overdoses that there are narcan dispensing machines in the street? This is a total dystopia.

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Dercian t1_ir9hj90 wrote

Uplifting news my ass! They have so much shit going on there they have narcan vending machines

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KmartQuality t1_ir9mfqd wrote

It's uplifting because the police are actually trying to help, rather than only catch people and help prosecute them.

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Dercian t1_ir9vkn3 wrote

XD people over there live in a fucked up country. You praise police because they're helping the community...that's common over here

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bowling4burgers t1_ir7z3fw wrote

How is this uplifting? Your community has so many junkies you need a vending machine dispensing the antidote? Burn your elected officials to the ground for not stepping in sooner. Also the pill slinging doctors in your area.

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[deleted] t1_ir7zp5n wrote

For real. This is a sure sign to not live in this neighborhood. A giant taxpayer funded bandaid to a much larger problem.

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beef-medallions t1_ir8h8vq wrote

I’d rather have public suicide machines.

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Silverfox1921 t1_ir8frcq wrote

This is promoting the use of drugs. Fix the border ffs.

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mono15591 t1_ir8k9l5 wrote

By that logic fire extinguishers promote arson.

Edit: And why would Kentucky do anything about the border. They arent even a border state.

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XlifelineBOX t1_ir8ugk0 wrote

Shit, ill take any mexican as my neighbor that only smokes weed vs a fuckin methhead.

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Latter_Guest4236 t1_ircfbt6 wrote

"I have Narcan so now I can overdose all I want weee!" I don't think you understand what this is.

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