
A Surge in Meth Use in Colorado Complicates Opioid Recovery - DoreenMichele
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/14/628134831/a-surge-in-meth-use-in-colorado-complicates-opioid-recovery
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liquidise
This strikes as correlation not causation.

As someone in denver since before the legalization, i believe these stats are
related, but i think the bigger cause was pot legalization in so few areas at
once. By legalizing in CO and not nationally, my story is that we attracted a
number of people looking to move for a lifestyle, not knowing that at the same
time housing prices were skyrocketing due to a blooming tech scene and
gentrification. The influx of smokers only added fuel to the fire.

The two ongoing trends create hard times for the un/underemployed. It is well
documented that crimes rates correlate with hard financial times.

~~~
dfsegoat
RE: Pot legalization - it could be you are correct.

I lived in Denver pre-/post-medical legalization. I now live in Northern CA
where we just legalized.

Basically I've seen the same thing happen both places: Cannabis is legalized,
and there is an uptick in violent and petty crime in the areas where
cultivation is. Meth I don't know.

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abenedic
What will be interesting over the next 20 years is how legal weed will impact
addiction rates.

~~~
Animats
Colorado's governor is having second thoughts about legalization.[1]

[1] [https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/20/us/colorado-marijuana-and-
cri...](https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/20/us/colorado-marijuana-and-
crime/index.html)

~~~
reducesuffering
Is this a propaganda piece pushed by entrenched alcohol industry interests?

~~~
creato
As someone who thinks marijuana should be legal, I thought it was a reasonable
article.

~~~
jdhendrickson
The video embedded in the article pretty much made the point that legal weed
brought transients to the state, and they are in turn people that would have
committed crimes regardless of what state they are in. Legalizing nationally
would negate the issue.

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rubzah
Looking at the chart in the article, heroin overdoses have grown by about the
same amount as meth.

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mirimir
The speedball (stimulant+depressant) has long been popular. In the mainstream,
that would be coffee plus alcohol, and often tobacco. For the hard-core, that
would be cocaine or methamphetamine, plus morphine, heroin or eucadol. But
without medical supervision, the risk of overdose is too high. Because opiates
tend to wear off faster than stimulants, and titration is nontrivial.

~~~
oxide
Comparing the mix of moprhine and cocaine with coffee and alcohol is both
misleading and inaccurate.

Even cocaine and amphetamine are apples and oranges, despite both being
classified as stimulants.

~~~
mirimir
Well, all combinations of stimulants and depressants are speedballs. And in my
experience, they differ mainly in intensity. And of course, in risk of death.
Which I did make very clear.

Anyway, it's basically that stimulants prevent falling asleep, passing out, or
(ideally) dying at high depressant doses. Which allows users to experience
more intense effects from said depressants. And that depressants reduce
anxiety, relax, and (ideally) prevent dying (usually from cardiac arrest) at
high stimulant doses. Which allows users to experience more intense effects
from said stimulants.

And re cocaine vs methamphetamine, I've used both a lot, albeit many years
ago. And sure, they're quite different. But they both made me happy, and kept
me awake. As I recall, cocaine was much better for play, dancing, and sex. And
methamphetamine was better for working, driving, and just slogging through
emergency situations.

For a few years, I basically lived out of a bicycle, and I always carried
methamphetamine and morphine, in case of emergencies. It was standard issue
for most all military services, so hey.

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mchahn
> when her parents gave her pain pills for a toothache. Just like that, she
> was hooked.

I call B.S. The next paragraph reveals the cause ...

> Both my parents were addicts

