Posted by Destroyo on November 10, 2003, at 21:27:16
I'm against The War On Drugs. I don't feel contempt for those who argue against legalization of drugs, because it's not a slam-dunk no-brainer type of issue. There are valid reasons to NOT legalize drugs; a case can be made.
We live in The Age of Anxiety, Don't We? There's a Harvard shrink, can't recall his name, anyway he was interviewed on NPR, abut a year (?) ago. He wrote a book in which he argues in favor of the hypotheses that all addictions are the result of anxiety; identify the source of the anxiety, correct the situation, and Viola! No more addiction! Easier said than done? Probably, I may be oversimplifying his ideas a bit. If anyone knows his name, let me know. I need to read that book, so I know what the Heck I'm talking about. I failed to make a note of it as I listened to the radio interview, but then I got to analyzing my own situation in light of his hypotheses, and you know....it just might be true. I won't bore you with the details of my own particular anxiety. Suffice it to say, it's a 150 lb. rabid mastiff that must be placated (with alcohol), or else it'll eat me alive.
Personally, I've used a benzodiazepene (Sp?) (that class of drugs which includes Valium)...
only once. My long-suffering MD scripted me for a three day supply, a few years back, to ease alcohol withdrawal symptoms. But I was curious. I wanted to know if this drug could eliminate my craving for alcohol. I took all three days' supply in ONE day (don't try this at home, kiddies). Shore Nuff, I had no urge to drink at all; perhaps my anxiety had been quelled? Sure felt like it. Anxiety? What Anxiety? But I still functioned normally to all outside appearances.
When I was in high school back in the 70's, my friends used to routinely steal Valium from their parents' medicine chest. You know, take 3 pills from this month's RX, won't be missed, bide your time, then take 3 pills from next month's bottle, take six Valium, and WHEEEEEE!!! My parents, alas, didn't take Valium.
Anyway, I recall that when me and my pals were broke, couldn't buy beer or reefer (I didn't grow up rich), that when one of my circle of pals was on Valium, he didn't particularly care about beer & reefer. He was "copacetic", to use the language of the day (excellently satisfied). The rest of us would complain bitterly about having no beer or reefer (aw, poor babies!), but not the guy on Valium.
Try this: ask your shrink or MD (or both, if applicable) a hypothetical question: If drugs now illegal or tightly controlled were legal and cheap, and you had a patient who was an incorrigible alcoholic, would you rather him be addicted to Benzos, or alcohol? The obvious answer is "neither", but in this posited scenario, that's simply not realistic. I plan to ask my doc this question (he's just an MD, I've no use for shrinks <nothing personal Dr. Bob>) , but I've got to wait till I've got some malady to complain about. Despite being a drinker of monstrously titanic proportions, I almost never get sick. You see, God wants to keep me alive so he can torture me....25 years of depression, none of the pills (ersatz spurious placebos?) that I've been given do anything at all. I've no health insurance, so I don't want to pay 45 bucks just to ask a stupid question. You see, I've been thinking, I've never heard of anyone going to the emergency room, or dying, due to OD'ing on benzos. Is it really such a big deal to be addicted, if you can always get more? I suspect that tolerance to benzos (like opiates) levels off eventually, and then you take a maintenance dose. The reality is that we'll NEVER have an illegal-drug free America. Basically, our society channels people into using the none-to-healthy alternative of alcohol, with all its well known attendant problems. Is this the best we can do?
poster:Destroyo
thread:278367
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031031/msgs/278367.html