{"id":457956,"date":"2022-06-04T04:18:56","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T01:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/normalizing-drug-addiction-leads-to-even-more-overdoses\/"},"modified":"2022-06-04T04:18:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T01:18:56","slug":"normalizing-drug-addiction-leads-to-even-more-overdoses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/normalizing-drug-addiction-leads-to-even-more-overdoses\/","title":{"rendered":"#Normalizing drug addiction leads to even more overdoses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a22eb16660e9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a22eb16660e9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/normalizing-drug-addiction-leads-to-even-more-overdoses\/#%E2%80%9CNormalizing_drug_addiction_leads_to_even_more_overdoses%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Normalizing drug addiction leads to even more overdoses&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CNormalizing_drug_addiction_leads_to_even_more_overdoses%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Normalizing drug addiction leads to even more overdoses&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The city Health Department\u2019s subway ad campaign reassuring hard-drug users that they can be \u201cempowered\u201d by \u201cusing safely\u201d is not an isolated <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to the epidemic of overdose deaths. It\u2019s part of a larger \u201charm reduction\u201d movement based on the idea that the combination of decriminalization or outright legalization will reduce the tragic number of US overdose deaths \u2014 100,000 last year. The ads are of a piece with the \u201csafe-injection sites\u201d inaugurated by the de Blasio administration.<\/p>\n<p>But as evidence starts to come in from the real world, this Pollyannaish view deserves to be questioned.<\/p>\n<p>Consider what\u2019s happened in Oregon, where in 2020 voters approved a ballot measure to decriminalize hard drugs \u2014 and at the same time establish addiction treatment centers. Unconsidered was the possibility that making heroin and fentanyl legal \u2014 subject to a $100 fine that could be waived if one just calls a help hotline \u2014 might actually encourage more use.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of harm reduction, OD deaths are climbing. At a hearing on the law, a state legislator from rural Eagle\u2019s Pass reported a 700% hike in drug use and a 120% rise in overdose deaths. Oregon\u2019s secretary of state told the hearing that \u201cin many communities in Oregon we\u2019ve seen the problem with drug addiction get worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The harm-reduction movement needs to accept common sense: Acquiescence signals approval.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/fentanyl.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Supplies for drug users are seen at an overdose prevention center\" class=\"wp-image-22531160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/fentanyl.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/fentanyl.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/fentanyl.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Supplies for drug users are organized at OnPoint NYC, a safe injection site. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Seth Wenig\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Advocates of decriminalization believe, as usual, that the problem is money. Spend more and we\u2019ll see improvement! But what\u2019s happening so far should put this whole movement on notice: You\u2019re experimenting with human lives and the lives of families ruined by drug users.<\/p>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s the safe-injection sites in Harlem and Brooklyn or the decriminalization of cocaine and opioid possession in British Columbia (announced this week), advocates of the harm-reduction approach must be willing to accept evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Accepting hard-drug use signals that public-health authorities believe they have no tools to reverse a public-health crisis, that they are giving up on thousands of citizens or embracing the misbegotten idea that one can be a productive drug addict.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/naloxone-kit.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"A naloxone kit \" class=\"wp-image-22531210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/naloxone-kit.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/naloxone-kit.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/naloxone-kit.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The city Health Department provides overdose rescue kits. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Here\u2019s another idea for the city Health Department: a subway campaign urging riders not to use drugs in the first place. Heavy-handed \u201cJust say no\u201d warnings may not be the right approach \u2014 but in a city filled with the most creative advertising firms in the world, we should not rule out a campaign that could change habits and lives.<\/p>\n<p>It is ironic indeed that we see no such public-health campaign even as the state continues to run graphic portrayals of end-stage lung cancer and regrets from its victims that they ever took up smoking. A similar anti-drug campaign could include grief-stricken parents who have lost children to overdoses \u2014 and saw their potential snuffed out.<\/p>\n<p>Government sends signals about what it is acceptable. From drug-decriminalization laws to the \u201cUse safely\u201d campaign, government is sending the wrong signal.<\/p>\n<p><em>Howard Husock is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/03\/normalizing-drug-addiction-leads-to-even-more-overdoses\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Normalizing drug addiction leads to even more overdoses&#8221; The city Health Department\u2019s subway ad campaign reassuring hard-drug users that they can be \u201cempowered\u201d by \u201cusing safely\u201d is not an isolated approach to the epidemic of overdose deaths. It\u2019s part of a larger \u201charm reduction\u201d movement based on the idea that the combination of decriminalization or&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":457957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/06\/newspress-collage-22530081-1654302557606.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1654288234&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[129880,77219,71427,71454],"class_list":["post-457956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-3-22","tag-fentanyl","tag-health-department","tag-subways"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}