THE PROPITIATION OF ST GULIK

[Darth Cupcake]

Nicely put, RWHN.

I, for one, am glad to hear that at least somewhere there are people in the business of worrying about the problem, not the symptom. That's very heartening.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Since I feel partially responsible for the way this thread turned I'd like to throw in another 2 cents. 

There was a comment a couple of pages back about me wanting to "get rid of marijuana" or something like that. 

In my profession, we are currently taking an environmental approach to substance abuse.  We don't focus on the substances.  Our goal is not prohibition, to eliminate drugs.  The "War on Drugs" is a federal government thing.  Sure, the State throws in symbolically, but really when you get down to it, we are about treating people. 

Those who are addicted and who engage in risky, antisocial behavior, have issues.  And they were issues that existed before the drugs.  Indeed, for many the drugs are the coping mechanism.  Except, it really doesn't help them cope, it simply postpones their pain.  It's interesting, in this regard I find I can interject a lot of BIP ideas without the terminology into our discussions.  Because that kind of philosophy lends itself to this environmental approach to treating drug addicts.

There are those in my field who are hell-bent at attacking the issues from the supply end.  But most of us think that is pretty much this:   

If you can't help the individual, they are going to keep using the drugs.  But this isn't the occassional toker or drinker that I'm talking about.  It's the hardcore who smoke weed like they are cigarettes, drink vodka like it's water, and pop pills like they're tylenol. 

That is why I occasionally like Cops. The guys here in Columbus seem to be taking the same approach. I have several friends that have gotten picked up for various offenses and their little stash of pot just 'disappears' and the cop doesn't say another word about it.

On the other hand, they've seriously cracked down on Meth and Prescription abuse which seems to be all the rage now in Ohio. I think that's good.

[AFK]

I worked with a State Trooper with a heart of gold.  She did her job, she enforced the laws, but she also was about offering hope and alternatives for young people who were obviously caught up in some rough shit. 

And you're right.  Meth and Rx drugs are the biggies right now, outside of alcohol which will always be the #1 substance abused.  Meth is pretty much nationwide except for the New England region.  I'm not saying it isn't in New England but it hasn't blanketed the drug market like it has everywhere else.  This is ONLY because the dealers haven't found a cost-effective way to get it up here from Mexico.  The feeling is they will find a way to send it in through Canada instead. 

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I worked with a State Trooper with a heart of gold.  She did her job, she enforced the laws, but she also was about offering hope and alternatives for young people who were obviously caught up in some rough shit. 

And you're right.  Meth and Rx drugs are the biggies right now, outside of alcohol which will always be the #1 substance abused.  Meth is pretty much nationwide except for the New England region.  I'm not saying it isn't in New England but it hasn't blanketed the drug market like it has everywhere else.  This is ONLY because the dealers haven't found a cost-effective way to get it up here from Mexico.  The feeling is they will find a way to send it in through Canada instead. 

Around here they're making the crap themselves... Columbus PD just recently nabbed a guy driving around from home store to home store picking up the necessary ingredients and mixing it up and selling it all in his "moblie office".

What crazy motherfuckers want to stick something made from Diesel and other household chemicals in their bodies... its as stupid as the girls they hospitalized for chewing mothballs...

MOTHBALLS for Chrissake!!!!!

[Darth Cupcake]

Mothballs?!

Did the girls at least get high?!

Some people really amaze me with what they will do.

[AFK]

I'm not sure if you [Ratatosk] were on the boards when I relayed the story of young teenage girls, and boys, using alcohol by soaking tampons and inserting.  People will get very "inventive" with their chemical ingestion.

[Triple Zero]

Mothballs?!

Did the girls at least get high?!

i hope not, otherwise they might try it again.

[Darth Cupcake]

I'm not sure if you [Ratatosk] were on the boards when I relayed the story of young teenage girls, and boys, using alcohol by soaking tampons and inserting.  People will get very "inventive" with their chemical ingestion.

I think I was still a lurker at that point.

But oh god, my vagina hurts at that thought!

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Mothballs?!

Did the girls at least get high?!

Some people really amaze me with what they will do.

Yeah, in fact, one girl spent days in the hospital with "mysterious" problems. The only way they figured out what caused them... was catching her, in the hospital, eating mothballs....

Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't just let them do whatever drugs they're dumb enough to try... maybe just sterilize them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5219646.stm

It was discovered that the girls had been using the mothballs as a recreational drug when doctors found a bag of mothballs stashed in her room while she was being treated at the Hospital of Timone in Marseille.

Both girls had been "bagging" - inhaling mothball fumes - after encouragement from classmates.

The twin who was sickest had also been chewing half a mothball a day for two months.

She continued her habit in hospital because she did not think her symptoms were linked to the mothballs.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I'm not sure if you [Ratatosk] were on the boards when I relayed the story of young teenage girls, and boys, using alcohol by soaking tampons and inserting.  People will get very "inventive" with their chemical ingestion.

WTF? Why not just drink it?

[Cain]

Mothballs?!

Did the girls at least get high?!

Some people really amaze me with what they will do.

Yeah, in fact, one girl spent days in the hospital with "mysterious" problems. The only way they figured out what caused them... was catching her, in the hospital, eating mothballs....

Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't just let them do whatever drugs they're dumb enough to try... maybe just sterilize them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5219646.stm

It was discovered that the girls had been using the mothballs as a recreational drug when doctors found a bag of mothballs stashed in her room while she was being treated at the Hospital of Timone in Marseille.

Both girls had been "bagging" - inhaling mothball fumes - after encouragement from classmates.

The twin who was sickest had also been chewing half a mothball a day for two months.

She continued her habit in hospital because she did not think her symptoms were linked to the mothballs.

HUFF RAID!

[/Totse]

[Darth Cupcake]

Rat, that article makes baby Jesus cry.

And me too.

Seriously? I mean, there is not really a single drug out there that I can't see the appeal of. Doesn't mean I'll try them, but I can definitely see the allure, and during some of my more depressed times, I probably would've tried just about any of them if it weren't so hard/risky to get them (good work, cops!). But mothballs?! I can't even imagine where someone gets it into their mind that it would be a good idea to do that, or that there would be any sort of redeeming value to it.

"I really love the way my grandmother's house smells... So I just wanna get as much of that smell as is fucking possible!"

How bizarre.

[AFK]

I'm not sure if you [Ratatosk] were on the boards when I relayed the story of young teenage girls, and boys, using alcohol by soaking tampons and inserting.  People will get very "inventive" with their chemical ingestion.

WTF? Why not just drink it?

Because the alcohol hits the bloodstream a lot faster.  It's a bloodrich area down there where the sun doesn't shine and there is less tissue to pass through for the alcohol to hit the blood.

Also, if you aren't drinking it, your breath isn't going to smell of alcohol.  So kids can go to school intoxicated without having that tell-tale sign. 

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Rat, that article makes baby Jesus cry.

And me too.

Seriously? I mean, there is not really a single drug out there that I can't see the appeal of. Doesn't mean I'll try them, but I can definitely see the allure, and during some of my more depressed times, I probably would've tried just about any of them if it weren't so hard/risky to get them (good work, cops!). But mothballs?! I can't even imagine where someone gets it into their mind that it would be a good idea to do that, or that there would be any sort of redeeming value to it.

"I really love the way my grandmother's house smells... So I just wanna get as much of that smell as is fucking possible!"

How bizarre.

I have no idea why anyone would do such a thing. It seems almost Darwinian.

[Cain]

RWHN: Or you could just drink it through the eye, like any normal person would.