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News & ArtsWednesday, January 11, 2012
Drugs Drug Prohibition Is Now More Dangerous to U.S. Citizens Than Guns or Booze
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 6:02 PM
According to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control, 37,792 people died from overdoses and other drug-related causes in 2010. By comparison, 35,080 deaths were attributed to car accidents, 31,513 to guns and 25,440 to alcohol.
The drugs are killing people, yes, but their prohibition—and the concomitant black market and ignorance—is more dangerous than the drugs themselves. And even though the early data suggests that (technically legal) prescription drugs are the major culprit, it doesn't absolve the way the black market tilts towards death. For the most part, those prescription-drug overdoses aren't folks taking their doctor-recommended pills while recovering from root canals. They're people who are eating/snorting/shooting pills and don't know what they're doing.
The data will never be able to show it conclusively, but I'd put strong money on many of those prescription-pill overdoses coming from junkies trying to wean themselves off stronger opiates like smack and fentanyl. (And, of course, suicides and ignorant kids fooling around.)
In sum, prohibition-only policy is like abstinence-only education. By taking rational discussion and education off the table, it invites doom.
1
Philosophical purity above rational policy is a defining aspect of right wing politics. I don't see that changing any time soon.
2
It's an interesting mirror image to Mexico, where slightly fewer people die to bring us those drugs. People get excited about the cartel violence in Mexico, but much of that violence happens here, to Americans, by themselves.
3
Wow, there might be a grain of truth in there, but it launches from some straightforward numbers to some wild leaps of logic. So prohibition is more deadly than guns because you'd "wager" that "many" of the 37 thousand overdoses are caused by "prohibition-only policy." And you're able to assert that this many outnumbers the 31 thousand gun deaths based on what, exactly?
I suppose a dramatic title catches people's attention, but when it's follow by such groundless over-reach, I think your point really suffers.
I suppose a dramatic title catches people's attention, but when it's follow by such groundless over-reach, I think your point really suffers.
4
The story has very little to do with 'prohibition', and very much to do with the sales practices of drug companies. Being related to prescription pill addict, it's a terrible problem, and it ruins peoples' lives and families.
"The preliminary 2010 data do not show what types of drugs were involved in the deaths. But a Los Angeles Times examination last year of recent government data found that prescription drugs, especially painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs, accounted for more fatal overdoses than heroin and cocaine combined."
"The preliminary 2010 data do not show what types of drugs were involved in the deaths. But a Los Angeles Times examination last year of recent government data found that prescription drugs, especially painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs, accounted for more fatal overdoses than heroin and cocaine combined."
5
The prescription deaths are much more common than I think most people suspect. Improper dosages from misreading the labels, drug interactions, bad diagnoses, self diagnoses, aggravating undiagnosed conditions, allergic reactions, etc. These are all unintentional, but there are also plenty of suicides. Next on the list would most likely be abuse of pain killers and other prescriptions a la Drugstore Cowboy.
I don't know if heroin overdoses and cocaine induced heart attacks are included in that number, but those happen too.
I would suspect that Brendan's hypothetical junkies trying to ween themselves off smack are a very tiny portion of that number.
Yes, the "war on drugs" is a staggering clusterfuck, but this stat doesn't prop up your hypothesis or prohibition. It does however raise more questions about the quality of our health care system.
I don't know if heroin overdoses and cocaine induced heart attacks are included in that number, but those happen too.
I would suspect that Brendan's hypothetical junkies trying to ween themselves off smack are a very tiny portion of that number.
Yes, the "war on drugs" is a staggering clusterfuck, but this stat doesn't prop up your hypothesis or prohibition. It does however raise more questions about the quality of our health care system.
6
@3 - Also important when talking about numbers is that the gun stats include a high percentage of suicides, it's not all people getting murdered. Of course for guns many in these parts DO talk about prohibition.
7
Where your argument falls apart is requiring the assumption that most or many of these people would be alive if their drugs were legal. The stats don't support this leap of logic. More than likely the numbers would be the same whether drugs were legal or not. And the jump to "abstinence-only" is a bit histrionic and a bit of a stretch.
@2 Well at least the dead here aren't headless and stacked like cord wood. So, I guess we got that going for us?
@2 Well at least the dead here aren't headless and stacked like cord wood. So, I guess we got that going for us?
8
@2 - True, but per capita, Mexico has experienced a higher fatality rate due to the drug war/drugs, even without factoring in the number of overdoses in Mexico. I couldn't actually find the overdose rate there. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/12…)
I think the psychological effect of murder and mutilated bodies hanging from overpasses is more severe than overdoses, hence the excitement.
Regardless, I agree with your basic point. Although, I think ending the drug war would have more positive consequence to Mexico than it would to America. We've really fucked Mexico up (we being US drug buyers and US politicians).
I think the psychological effect of murder and mutilated bodies hanging from overpasses is more severe than overdoses, hence the excitement.
Regardless, I agree with your basic point. Although, I think ending the drug war would have more positive consequence to Mexico than it would to America. We've really fucked Mexico up (we being US drug buyers and US politicians).
9
OK, lets recap. Alcohol is a drug that is legal and widely available. Alcohol kills fewer people than all illegal drugs combined, but far more people die from alcohol abuse than overdose on any single illegal drug. Prescription pain killers and anti-anxiety drugs are legal but highly restricted. They kill more people than heroin and cocaine, which are strictly illegal. It would seem that prohibition is a fairly effective way of preventing people from killing themselves with drugs.
10
I just assumed the stranger would fully endorse drug prohibtion. think of all the govt jobs that rely on these laws. Also think of all the individuals currently incarcerated who receive 3 square meals a day. We just cant trust certain segments of society with legalized drugs; infants will be gumming crack pipes on every street corner. Better that they are cared for and re-educated by the prison industrial complex.
12
@3: Word.
Brendan, there are many reasons to support legalization/decriminalization of certain controlled substances, but you're just making a balls of it with this hand-waving bullshit.
Actually, these data are a pretty good argument against legalization as presented. You think that legalizing drug use will somehow make users educated on the proper precautions that should be taken? People who die from (legal) alcohol use, gun ownership, or motor vehicle operation often do so because they don't know what the fuck they're doing.
Brendan, there are many reasons to support legalization/decriminalization of certain controlled substances, but you're just making a balls of it with this hand-waving bullshit.
Actually, these data are a pretty good argument against legalization as presented. You think that legalizing drug use will somehow make users educated on the proper precautions that should be taken? People who die from (legal) alcohol use, gun ownership, or motor vehicle operation often do so because they don't know what the fuck they're doing.
13
Well, sorry to say this but I was generally in favor of decriminalizing drugs but this post is so poorly reasoned I'm starting to wonder if that's such a good idea. Brendan Kiley thinks about this shit all the time and he's telling us now he has no actual facts to support his argument. He's just willing to wager that he's right.
Wager strong money. A big wager. Which for a Stranger employee would be like, 50 bucks. A hundred maybe. Let's say two hundred. So we legalize drugs and if it turns out that thousands more die from overdoses, well, Brendan here will say "shucks" and he'll be out maybe a couple hundred bucks on his hypothetical bet.
Seriously? You have no good data on this? Pack it in, man.
Wager strong money. A big wager. Which for a Stranger employee would be like, 50 bucks. A hundred maybe. Let's say two hundred. So we legalize drugs and if it turns out that thousands more die from overdoses, well, Brendan here will say "shucks" and he'll be out maybe a couple hundred bucks on his hypothetical bet.
Seriously? You have no good data on this? Pack it in, man.
15
#7
Because the deaths from legal alcohol are the same order of magnitude as illegal drugs. Illogical post. Also, how many auto (and gun) deaths were due to impaired drivers.
Because the deaths from legal alcohol are the same order of magnitude as illegal drugs. Illogical post. Also, how many auto (and gun) deaths were due to impaired drivers.
16
@14 - Well, it's legal and it doesn't require a prescription. If it belongs in a category with other drugs, it'd be with over-the-counter medications.
17
Well, I guess it's nice to see the numbers reversed. A big argument in favor of drug legalization is that alcohol kills more people. Of course, alcohol kills more people because it's used more because it's LEGAL. Legalize hard drugs, which are far easier to overdose on (your body isn't going to vomit up injected heroin the way it does alcohol if you over-consume), and you're going to see far more abuse of those drugs.
I'm not against decriminalization, but it needs to be done slowly, with careful consideration and planning, i.e. not through the clusterfuck that Ron Paul proposes.
I'm not against decriminalization, but it needs to be done slowly, with careful consideration and planning, i.e. not through the clusterfuck that Ron Paul proposes.
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