Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Heroin Deaths in MN

A gift from Sean.  I moved it from Neither Party Cares Comment String
"Let's hop in the time machine back to the 1980s, when the crack epidemic was at its peak. What was our society's response? We militarized our police forces (urban and rural). We started high-intensity police patrols that used "broken windows" policing strategies that in many places (like Ferguson, for instance) turned poor black folks into an ATM for local government. We instituted mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug offenses, and we treated drug addiction like a crime instead of a disease. Deaths from crack and powder cocaine combined peaked at about 3,000 in the late-1980s.

Today, we have an opioid epidemic that killed more than 50,000 last year. How are we responding to that crisis?

I'd like to think that the reason we're responding differently to opioids is because we've learned from the damage we did to communities 30 years ago. But I fear it's not that at all. Because we sure didn't see gauzy stories like this from local news channels about those impacted by crack back in the day:

KARE: Minnesota families grieving the toll of heroin "


7 comments:

John said...

Now I attended a funeral for a young man a couple of years ago who unfortunately fought and died from this addiction. He was related to some family friends and it was very unfortunate and sad for all involved.

Now for the question about what to do about it... I do not know?

I assume we would need to understand causality and then stop those causes...
- why would anyone start?
- how is the drug getting into the USA?
- how to "cure the addicted"?
- how to care for the babies they make while using?

Then we go back to the "nobody cares" theme. At what level should these efforts be undertaken and who should fund them?

I think tightening down the border and stopping interstate trafficking would be a Federal exercise.

Maybe funding some research maybe a Federal exercise.

I think the rest should be handled by the families, State, Cities and charities.

Sean said...

We knew exactly what to do years ago when it was black kids: throw 'em in jail. Bust them for jaywalking so we could search them. Break into their houses with battering rams.

But now that it's white suburban kids and white middle-aged dudes dying, not so much.

John said...

Sean,
And given the severity of the crack epidemic and the gang violence what would you have preferred?

Wiki Crack epidemic
Gallup 60s and 70s
Gallup 80s and 90s

John said...

Apparently the opioid and heroin business is less violent and disruptive.

I hear about 1,000's of people over dosing every week, however I don't hear about gang wars spilling out on to the streets. At least not in the burbs and rural areas. Have you?

Usually I just hear reports of some meth house being busted in the rural areas.

John said...

And then again it seems the gangs are still at it...

USN Gang Violence on Rise

And I just had a thought... Are gangs racially discriminatory?
I mean look at how few White folk they let in...

Sean said...

If you think there isn't violence surrounding opioid trafficking, you've got your head in the sand.

John said...

The search results for opioid heroin drug violence usa disagree.

As I thought they talk about the huge loss of life within the User Communities. And accuse the Mexican cartels of being the pusher.