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As I walked home from the Uplands to Llangyfelach on Firday night, I stumbled upon a man who was unconscious on the pavement outside ND John Wine merchants. Alongside were two young girls (around 11-14 I'd say), one foreign chap who didn't speak English and a busy body who was trying to take control. There was also another chap who was off his head, agitated and clearly in need of medical help himself, his pupils were like pin heads.
As I approached I asked one of the girls if they'd phoned an ambulance and she handed me a phone which turned out to belong to the foreign chap. It was the 999 service already connected and I explained to the lady where we were (although she was insistent on a post code location).
Within a couple of mins the first response ambulance arrived with a paramedic who gave the chap a couple of injections. A big ambulance then turned up as did two police officers.
I spoke to them and told them the young girls had phoned and witnessed all of this and clearly at their age not a good thing to be seeing and asked if they could have a word with them to congratulate them on their bravery etc.
The chap was put in the back of the ambulance with the other chap who turned out to be his brother and off they went.
As I went on my way I began to wonder at the cost of all this. What a drain the evil of heroin (and other such poisons) are on our NHS. In other countries I am sure that young man would have been left to die on the street.
POSTER OF THE YEAR 2013.
PROUD RECIPIENT OF THE SECOND PLANET SWANS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Don't forget being tough on gulls and the causes of gulls.
Apparently we need to have a 'big conversation' about that momma.
Never mind, we've got Tim Farron, a liberal who voted against equal marriage, or whichever nonentity wins the Labour leadership contest to save us from rampaging Tory ideology. God that's depressing.
Oh and well done to you Jackfath for not just walking on by.
Absolutely.
Many other western democracies have a much more compassionate helpful approach towards addiction & getting people back on the straight and narrow (some work some don't). They tend to use tax income to reduce risks to their addicts and communities. (Some of the comments on here would make ISIS blush)
But, I wouldn't legalise heroin even though it would make economic sense to do so. Estimates put drug related crime at 51% all crime in the UK. Various studies estimate about £10 billion a year could be saved if all drugs were decriminalise & close to £1.5 if cannabis was legalised.
The criminals who benefit from addiction certainly don't want it legalised.
However, some interesting numbers (I like numbers)
Illegal drug abuse, costs the UK £10 bn per year (mostly related to criminal acts surrounding the trade and practice and £2 bn per year to NHS) (Adaction) Education and support is less than 1% of that cost to the country)
Smoking, ASH has shown that the total cost to society (in England) is approximately £12.9 billion a year. (No account is taken of illegal tobacco trade nor the offsetting of tax ££, nor was the NI,Wales and Scotland statistics included add on about 20% = £15.5 bn )
The total annual cost to society of alcohol-related harm is estimated to be £21 bn.
The cost to UK of obesity is nearly £47 billion a year, (NHS spends £6 billion a year on the medical costs of conditions related to obesity and a further £10 billion on diabetes).
What is not generally known or accepted is the huge numbers who are addicts but continue to hold down jobs.
Never mind, we've got Tim Farron, a liberal who voted against equal marriage, or whichever nonentity wins the Labour leadership contest to save us from rampaging Tory ideology. God that's depressing.
Labour is done I think. It's whether anything better can be reborn out of the ashes by about 2025.
More urgently, all the non-hitler parties should stop worrying about which nonentity to pick to lose in 2020, and build some unified coherent consensus (in aspirational terms, not the stupid manifesto type drivel they're nitpicking over now) for something more uplifting as a rabble rousing alternative to the increasingly insane current bunch that think 35% gives them carte blanche to do whatever they want......and breathe.
heroin is killing many hundreds of people every day in the US. it's become one of the worst health crises in a long time and it's mainly affecting middle class people. these are mainly people in rural communities or well-to-do suburbs who are prescribed opiates for pain, become addicted, and then turn to heroin as its cheaper.
it's just awful. entire towns are ruined and i don't think anybody knows what to do about it. i'm in new york where you see it, but it's pretty safe here mostly.
My 13 year old went to town the other day with his friends and was messing around near the footbridge leading to Parc Tawe near the 10-pin bowling rink. He said the small space under where the bridge enters Parc Tawe was littered with used needles.
My 13 year old went to town the other day with his friends and was messing around near the footbridge leading to Parc Tawe near the 10-pin bowling rink. He said the small space under where the bridge enters Parc Tawe was littered with used needles.
He can get help. There are lots of people who he and your family can talk to.
POSTER OF THE YEAR 2013.
PROUD RECIPIENT OF THE SECOND PLANET SWANS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
Thing is kids you may not be as lucky as the chap I happened upon. I may not be there to help you. Just say No.
The problem I have with it all though Fath is that there is a part of me which believes it is so pointless to use the 'just say no' argument, that everyone would be better off if it was regulated and at least clean so that people know what they're getting.
Quite a lot of the heroin overdose issues (such as the one you saw) are caused by the heroin being slightly stronger or purer than the stuff they normally get. It would be safer if it was uncut and accurately measured, as unpalatable as that may be.
The problem I have with it all though Fath is that there is a part of me which believes it is so pointless to use the 'just say no' argument, that everyone would be better off if it was regulated and at least clean so that people know what they're getting.
Quite a lot of the heroin overdose issues (such as the one you saw) are caused by the heroin being slightly stronger or purer than the stuff they normally get. It would be safer if it was uncut and accurately measured, as unpalatable as that may be.
..and if the profits went back into treatments instead of to gangs to buy guns and finance crime.
Prohibition doesn't work. How many times do we need to prove that. Cue outrage.
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