A dire portrait of life on “hillbilly heroin,” and its implications for the policy debate over prohibition.
An excerpt from a new book by Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco describes a part of West Virginia where OxyContin is the drug of choice. “It was as if we were interviewing zombies,” Hedges says, introducing Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. “The speech and movements of those we met were so bogged down by opiates that they were often hard to understand.” What follows is every bit as awful. For example:
The reliance on government checks, and a vast array of painkillers and opiates, has turned towns like Gary into modern opium dens. The painkillers OxyContin, fentanyl — 80 times stronger than morphine — Lortab, as well as a wide variety of anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, are widely abused. Many top off their daily cocktail of painkillers at night with sleeping pills and muscle relaxants. And for fun, addicts, especially the young, hold “pharm parties,” in which they combine their pills in a bowl, scoop out handfuls of medication, swallow them, and wait to feel the result.
A decade ago only about 5% of those seeking treatment in West Virginia needed help with opiate addiction. Today that number has ballooned to 26%. It recorded 91 overdose deaths in 2001. By 2008 that number had risen to 390.
Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in West Virginia, and the state leads the country in fatal drug overdoses. OxyContin — nicknamed “hillbilly heroin” — is king. At a drug market like the Pines it costs a dollar a milligram. And a couple of 60- or 80-milligram pills sold at the Pines is a significant boost to a family’s income. Not far behind OxyContin is Suboxone, the brand name for a drug whose primary ingredient is buprenorphine, a semisynthetic opioid. Dealers, many of whom are based in Detroit, travel from clinic to clinic in Florida to stock up on the opiates and then sell them out of the backs of gleaming SUVs in West Virginia, usually around the first of the month, when the government checks arrive. Those who have legal prescriptions also sell the drugs for a profit. Pushers are often retirees. They can make a few hundred extra dollars a month on the sale of their medications.
The temptation to peddle pills is hard to resist.
The indispensable writer Rod Dreher alerted me to this reporting. Here’s a small part of his response: “Ye who think that legalizing drugs will lead us all to a libertarian paradise should read Hedges’ account of spending some time in the living room of these sad desperate men, and think about what in the world they could be good for in their current condition. How, exactly, would making it possible for them to obtain their pills legally change their lives for the better?”
I find that question frustrating, because the answers are so obvious to me, and the fact that Dreher isn’t familiar with them means that the arguments of legalization advocates aren’t being heard.
How would legalization improve on the status quo?
Read it all HERE.
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Go Ask Alice! “Go Ask Alice! is a health Q&A Internet resource. It provides readers with reliable, accurate, accessible, culturally competent information and a range of thoughtful perspectives so that they can make responsible decisions concerning their health and well-being. Information provided by Go Ask Alice! is not medical advice and not meant to replace consultation with a health care professional.”
The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, a classic motion picture directed by Victor Fleming. It was a musical adaptation of the L. Frank Baum children’s book and it had both black-and-white and color sequences. It starred Judy Garland as Dorothy, Frank Morgan as the Wizard, Roy Bolger as Scarecrow, Bert Lahr as Lion, Jack Haley as Tin Man, and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won for best original music score and best song, “Over the Rainbow.” – Provided by Reference.com
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Is this a real product? If so, I. so. want. one. soonest!
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Somnambulant Savagery: When Sleep Turns Violent
More than 25 years later details of the attack are still shocking: Sometime after 2 A.M. one Sunday morning in May 1987, Kenneth James Parks, then 23, left his house in a Toronto suburb and drove 23 kilometers to the apartment of his wife’s parents. He got out of the car, pulled a tire iron out of the trunk and let himself into the older couple’s home with a key they had given him. Once inside, he struggled with and choked his father-in-law, Dennis Woods, until the older man fell unconscious and then struggled with and beat his mother-in-law, Barbara Ann Woods, stabbing her to death with a knife from her kitchen.
Parks then got back into his car, drove to a nearby police station and announced to the startled officers on duty, “I think I have killed some people.” For several hours before the Toronto man left his home, however, and throughout the course of the attack, Parks was asleep and therefore not criminally responsible for his actions, according to five doctors and the defense lawyer at his 1988trial for the murder of Barbara Ann and the attempted murder of Dennis. After deliberating for nine hours, the jury agreed and Parks was set free. Although prosecutors at the time considered the defense “ludicrous” and appealed the judge’s decision to allow the jury to consider a sleepwalking defense, the Canadian Supreme court upheld the original ruling in 1992.
MORE.
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Can ‘serious games’ be an effective tool for workplace learning?.
Self-charging battery both generates and stores energy.
Robot NICO learning self awareness using mirrors.
More clues about why chimps and humans are genetically different | e! Science News.
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Pete Rose Is Banned from Baseball (This day in 1989)
During his 24-year baseball career, Rose played in more games and got more hits than any player in history. Even so, the onetime Most Valuable Player could not avoid a lifetime ban from the sport after being accused of betting on baseball games—including those of his own team. In return for not having the charges formally proven, Rose accepted the banishment, which rendered him ineligible for induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame. However, he later spent five months in federal prison—for what?
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The Crime Committed in France, by France
The following is the speech given by President François Hollande to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv Roundup on July 16 and 17, 1942, when the French police arrested 13,152 Jewish men, women, and children from Paris and its suburbs, and confined them to the Vélodrome d’Hiver, a bicycle stadium in Paris. They were later deported to German concentration camps. Eight hundred and eleven survived the war. President Hollande delivered his speech at the original site of the demolished velodrome on July 22, 2012.
Prime Minister, President of the National Assembly, ambassadors, Mayor of Paris, President of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, Chief Rabbi, representatives of the religions, ladies and gentlemen:
We’ve gathered this morning to remember the horror of a crime, express the sorrow of those who experienced the tragedy, and speak of the dark hours of collaboration, our history, and therefore France’s responsibility.
MORE.
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Wonder where this picture was taken. That tree is truly on the edge!
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Jet-set young sun pushed baby planets off kilter – space – 23 August 2012 – New Scientist.
Epigenetics gives clues to human cancer susceptibility – life – 23 August 2012 – New Scientist.
Short Sharp Science: Today on New Scientist: 23 August 2012.
Slugs benefit from getting stabbed while having sex – life – 23 August 2012 – New Scientist.
Smartphone app keeps children from getting lost – tech – 24 August 2012 – New Scientist.
DNA could have existed long before life itself – environment – 24 August 2012 – New Scientist.
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Bear Bears the Brunt of Moose-Induced Accident
A wandering moose walked away unscathed from an accident it caused involving a bear and a car, but the other parties were not as lucky. The collision occurred when a Norwegian driver swerved to avoid the moose, which had found its way onto a rural road, and ran his car straight into a nearby bear instead. Blood found at the scene indicates that the bear may have sustained internal injuries, and wildlife authorities quickly mounted a search for the wounded animal. The vehicle also sustained damage, though the driver of the car was unhurt.
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Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart lead a group of Hollywood stars on a cross country trip to protest the House UnAmerican Committee’s hearings on Communism in the movies. Washington, DC. October 1947. (imgur.com)
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Genomics Solves Medical Mystery
Tracing bacterial genomes revealed the surprising way that an infection spread throughout a hospital.
Killer agent: The bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae, a common cause of hospital-acquired infections, can be lethal.
Adrian Zelazny
Between June and December of last year, 17 patients at the Clinical Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, came down with a bloodstream infection; six of them died. Doctors knew that a patient had arrived with Klebsiella pneumoniae in June, but it wasn’t clear how the bacterium, a common culprit in hospital-acquired infections, was passed around, or whether several different patients had simply brought it in with them.
By taking bacterial samples from the patients and certain hospital equipment and analyzing the genomes of the different strains, researchers traced the organism’s meandering path as it cut a deadly swath through the facility. The study, published today in Science Translational Medicine, represents the first such use of whole-genome scanning in a hospital during an outbreak.
MORE.
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Whenever I hear on tv “I am Barack Obama and I approve this message” I know that another ad full of lies is coming on. I try to mute.
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Red light, go!
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car, both women barely large enough to see over the dashboard.
As they cruised along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red, but they just went right on through.
The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself, “I must be losing it, I could have sworn we just went through a red light.”
After a few more minutes, they came to another intersection, the light was red, and again they went right through.
This time, the passenger was almost sure that the light had been red, but was also concerned that she might be seeing things.
She was getting nervous, and decided to pay very close attention.
At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red, and they went right through it.
She turned to the other woman and said, “Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us!”
Mildred turned to her and said,
“Oh my goodness! Am I driving?
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Language, emotion and well-being explored.
Thomas Kuhn: the man who changed the way the world looked at science |.
Putting Feelings into Words Can Help Us Cope with Scary Situations | Science Codex.
Video: The Best Movies of Summer 2012 | Rolling Stone.
Solitude, serenity and salt – FT.com.
Does new information slow down your life?.
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This is Sylvester Stallones mother.
She is 90
She is 90
90
90
90
So she was going for the hideous clown look… nailed it.
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Top 10 Strange Topics That Need More Explanation
The world if full of mysterious objects, people, places, and events that need more research. In the last 30 years, humans have made some incredible scientific advancement in the area of archeology, astronomy, computer technology, radar, physics, chemistry, biology, and statistics. People are beginning to understand more about how the Earth was made and have identified anomalies that exist in space. Some of the research has opened up questions about historic events and scientific theories. We can only hope that people will evolve and gain a better understanding of bizarre historical events, instead of moving in the opposite direction. This article will examine ten strange topics that need a bit more explanation by world governments.
MORE.
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Orgasmica on line
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Signs That Will Blow Your Mind
READ.
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Very good sentences the culture that is Iceland.
How to develop practical strategies for overcoming writing obstacles | Poynter..
“Success is a catalyst for failure”.
Living with Integrity « Bob Barret | This I Believe.
Overheard in New York | Hey, It’s Not Like We Date!.
The Life and Death of a Great Russian City – By Anna Nemtsova | Foreign Policy.
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Australian Islamist cleric killed in Syria w/video
An Islamist cleric from Sydney, Australia named Mustapha al Majzoub was killed in Aleppo, Syria on Aug. 19 during a rocket attack by the forces of President Bashar Assad.
Jihadist news sites described him as a religious leader known for his efforts to recruit fighters from Australia, and reported that the 30-year-old dual Australian/Syrian citizen had gone to Syria in June to “join the resistance alongside jihadi Salafis.”
mre.
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The 15 Most NSFW Music Videos of All Time Pictures Bjrk, ‘Pagan Poetry’ 2001 | Rolling Stone
HERE.
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War News Updates: Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials — August 23, 2012.
How does body temperature reset the biological clock? | e! Science News.
Fishing Expedition Finds Weird Deep-Sea Sharks – msnbc.com technology & science.
The Saga of Tim & Freya | MetaFilter.
Freakonomics » FREAK-est Links.
Human lungs brush out intruders | Science Codex.
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