Sunday, September 18, 2011

Relationships and recreational pills

I went to cheerleader practice the other day, and I heard some of the parents having a discussion about a friend's marriage.

I'm pretty vocal about my views of America's War on Drugs, and prohibition.  I'm sure that many people who see my posts about such things just smirk and think, "He just wants to get high".  I won't lie, if it were legal to buy weed, I would.  But that is seriously the LEAST of it.  There are a couple of beers in my fridge, and half a bottle of tequila right now, they haven't moved since last year.  The tequila was left there by the X, who's been gone for nearly two years!

Prescription drug abuse now causes more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined! Marijuana isn't included in the statistic, because marijuana is not toxic, and does not cause death, at any dosage.

According to the LA TIMES, illicit and prescription drugs now cause more deaths annually than automobiles.

"The rise in deaths corresponds with doctors prescribing more painkillers and anti-anxiety medications. The number of prescriptions for the strongest pain pills filled at California pharmacies, for instance, increased more than 43% since 2007 — and the doses grew by even more, nearly 50%, according to a review of prescribing data collected by the state."

"Oxycontin, Xanax, Vicadin and Soma lead the pack. One relative newcomer to the scene is Fentanyl, a painkiller that comes in the form of patches and lollipops and is 100 times more powerful than morphine."

In my research on the matter, I've found articles and talked to many people whose relationships had and SSRI med as a key player in the demise of those relationships, with one spouse wholly unaware of the true side effect of their Other's recreational pill habit.  I once was asked to try a Xanax, and it made me sleepy.  I couldn't understand what anyone saw in them, and never thought about it much after that.  As it turns out, it helps a lot of people, but a select few it makes them very hard to get along with, or murderous, in some cases.

I'm sure people think I honk this anti-prohibition horn too loudly and too often, but drug use has touched my life from an early age. My oldest brother was kicked out of the house for smoking weed!  OMG.  This relegation of drug distribution to the black market is wrecking the lives of far too many people. I don't want my kids raised up in this system of shame, punishment, ignorance and rhetoric that sent me off into life half-aware, unprepared and ignorant of something that was potentially so destructive.