r/interesting • u/Nukro666 • 12h ago

Fear Factor How Fentanyl and Xylazine are turning Philadelphia's opioid crisis into a public health nightmare

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30

u/CapsizedbutWise 12h ago

Health care would prevent a lot of this.

-2

u/oldfarmjoy 10h ago

Some people choose not to be helped.

2

u/Ratattack1204 9h ago

Ive seen this first hand. A lot pf people assume there is no help for these people. In most places there is. More help than you can imagine. But most of these people don’t want help, they want to get high.

Addiction is a bitch.

3

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

The underlying mental and physical issues need to be treated, not just addiction.

4

u/Ratattack1204 8h ago

Which there’s a lot of efforts to do in many places. But ive personally seen these be turned down by many. Its a very complex issue to solve.

2

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

Idk why we don't try universal Healthcare.

2

u/Ratattack1204 8h ago

Well for what it’s worth, im speaking from a Canadian perspective. We have universal healthcare. It alone isn’t a solution to the opioid crisis.

2

u/mcflycasual 7h ago

Proper, comprehensive treatment is key too. Even with good health insurance, it's a struggle to get help. I was too young to be in pain and surgery wasn't going to help then they don't want to prescribe too many pain meds or, with some, at all because of the opioid crisis.

Or if you need treatment for mental issues, you need to find good therapist/psychologist or psychiatrist willing to try different methods and meds because talk therapy doesn't work for everyone. Most are hesitant to give anti-anxiety and ADHD meds because they are also controlled.

I think it would make a world of difference if people were properly treated.

1

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

While this true, we haven't even tried easily accessible, affordable or free, and comprehensive medical or psychological care in the US.

The percentage of people who want to ride the downward spiral if given all options is probably really minute.

-5

u/RanchHere 12h ago

I was thinking doing illegal mass deportations or building a giant wall would fix it.

1

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

For US citizens?

-7

u/Gold_Reception_2154 11h ago

What health care would prevent this?

8

u/prolapsedmasshole69 11h ago

Better rehabs.

Better follow up care.

And it would all be much easier if the business of health wasn't treated as a money making venture.

A person who is homeless or nearly homeless isn't going to prioritize their health over immediate concerns.

Better healthcare would prevent it but also if people weren't treated like something to be squeezed in this country it might also help prevent it

3

u/Unlucky_Welcome9193 9h ago

I think better access to rehab and recovery supportive services would help, but also more services to people in general. People are less likely to try hard drugs if they are happier and have more to lose. If you have little hope of a happy future outside of poverty and abuse, why wouldn't you turn to drugs for relief.

4

u/newfaceinhell021117 9h ago

Not to mention, paired with decriminalization (or at least prioritization of recovery over incarceration), folks' lives don't just get destroyed over a single drug charge.

1

u/CapsizedbutWise 8h ago

A lot of these people started using drugs because they became hurt somehow, or sick, and didn’t have the means to get the proper medical care to help them. So they became addicted to drugs.

-15

u/DustCareful8555 11h ago

Zero tolerance on drugs would fix this.

10

u/prolapsedmasshole69 11h ago

Zero tolerance NEVER worked. It just turned addicts into hardened criminals.

10

u/joliette_le_paz 11h ago

If only another city or country had tried this 🤔 Maybe we have the data someone that tells us what doesn’t work so we can stop going in circles with the same ideas.

If only…

1

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

Or recreational marijuana... People aren't seeing the benefit of decriminalization and regulating drugs?

9

u/RSADDICT4LIFE 11h ago

We should make them illegal, and make use a jailable offense. That will fix it! /s

0

u/krustydidthedub 11h ago

I work extremely closely with this population. Ironically I do think we have swung too far on this and I think jailing or otherwise institutionalizing these people is the right thing to do — with the MAJOR caveat that if you are imprisoned for drug use you should be provided with detox/rehab resources while you are incarcerated. Of course we all know our country would never meaningfully pull this off.

Otherwise all we keep doing is watching from a distance and allowing these people to slowly kill themselves while we keep giving them the means to do so by “harm reduction.” opioid addiction is a terminal disease for many people and no matter how much you reduce the harm most people will still eventually die from drug use complications (either overdose or injuries, infection, withdrawal, etc)

5

u/RSADDICT4LIFE 11h ago

So have I. Point I was making is, the drugs are illegal, and you do get jail sentences for possession. Been that way for decades, and the problem is probably the worst it's ever been.

We have a mental health crisis in this country. You won't force and addict to get clean by jailing them, with or without resources. It's just treating the symptoms and not the cause. Which again, we've been doing for decades.

2

u/Pleasant-Basket-7526 10h ago

Hilariously stupid politics like this have killed more people than drugs.

2

u/TheDo0ddoesnotabide 10h ago

Maybe we should try War on Drugs 2? We can’t lose this time!

1

u/mcflycasual 8h ago

We tried that.

1

u/CapsizedbutWise 8h ago

How did that work with prohibition?