just had to vent as I just blew up on an old friend for seeing for the umteenth time a "sober" individual pushing dope on facebook, what the hell is peoples problems?I have done some serious drugs before and even in the worst haze possible had the forsight to go "damn I'm a F'ing loser and need to drop this mess" I know this stuff affects the weak of mind/spirit but damn how weak can one person get and just curious as this is becoming a total mess (drugs of addiction being an epidemic) is it this bad everywhere?has anyone seen any decent programs in their area trying to fix this problem?if so we need them rolling in cleveland, I've tryed to do the stand by your brother hippy rubbish but at this point the word extermination comes to mind

We have a pretty bad Junkie problem in Vancouver, probably the worst in North America.

We also have a program called Insite which has opened within the last 10 years or so, which in my opinion is a very good thing, saves peoples lives, offers support services and helps to keep a lot of the drug use off the street, which is not only good for the junkies not dying from overdoses and spreading disease, but helps to keep a lot of needles off the street and parks around the area.

The idea of exterminating sick people is a disgusting thought, maybe the piece of shit opportunist dealers, but not their victims.

The war on drugs needs to be re-imagined, it's obviously a losing battle, we need more programs like insite.

I know my mentality sounds harsh but when the junky mindset puts the community at large at danger I would rather see 100 dead junkies than 1 dead grandma, in cleveland the junkies have taken to using the elderly and handicapped as atm's so in that light I have as little concern for the life of a junky as they do for the general populace

"helps to keep a lot of needles off the street and parks around the area." this is the kinda stuff I wanna hear, any other cities have any good aversion programs or success stories?

I haven't been back to cleveland in ages, it was a ceasepool, was cool in the flats for like 5 years, and then started to turn back into a ceasepool. Didn't know it was getting as bad as you make it sound though.

Yeah, I think that it is mostly meth and crack out here in the Midwest. Over a decade ago I know that there was a big deal about people cooking up Black Tar heroin, but I guess that meth turned out to be easier and finally made it's way from the West Coast inland.

I suppose that I might see the worst of it because of living right next to some Section 8 apartments, but you can tell it's pretty prevalent. My brother, who lived on the streets of Seattle for several years, says that it is just filthy with drugs out there too. I know that I don't like to think of myself as naive, but after getting my own place and interacting with people on the bus, etc. for a while, it has really made me think about what Burroughs talks about with Control.

Ramble ramble...

Oh wait, I thought this was non-vinyl, American toys section.

IMO Drugs are not the problem. Yes addiction makes people do some shitty things, but people are the ones that do the shitty things, not drugs. People use drugs as an excuse for their behavior. People know what they are doing, somehow in their small minds they think that they are owed by life somehow. They lie, cheat, steal, all justifying it because life handed them a shitty hand. Most people use drugs because they are trying to escape their shitty life. What they dont realize is that the more you ignore life's lessons the more they are destin to repeat the same old shit. Its a never ending cycle. That is why you see generations of people act this way.

Money is the root of all of this. Money has ruined, our government, our health care system, education, and our lives in general. Most people wil do ANYTHING for it. I know we still need currency, and I know capitalism is not a bad thing. We just need to put our priorities in the right place. We are servants to each other. If we spent the same time helping each other as we do spend fucking each other up, this world would be a great place.

Sorry for the rant, I have very little faith in humans these days

I agree it's not drugs that are the problem. And drug addiction also happens to the strong minded as well. But religious addiction, or money addiction, or "ism" addiction cause even greater harm. I don't want to see 1 dead grandma by a junkie but I don't want to see half a million dead middle easterners due to a politician or ex-president.

Lot's of people handle their drugs and no how to binge without daily usage. But addiction happens. Blame the war on drugs for sending it into crack houses instead of someplace safe where one can be led to support and intervention.

I'd rather see no one addicted simple for their own sakes. Its a long hard road and if one manages to survive its then a life of regrets.

War on Drugs, like most wars is one of the dumbest ideas ever. It never worked and if anything has exasperated the problem. Some people are just drawn to doing things they're not suppose to do. They think it's cool/underground/black market and just don't have the personalities to NOT get addicted. Take the criminalization element out of it and after a short upswing I'm quite sure addiction rates would drop. This whole fear the conservatives have of the entire country turning into smackheads, potheads etc is unfounded.

Wanna know why we have a War on Drugs? Because the government makes money on it. They love to sell fear also. Can't have these dealers out there making tax free income!