I agree. Of course, the criminal law sees no such distinction.
Indeed. Not just illegal, but federal pound-you-in-the-ass illegal. And it is the kind of sentiment expressed in this thread that prevents reform to that tragedy of a policy.
Quaint. Seems that stupid meme will never die.
By the way, speeding and sharing controlled substances are different classes of illegal behavior, aren’t they? And, no, I will not speed to work today; in a few moments, I will walk across the quad from my dorm to my office.
I’ll ignore your insult to Office Space and make this observation: while perhaps juvenile, I chose the quote from that fine film to emphasize that your policy preferences would subject people like Stoid to high risk of rape and other tortures. In my view, if we should be sending people to jail for consensual behavior at all, it should only be after we make sure we aren’t going to get them raped in the process. Sadly, most drug warriors would rather spend that money hiring more DEA agents.
Yes. Not sure why that matters here, or whether it’s an evidence-based approach to crime.
Never saw the flick.
My policy preferences? Care to show where I suggested that I have a stated preference on how those who distribute drugs should be treated?
Do yourself a solid and search my posts to see how I believe anyone at all who is incarcerated should be treated and what I think the government’s responsibility is to those it incarcerates regardless of the crime that occasioned such incarceration.
And how do you figure that I’m one of those “drug warriors”?
'Twas a direct answer to the question about speeding to work.
I made a reasonable inference about your position from your posts in the thread.
If it was unwarranted, you are free to clarify. Do you think it unjust that Stoid’s behavior is deemed worthy of throwing a human into a poorly managed cage? Is it that you’re fine with the caging aspect, but just think there should be a little less rape? Enlighten me.
Me too. I mean, I might share meds with my fiancée, who lives in the same house as me, but it would be a stopgap measure at best. Like, he couldn’t make it to the doctor until Monday, so here’s some cough syrup with codeine to get him through the weekend.
We don’t have Valium or Xanax prescriptions so I don’t even have that experience.
But, my mom was a nurse, and that’s where I got my aversion to sharing meds.
The problem with sharing prescription meds is that, if you get it wrong, serious injury is possible. That’s why our society invented the whole “prescription” thing in the first place - even for meds that aren’t dangerously addictive: so a trained medical professional can supervise.
When untrained folks share, the person handing out the drugs and the person taking them may well have no idea if there are any drug-drug interactions or other contraindications for taking this particular drug. For drugs that are addictive, obviously the problems are worse - people seeking these drugs may be less reliable as to whether the drug is likely to be dangerous for them, willing to act responsibly in only taking a safe dosage, etc.
I’m a whole-hearted believer that our current policy towards the purely recreational use of various drugs is misguided - in part, exactly because it encourages dangerous behaviors (let alone locking people up for what ought to be regulatory offences, encouraging organized crime, etc.). However, even in my preferred system, it would not be a free-for-all. Sharing or drugs (particularly addictive ones) is a bad idea because it may be dangerous and because it negatively impacts the availability of these drugs to those who actually need them for medical conditions.
I agree, Malthus.
There’s a whole world between free-for-all and “throw 'em in the cage.” One part of that world is obviously having the prescriptions system at all. Another is education. Another is civil liability–if Stoid’s friend drives a car into a school bus high on Vicodin or has a nasty drug interaction with Xanax, Stoid can and should be held civilly liable. Another is making sure that we are careful about what drugs are controlled. Drugs with dangers and side effects less than caffeine or alcohol or acetaminophen probably ought to be OTC.
What troubled me about this thread was the seeming smugness with which people talked about Stoid’s potential “incarceration”–a euphemism that sanitizes what we’re actually doing when we sentence people to American-style prison in 2015.
I fall on the ‘don’t share’ side, too, except in very limited circumstances. Like, if I had some left over pain pills and someone suffered a horribly painful injury and there was a no-way-to-get-to- a-doctor crisis going on… yeah.
Actually, there WAS one time I did share my prescription medicines: my sister and I both have high blood pressure, and we are both prescribed exactly the same dosage of Lisinopril for it. I didn’t hesitate to lend her some pills when the airlines lost her luggage. But I doubt anyone would see any harm or danger in those circumstances.
I’ll back her up, here. The only reason I don’t have problems getting my prescriptions* is that I’ve found a tiny family-owned pharmacy that is mostly used by patients of the family-owned medical practice in the same building.
Before finding them, I would say that there would be at least 3 months of every year (since being diagnosed in 2010) where finding a pharmacy that had any was like finding a specific needle in a needle stack. It wasn’t unusual for me to call 8-10 pharmacies for every.damn.scrip before finding ONE place that could fill it.
Sometimes even calling to ask if they had it would apparently sound like ~~~suspicious druuuuug seeking behavior~~~. Apparently you need to physically go to those 8-10 pharmacies and get told you’re out of luck in person? Ugh. And I’m someone who regularly makes a 30 day scrip last 45-60 days**, which I’d think wouldn’t exactly scream seeker/abuser.
- being a schedule II drug means that you cannot have any refills. Your doctor can’t call or fax it in, either. And no 90 day prescriptions. You need an on-paper written prescription to physically hand over to the pharmacy every.single.month. (Including this as a general FYI to the thread, not directly at you, Green Bean).
** sometimes taking, as my doc calls them, “drug holidays” – meaning that I’ll stop using them for a week-ish. Or often intentionally rationing them precisely because of the fucking shortages.
THIS makes me so crazy… I don’t own a car, I almost always get a ride to Costco from my best friend who is not exactly the world’s most patient person, also very busy. So I need to bug her to take me there so you can tell me it was a wasted trip WHY exactly? I fill this scrip every freaking month for years, PLEASE just tell me if I am wasting my damn time, PLEASE… (I have found that calling an hour later and getting a different person, or just explaining the situation can usually overcome this, though… and lately the supplies have been reliable. But for a couple of years it was a monthly song and dance…)
Nonsense. You live in LA. The MTA goes just about anywhere during business hours. Not to mention there are pharmacies on just about every corner. Get your prescription for sodium pentothal filled before you post about your drug abusing habits.
No worries. Stoid is an experienced litigator.
[smacking her forearm to get the vein to come up nice and plump] No way, man! I gotta get back to the schoolyard with the dope! I’ve got kids to corrupt, who has time for buses?
No, you didn’t.
Without going through the entire chain…
Look, I have issues with my local Walmart pharmacy keeping my very common drugs in stock. It’s like every third month they tell me they don’t have enough Januvia or Trazadone to fill my prescription. I’ve also been sent there with brand spanking new pain prescriptions, only to find they don’t have enough on hand. Last time it was a prescription for all of 12 Tylenol-3 and they didn’t have them on hand. Had to get them two days later.
And yet, you still fail to take my invitation to clarify.
Maybe it’s the case that you felt comfortable taunting Stoid and saying she would only learn from incarceration, but you in fact oppose that unjust system. It just seems doubtful given the tension between those sentiments.
Was it the Rite Aid on Temple Avenue in Newnan, Georgia? If so, I think I know why they were short.
Oh yeah, and while we’re on the subject of people who don’t train their dogs, fuck you, you hypocritical bitch.
So, Stoid, do you finally agree with yourself that you shouldn’t have a dog?
We weren’t on that subject at all Penfeather. We were on the subjects of my torturing the dying, how I should be thrown in jail and sued, what meds are used for epilepsy, what a pain in the ass it is to fill Adderall prescriptions, the fact that the DEA has eyes and ears everywhere and they are making a list, checking it twice, the thoroughly fucked up American penal system (which totally constitutes cruel and unusual punishment by its very existence…) and stuff like that there.
It’s clear that you are feeling all het up, (your posts are starting to arrive a bit spittle-flecked) and I guess it’s understandable when you are so consistently and thoroughly confused. Let me try to help you out…
One of These Things is Not Like The Other:
•Dogs that have been permitted to treat the inside of the house like a toilet because its too hard and complicated to stop them from being filthy.
•Dogs that have been permitted to snarl, snap, and bite people because it’s too hard and complicated to stop them from being violent.
•Dogs that have been permitted to cuddle in bed with the rest of the family because it’s too hard to force them be alone and lonely when they are so sweet and delicious.
Is your fog lifting at all?
Look, if you still need more help grokking the difference between the weakness of succumbing to the emotional and tactile rewards of a beloved dog’s warmth and affection, vs. the weakness of tolerating filth and violence because it’s too hard to change, I don’t think I will be able to do more, it’s so self evident I can’t think of ways to make it any clearer…Sorry, man, I did my best…