Drugs (a Health Issue)
From earliest times, we have seen how various substances have affected us and other animals. These include substances that are harmful and others that are beneficial. However, in most cases, these substances are both harmful and beneficial. The dividing line is whether the benefits outweigh the harms or not.
Some plants and animals contain substances that are poisonous. To survive, we have learned to avoid eating or drinking these poisons. In addition, we learned to use these poisons as weapons when hunting for food or killing pests. Unfortunately, some of us consider some of our fellow humans to be pests and we use these poisons on them.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are numerous substances that can help heal us. We have learned that ingesting, injecting, or applying them in the right way can cure or prevent disease and infection. Other substances can alter our perceptions. They may deaden our pain, make us sleep, change our mood or our urges, or seem to send us on a trip to another reality.
All drugs cause some type of temporary or permanent change in our bodies’ biochemistry. Some of the effects of these drugs are desirable and some are not. Even the best medicines have side effects. When taking any drug, we must weigh the desirable effects against the undesirable ones.
Every year, hundreds of new drugs are being developed. Some of these drugs will go on to save countless lives, but others will fail to do any good or will be harmful. To protect the public from useless and harmful drugs, the FDA requires a long approval process with numerous tests and trials. The downside to this process is that it can take years for a useful drug to be approved and many of us may suffer while waiting for it. The upside is that many of us will be spared the harm that would have been done from the drugs that turn out to be harmful.
The law needs to allow expedited use of a drug by those of us who would die or experience great suffering without it. The first requirement would be that we could afford the drug. For instance, the drug company was providing the drug free or at a reduced price as part of their trials, our health insurance included an option to cover experimental drugs, or we were wealthy enough to buy it. The next requirement would be that we be given all the facts about the drug, including chances of success, side effects and potential dangers. We would then sign an appropriate consent form or waver. In addition, we would be allowed access to a complete report on our progress and the results of other clinical trials.
Some drugs are very beneficial when taken at the proper dosage, but quite harmful at higher dosages. Many other drugs are dangerous at any dosage. Unfortunately, many of us get hooked on taking drugs at harmful or dangerous dosages because the drugs put us in an altered state of mind that we find enjoyable or help us to alleviate some pain. If we eventually see the harm being done to our bodies, minds, relationships, and careers, we may have already become addicted. Once addicted, we may find it difficult to quit.
Of course, we should have the right to live whatever lifestyle we want that does not do undue harm to others. The problem with misusing drugs is that drug users usually end up hurting others. Under the influence of drugs, we can lose control of ourselves, which can lead us to violence and accidents.
Some drugs can cause delusions, paranoia, or rage, while others can slow reaction time, or make drug users lethargic or hyper. In addition, many drug users resort to stealing to pay for their drugs. Even without resorting to stealing, drug users are supporting criminal organizations that result in corruption through bribes and money laundering, and that commit acts of violence such as torture and murder.
It is likely that there will always be some individuals who will misuse drugs, but if it is treated as a crime, it will be difficult to educate and to treat the drug users. We need to create a system where those individuals that are going to use drugs can misuse them all they want without causing harm to others.
We would start by licensing authorized growers and pharmaceutical companies, who had not been involved in any past illegal drug business. Everything would be inspected and controlled at every step of the way to account for quality and quantity. The pharmaceutical companies would work towards creating drugs that would provide the desired effects without being as addictive and with fewer harmful side effects. These drugs would only be distributed to licensed drug clinics, which would be required to keep complete records of who uses what and how much they use. These clinics would need to be nonprofit ventures, which would not be allowed to promote the use of drugs in any way.
Individuals wanting to use the drugs would be required to come to a drug clinic, where they would be required to read all the facts pertaining to the drug and sign a waiver. The drug users would receive the drugs from licensed professionals and would be required to stay at the clinic until the effects of the drug had sufficiently worn off. Since the effects of some drugs can linger, the user’s names would be added to a drug use registry to be used by certain employers to ensure that employees working in sensitive or responsible positions (e.g. pilots, bus drivers, police, and firefighters) were not taking drugs. In addition, insurance companies would have access to the information to adjust health insurance policies accordingly.
The benefits of this drug use program are enormous. Users could be in a safe and clean environment where they could buy safer legal drugs that would be administered using clean needles. In addition, they would have access to detailed information on the effects of the drugs and to medical help for any problems. With more information about the effects of the drugs, it should reduce drug use. Since the drug users would prefer a legal method, illegal drug use should fall off dramatically, which would reduce crime and reduce the burden on the police, the courts, and the prisons. Another benefit would be reduced use among children since illegal drug pushers would find it difficult to make a profit if they only sold to children.
It is doubtful that many people would smoke if cigarettes did not contain the drug nicotine. Therefore, cigarettes are basically nicotine delivery units. Given the fact that there are means of taking nicotine without the hazards of smoking, I really cannot understand why anyone would prefer to smoke.
I have heard some talk about how smoking makes someone look cool. I do not see it that way. Yes, someone who is smoking may seem aloof and above all the fray that might be going on around them, which may make them seem cool to some. However, I just see someone so addicted to nicotine that they are detached from normal social interaction. For someone to be cool, they would need to be able to stay above the fray but remain socially involved.
If smoking only hurt the smoker, there really would be no problem, since we should have a right to do whatever we want with our own bodies. Unfortunately, there is the problem of secondhand smoke. Luckily, laws are already being enacted to remove smoke from many public places. I believe that this trend should continue. If smokers want to smoke, then they should do so in the privacy of their homes or in private clubs where only other smokers would be exposed to their secondhand smoke.
In addition, since smoking is bad for our health, smokers are more likely to have health issues and to get sick more often than non-smokers. Therefore, smokers should be required to pay higher premiums for their health insurance to cover their high health care costs and higher premiums for their life insurance to account for their earlier deaths.
Another place where change should be made is with tobacco taxes. These taxes should be kept or raised to a high enough level to help discourage use and should be equalized enough to help prevent interstate smuggling. Since it is doubtful that the states would agree on the same tax rate, I would suggest that the federal government set a minimum tax rate.
Of course, the states could still set whatever tax rate they wanted. If a state uses this minimum tax rate or one that is higher, then the state would get all the tax revenue. If a state did not set a tax rate or set one lower than the minimum tax rate, then the tax rate would still be set at the minimum tax rate, and the federal government would get any tax revenue that the state did not take.
Vaping with e-cigarettes has been touted as a safer alternative than cigarette smoking and a way to help individuals quit smoking. However, as more individuals take up vaping more evidence is coming out showing that vaping is not as safe as first thought.
First off, the evidence so far has not shown that vaping is an effective way to quit smoking. In fact, many individuals who vape continue to smoke. In addition, many individuals who would not have ever taken up smoking have taken up vaping.
Then, most e-cigarettes deliver nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the brains of teens, kids and fetuses in women who vape. In addition, some e-cigarettes contain even more nicotine than what is in cigarettes.
In addition, e-cigarette vapor contains a lot of harmful substances. These include diacetyl (a chemical linked to a serious lung disease), cancer-causing chemicals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead. Not only do the individuals who vape breathe in these toxic contaminants, but nearby individuals risk secondhand exposure.
Given that the dangers of vaping are somewhat like those of smoking, we should also limit and tax them like we do for smoking. Of course, we should also educate everyone about the dangers of vaping and discourage vaping.
The imbibing of excessive amounts of alcohol is a big problem that injures and kills thousands every year. Drinking alcohol can lead to a reduction in judgment, self-control, and reaction times. Among other things, this can lead to car accidents and to accidents when these individuals operate any machinery or even do many routine activities, which even includes walking.
Although earlier studies seemed to suggest that small amounts of alcohol were beneficial, more recent studies indicate that this is not true. Over time, alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems. These include high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and digestive problems.
Given the social context of drinking, trying to limit alcohol use to clinics would probably never work. Instead, we need to come up with ways to prevent individuals from drinking excessively and from going out drunk from where they were drinking.
Bars and restaurants are already licensed, so we could add a requirement that anyone who drinks in one of these establishments cannot be allowed to leave unless they are sober, or someone was willing to take legal responsibility for the person until the person sobered up. If anyone leaves drunk, then the establishment would have to pay a hefty fine and could risk losing its license.
A similar requirement with appropriate fines should be placed on home parties where guests would not be allowed to leave unless they were sober. Again, an exception to the rule about not leaving while drunk would be when someone was willing to take legal responsibility for the person until that individual sobered up.
At no time in human history has there been such abundance and diversity of drugs used for medical and recreational purposes. There are a myriad of drugs or drug cocktails designed to cure or to treat the symptoms of almost any disease or affliction you might have.
Today, there are a growing number of individuals taking a dozen or more drugs. Doctors and pharmacists not only need to know the effects of taking a single drug, but need to know how two or more drugs will interact. Some drugs are designed just to lessen the side effects of taking one or more other drugs. For some patients, it many come down to having faith that the benefits and side effects of all the drugs that they are taking will add up to being beneficial.
It seems to me that our world must be seriously out of whack if we need to fill our bodies with so many drugs. Our modern lifestyles expose us to pollution, radiation, and toxins, and force us to live more stressful and sedentary lives where we are all packed closer together indoors and away from nature. For instance, we need blood pressure medication, sleeping pills and antidepressants to deal with the stresses of modern life. In addition, we need diet pills and insulin shots to deal with being overweight and diabetic, which often result from our poor modern diet and sedentary lives.
For most of us, our bodies are not designed for the modern lifestyles that we are leading. Industrial and technological changes have come too quickly for us to adapt and to evolve. Given enough time, our species may evolve into creatures that might thrive living our hectic modern lifestyles, but for right now, we must live with the bodies that we have. Therefore, given the potential harm and expense of taking so many drugs, lifestyle changes may be a better way to go. To do that, we must overcome our problems with overpopulation, suburban sprawl, and sedentary lifestyles. We must also reconnect more with nature.
In the meantime, we must adjust our diets and lifestyles so that we can remain healthier and not need as many drugs. In the short term, it may be necessary to prescribe a lot of drugs to cure some conditions. In the long run, given the costs and dangers from too many drugs, we should do all that we can to reduce the need for drugs and to limit treatment as much as possible to life threatening conditions and to major problems.
Of course, this is a free society, so if we really felt that we needed the drugs and could pay for them, then we should have every right to get them. The one big exception may be antibiotics. Our overuse of antibiotics has led to resistant strains of many bugs, which could endanger us all. Therefore, we need tighter controls put on antibiotics so that they can remain effective for as long as possible.
Another concern with us taking or having so many drugs is the potential for children to get into them. Some children steal them from family and friends and use them without any concern for their safety. It is bad enough when children take the drugs they have stolen, but a new and unfortunate tread is for children to take the drugs to a “pharm party” (also known as a pill party or skittles party) where all the different drugs are mixed in a bowl and the kids grab and eat handfuls of them at a time. It makes me shudder to think about the horrible damage they are doing to themselves. There needs to be a law requiring anyone who has children or might have children in their house to have a secure locked cabinet where all prescription and over the counter drugs are kept.
When someone takes multiple drugs, there is the risk of negative drug interactions. In some cases, one drug may simply lessen the effectiveness of another drug. In other cases, two or more drugs may interact in a way that is dangerous. When we need multiple drugs, we need to ensure that those drugs do not have negative interactions, or at least do what is needed to lessen those negative interactions. In some cases, that means taking different or additional drugs.
If we are only prescribed drugs by one doctor, then that doctor should track and evaluate the interactions of those drugs. A problem can occur when we are prescribed drugs by multiple doctors, especially when we get these prescriptions filled by different pharmacies. If we do not inform our doctors or pharmacists of all the other drugs that we are taking, then no one will be able to evaluate all the drug interactions.
The way to alleviate the problem of negative drug interactions is to ensure there is at least one place where all the drugs that we are taking are listed and evaluated. We should be required to have a drug tracking account with our doctor, pharmacy, insurance company or some other group. Doctors would be required to enter each drug prescription. All possible drug interactions could then be evaluated, and the doctors would be notified if their new prescription would cause any negative interactions. If so, the doctors could adjust their prescriptions as needed.
Judicial Issues -
Introduction to the Judicial Issues affecting Our Future Path.
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