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Jake Ehlinger found dead near campus


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On 10/23/2021 at 2:52 PM, ultimaton said:

You're wrong. The consensus is that access to FTS will save lives. San Fransisco ran a pilot program on this a few years ago through their needle exchange apparatus and it determined that a high number of users *did* test their drugs before use and modified their behavior accordingly when fentanyl was found to be present. Other programs in North Carolina and Rhode Island have produced similar results. Harm reductions strategies are shown to work.

If UT provided FTS to students, maybe Jake -- or any of the kids and young adults talked about in this thread -- doesn't bother and he still takes that bad xanax and dies. But the numbers indicate there's a likelihood he does take the time to test it and maybe he's still with us today. But either way, at least he would've had a chance. 

I haven't checked on them lately, but I think we should look to places like the Czech Republic for some reasonable alternatives to our clearly disastrous approach.  Maybe Amsterdam as well.

I am an addict and an alcoholic, thankfully clean/sober.  When we are at the mercy of our addictions, we are going to get loaded, and we're gonna do it with whatever we can get our hands on.  Period.  End of story.  It's a mathematical certainty.

But I've never known an addict who wouldn't opt for a safer method to accomplish that.  We want to self medicate and feel fantastic.  We don't want to fucking die.

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12 hours ago, Augustus said:

I haven't checked on them lately, but I think we should look to places like the Czech Republic for some reasonable alternatives to our clearly disastrous approach.  Maybe Amsterdam as well.

I am an addict and an alcoholic, thankfully clean/sober.  When we are at the mercy of our addictions, we are going to get loaded, and we're gonna do it with whatever we can get our hands on.  Period.  End of story.  It's a mathematical certainty.

But I've never known an addict who wouldn't opt for a safer method to accomplish that.  We want to self medicate and feel fantastic.  We don't want to fucking die.

Math is hard. Only approx 10% of us descend into true chemical dependency. Many of the OD deaths are what AAs call “amateurs”. Many of my AA friends have amazing stories of surviving overdoses. And then, after a moment of clarity, go back out and continue their drug seeking. It’s complicated. But simply selling purer, cheaper drugs is not the answer. Drug addiction (and alcoholism IS drug addiction) is a combination of soul slavery and slow suicide. I’ve attended too many funerals. Easier availability is not the solution some would have us believe.  

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5 hours ago, WhatTheBuck said:

And the Portuguese and the Swiss.

Czech Republic, Holland, the Swiss, Portugal et al, none of these are useful comparisons. Find me a nation of 330 million with open borders, worlds busiest ports, disposable income and greatest freedoms in the world. It’s like comparing Harvard or Yale’s undefeated season with the Longhorns inability to win the Big 12. Not a relevant comparison. 

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So your idea is to continue the war on drugs, continuing throwing obscene amounts of money, but also more money at treatment because this time, we mean it? Do we continue to treat users as criminals? Creating felons that can’t get certain kinds of job? Continue to break up families (which is probably worse than drugs)?

Why not, after 50+ years of failed policy, broken families, deaths in this country and abroad as well as our policies destabilizing other countries, give decriminalization a shot? Yeah, the US and Portugal are not the same country, but what would it hurt to give it a go? If it doesn’t help, we could always go back to the previously failed idea of the war on drugs. Nothing is set in stone.

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30 minutes ago, Bobby Layne said:

Czech Republic, Holland, the Swiss, Portugal et al, none of these are useful comparisons. Find me a nation of 330 million with open borders, worlds busiest ports, disposable income and greatest freedoms in the world. It’s like comparing Harvard or Yale’s undefeated season with the Longhorns inability to win the Big 12. Not a relevant comparison. 

Without checking any stats, I’d trade both our entire lines for Harvard’s or Yale’s. 

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3 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

So your idea is to continue the war on drugs, continuing throwing obscene amounts of money, but also more money at treatment because this time, we mean it? Do we continue to treat users as criminals? Creating felons that can’t get certain kinds of job? Continue to break up families (which is probably worse than drugs)?

Why not, after 50+ years of failed policy, broken families, deaths in this country and abroad as well as our policies destabilizing other countries, give decriminalization a shot? Yeah, the US and Portugal are not the same country, but what would it hurt to give it a go? If it doesn’t help, we could always go back to the previously failed idea of the war on drugs. Nothing is set in stone.

He's also for the prohibition of alcohol, or at least more restrictions than the current access to it, and is involved in Alcoholics Anonymous enough that he can voice their opinions on outside issues.

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5 minutes ago, South Austin said:

Except stupidity.*
 

 

 

 

 

*In case it wasn’t apparent from my comment, I agree with your position.

And the giant chiseled granite monument to your mom's gaping vaj.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I think that was my first ever. I'm a man now.

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1 hour ago, Bobby Layne said:

Math is hard. Only approx 10% of us descend into true chemical dependency. Many of the OD deaths are what AAs call “amateurs”. Many of my AA friends have amazing stories of surviving overdoses. And then, after a moment of clarity, go back out and continue their drug seeking. It’s complicated. But simply selling purer, cheaper drugs is not the answer. Drug addiction (and alcoholism IS drug addiction) is a combination of soul slavery and slow suicide. I’ve attended too many funerals. Easier availability is not the solution some would have us believe.  

It's a much better solution than prohibition, which we know is a complete and utter failure.

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9 hours ago, Bobby Layne said:

Math is hard. Only approx 10% of us descend into true chemical dependency. Many of the OD deaths are what AAs call “amateurs”. Many of my AA friends have amazing stories of surviving overdoses. And then, after a moment of clarity, go back out and continue their drug seeking. It’s complicated. But simply selling purer, cheaper drugs is not the answer. Drug addiction (and alcoholism IS drug addiction) is a combination of soul slavery and slow suicide. I’ve attended too many funerals. Easier availability is not the solution some would have us believe.  

Thanks for explaining alcoholism to me.  I might've been a little too drunk for 30 years to catch a clue.

I have a hard time thinking that a "safer" supply wouldn't mean less OD's, but maybe you have some insight I lack.  This is just my profession.

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On 10/22/2021 at 11:54 AM, closetohumping said:

For sure.  That never worked.

You must be too young to remember MADD’s infancy. Drunk driving awareness was barely heard of in the 70s, but by the end of the 80s, Designated Drivers were definitely a thing. Same for calling a cab or taking away someone’s keys. I was in my early legal drinking days when MADD started having a voice, and my (and my friend’s) first reaction was to scoff at such a nerdy idea.
 

My daughters talk about who’s going to be the DD with their friends all the time. When I was their age, we joked about things like driving-by-Braille (riding the discs along the highway stripes).

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22 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

You must be too young to remember MADD’s infancy. Drunk driving awareness was barely heard of in the 70s, but by the end of the 80s, Designated Drivers were definitely a thing. Same for calling a cab or taking away someone’s keys. I was in my early legal drinking days when MADD started having a voice, and my (and my friend’s) first reaction was to scoff at such a nerdy idea.
 

My daughters talk about who’s going to be the DD with their friends all the time. When I was their age, we joked about things like driving-by-Braille (riding the discs along the highway stripes).

Yep, that was my group's reaction. It was a small town, all there was to do was drink beer and drive back roads. Luckily when I was pulled over for DWI in my early twenties, it was in a county where my cousin was the DA, and my aunt on the opposite side of the family was his secretary. No charges were filed, it cost me $150 to get my Bronco out of impound, and a six month licenses suspension for refusing a breathalyzer.

Fast forward to today, CHIEF Jr. and none of his friends drink more than one or two beers at the bars in town. They come here to drink at the Country Club, and always have. All the roads are private and there are no cops. They are all entering professional careers after college, and are unwilling to jeopardize all of that hard work on a drunk driving arrest. They just come back to our house, crash, and leave out the next morning. LEOs pretty much stake out every drinking establishment in town. Our mayor got his 3rd DWI. He was marked after his first one, and had to step down. He didn't learn his lesson after the first one, they knew his car, and would simply sit and wait for the inevitable. A big music venue shut down several years back, sheriff's deputies would drive through and write down license plates of the vehicles that got there early and would be waiting outside the gate to pull them over. Really chickenshit behavior.

CHIEF

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1 minute ago, Deej said:

Whew! No way they can kill themselves or someone else while driving home, then.

The only thing on the road to kill are mailboxes, you think these old fuckers are up at midnight? They can also call security, and they will drive them home. Free Uber.

CHIEF

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On 10/26/2021 at 7:33 AM, Bobby Layne said:

Czech Republic, Holland, the Swiss, Portugal et al, none of these are useful comparisons. Find me a nation of 330 million with open borders, worlds busiest ports, disposable income and greatest freedoms in the world. It’s like comparing Harvard or Yale’s undefeated season with the Longhorns inability to win the Big 12. Not a relevant comparison. 

Somebodys been paying attention to American exceptionalism propaganda. 

We dont have open borders. 

We dont have anywhere near the greatest freedoms in the world. 

IMO our biggest problem is our own attitudes and culture. Those listed countries aren't nearly as riddled with Puritanical culture and shame as Americans are. Those countries' cultures tend to value family and a lkfe balance while American culture is all about promoting materialism and overworked corporate culture. 

Our hard line prohibition stances on vices mixed with that materialism is a toxic recipe for burnout, stress, and being allured towards that which is forbidden. 

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On 10/26/2021 at 6:02 AM, Patricio Swayze said:

So your idea is to continue the war on drugs, continuing throwing obscene amounts of money, but also more money at treatment because this time, we mean it? Do we continue to treat users as criminals? Creating felons that can’t get certain kinds of job? Continue to break up families (which is probably worse than drugs)?

Why not, after 50+ years of failed policy, broken families, deaths in this country and abroad as well as our policies destabilizing other countries, give decriminalization a shot? Yeah, the US and Portugal are not the same country, but what would it hurt to give it a go? If it doesn’t help, we could always go back to the previously failed idea of the war on drugs. Nothing is set in stone.

Just build a wall. 

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8 hours ago, Hermanator said:

Somebodys been paying attention to American exceptionalism propaganda. 

We dont have open borders. 

We dont have anywhere near the greatest freedoms in the world. 

IMO our biggest problem is our own attitudes and culture. Those listed countries aren't nearly as riddled with Puritanical culture and shame as Americans are. Those countries' cultures tend to value family and a lkfe balance while American culture is all about promoting materialism and overworked corporate culture. 

Our hard line prohibition stances on vices mixed with that materialism is a toxic recipe for burnout, stress, and being allured towards that which is forbidden. 

Seems like the old mantra of “legalize pot and all our drug problems will go away” didn’t work out quite so well. There are users, abusers and addicts . . . criminals who prey on them. It’s very hard to tell as teenagers (with rare exceptions) who will grow into which category. I believe we all agree overdoses are up and fatalities are escalating. Ad hominems won’t solve the problem. Neither will the trajectory of lax enforcement, miseducation and poor treatment options we have increasingly attempted the last 20-30 years. One size or approach does not fit all situations. Back to the 3 phases analogy. Who knew to intervene on Jake before the fatal dose? What are the differences between partying, getting dosed or knowing exactly how much your body can take before it gives out? These are not simple questions with singular answers. R. I. P. Jake. Also Cole Pittman. Pain killers contribute to car wrecks. 

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On 10/26/2021 at 9:09 AM, JohnnyRage said:

He's also for the prohibition of alcohol, or at least more restrictions than the current access to it, and is involved in Alcoholics Anonymous enough that he can voice their opinions on outside issues.

 Your misinterpretation of my statements caused me to review my words. Nope.  Never endorsed prohibition. Never spoke for AA. 

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9 hours ago, Hermanator said:

Somebodys been paying attention to American exceptionalism propaganda. 

We dont have open borders. 

We dont have anywhere near the greatest freedoms in the world. 

IMO our biggest problem is our own attitudes and culture. Those listed countries aren't nearly as riddled with Puritanical culture and shame as Americans are. Those countries' cultures tend to value family and a lkfe balance while American culture is all about promoting materialism and overworked corporate culture. 

Our hard line prohibition stances on vices mixed with that materialism is a toxic recipe for burnout, stress, and being allured towards that which is forbidden. 

Nailed it.

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2 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Yeah I remember the first time I heard someone who believed that old mantra. Wait, no I don't.

You may not have heard it. It was NORMLs position from the 70s on. Pretty successful lobbying approach I’d say. How many states have legalized?  How much have overdose deaths dropped. Pot deaths are less than alcohol deaths. Please do not think that’s my endorsement for prohibition. 

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14 minutes ago, Bobby Layne said:

You may not have heard it. It was NORMLs position from the 70s on. Pretty successful lobbying approach I’d say. How many states have legalized?  How much have overdose deaths dropped. Pot deaths are less than alcohol deaths. Please do not think that’s my endorsement for prohibition. 

This is a serious question and I’d like to see where it was actually said or thought that legalizing marijuana would stop heroin, meth and or any other drug overdoses and abuse?
I find that hard to believe. 

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On 10/26/2021 at 7:28 AM, Bobby Layne said:

Math is hard. Only approx 10% of us descend into true chemical dependency. Many of the OD deaths are what AAs call “amateurs”. Many of my AA friends have amazing stories of surviving overdoses. And then, after a moment of clarity, go back out and continue their drug seeking. It’s complicated. But simply selling purer, cheaper drugs is not the answer. Drug addiction (and alcoholism IS drug addiction) is a combination of soul slavery and slow suicide. I’ve attended too many funerals. Easier availability is not the solution some would have us believe.  

I think you should double that number, but it's a reasonable point in that the majority of the demand side is not addicts, or at least full-blown addicts.

I suspect that the majority of "hard drug" consumers are partiers and "physically addicted" people who lack the fortitude simply to withdraw from opiates or benzos who would not have any further problem if they did.  Some may be en route to full-blown addiction, but aren't there yet (I believe that addiction is primarily hereditary, but that you can use your way into it as well).

Doing for drugs what we've done for alcohol, legalize and regulate, won't eliminate the problem entirely, but will go a long way to solving the multitude of collateral problems that an illicit drug industry creates, just as did the illicit alcohol industry of Prohibition.

Alcohol gives us the example of what happens with minimal demand-side work.

Elimination of addicts/addictions is not possible.  Nor is elimination of less pathological use of drugs and alcohol.  We should strive for harm reduction and I think that needs to include a massive overhaul of drug laws including decriminalization.

 

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Imagine the billions of dollars wasted on the war on drugs and how better they could have (and should have) been spent on education (both regarding drugs but also scholastics), treatment and prevention.

It’s hard for me to understand how any educated person could be in favor of continuing these policies.

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2 hours ago, Bobby Layne said:

You may not have heard it. It was NORMLs position from the 70s on. Pretty successful lobbying approach I’d say. How many states have legalized?  How much have overdose deaths dropped. Pot deaths are less than alcohol deaths. Please do not think that’s my endorsement for prohibition. 

Please provide supporting evidence for your claim that NORML's position was that if marijuana was legalized that all problems with all drugs would vanish.

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1 hour ago, Eugene11 said:

This is a serious question and I’d like to see where it was actually said or thought that legalizing marijuana would stop heroin, meth and or any other drug overdoses and abuse?
I find that hard to believe. 

I've been around awhile. I've never heard it.

It sounds like a facile reversal of the notion that smoking pot would lead inexorably to heroin addiction.

I've never smoked pot. I don't find any moral satisfaction in that. It is idiotic that partaking or marketing that substance is illegal. The war on drugs is aimed at the supply side when it's actually a demand-side issue. 

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1 hour ago, RockyMountainHighHorn said:

There is no more. This shit storm was largely due to this and the changing of the formula. 

This was a future hypothetical if drugs were legalized and all efforts were put into recovery and harm reduction.

 

 

@Bobby Layne I’m sure you’re a good dude. I’ve had some old fuddy duddy  moments myself in regards to the decriminalization of marijuana. Back in my day I used to have to get high the hard way. But if you dig deep enough almost all American prohibition is racially and immigration tinged.

You correctly put drug and alcohol addiction on a level playing field. In the same thread you are calling for reduced access to drugs. It does not follow far then that there should also be reduced access to alcohol. 
 

No sane person in Alcoholics Anonymous calls dead people from drinking ‘amateurs’. We also don’t speak for others on outside opinions, especially while holding the flame of the program. 
 

I’ve said my peace on this thread, but would be happy to pick up in a PM.
 

Sorry for the distraction, my heart goes out to The Ehlinger family. Hook’em.

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2 hours ago, Bobby Layne said:

You may not have heard it. It was NORMLs position from the 70s on. Pretty successful lobbying approach I’d say. How many states have legalized?  How much have overdose deaths dropped. Pot deaths are less than alcohol deaths. Please do not think that’s my endorsement for prohibition. 

1) “legalize cannabis and all other problems go away” has never been anyone’s position.

2) there is empirical evidence that opioid use is lower in states with legal recreational marijuana

its not a magic wand, but the availability of legal cannabis appears to be related to a decrease in opioid use

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1) “legalize cannabis and all other problems go away” has never been anyone’s position.
2) there is empirical evidence that opioid use is lower in states with legal recreational marijuana
its not a magic wand, but the availability of legal cannabis appears to be related to a decrease in opioid use

Too high to hassle with acquiring oxy?

I could see some validity to this logic.
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TwiceHorn mentioned this and I thought I'd echo it.

Our first step in trying to come up with solutions, if we're gonna be at all realistic, is to recognize that drug/alcohol abuse and all the consequences thereof are never going away, can't be eliminated.  So the prohibition guarantees not only the emergence of a black market but also the Fortune 500 success of it.  Hell, there are plenty of multinational corporations that can only dream of the cartels' financial success.

And it's not just the addicts who are the consumers. In fact, the addicts may be at less risk than a great many purely recreational users given their familiarity with the product and their acquired tolerance for high doses of opioids, for example.

Decriminalization/legalization may offer more protection for someone like Jake than someone like myself.  If he could've legally purchased xanax--or score some off someone else who's old enough to buy it and purchased it legally--he's probably alive today.  Same is true for so many who die of fentanyl overdose after scoring the fake oxy/perc tablets that are pure fentanyl.  

In a world where opioid tablets, manufactured by Big Pharma and regulated by the FDA, are available just like alcohol, heroin use would almost certainly decline dramatically.  Perhaps nowhere near eliminated, but plenty of users would opt for a safe pill with a known dosage strength vs a powder off the street that could prove fatal.

I think objections to legalization entail, among other concerns, one big fear and one mistaken assumption:  The fear seems to be that  people who wouldn't otherwise have begun to use will start, thereby actually creating new addicts.  The misconception is that really is possible to limit/decrease the consumption by addicts (not a chance) and recreational users (perhaps some).  

Harm reduction becomes much more plausible when we get realistic about the fact that a certain percentage of the population is going to use addictively regardless of any other consideration under the sun.  

Sorry about being a bit long-winded here.  tl/dr:  leopards can't change their spots, so make the supply safer.

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Imagine the billions of dollars wasted on the war on drugs and how better they could have (and should have) been spent on education (both regarding drugs but also scholastics), treatment and prevention.

It’s hard for me to understand how any educated person could be in favor of continuing these policies.

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15 minutes ago, Augustus said:

TwiceHorn mentioned this and I thought I'd echo it.

Our first step in trying to come up with solutions, if we're gonna be at all realistic, is to recognize that drug/alcohol abuse and all the consequences thereof are never going away, can't be eliminated.  So the prohibition guarantees not only the emergence of a black market but also the Fortune 500 success of it.  Hell, there are plenty of multinational corporations that can only dream of the cartels' financial success.

And it's not just the addicts who are the consumers. In fact, the addicts may be at less risk than a great many purely recreational users given their familiarity with the product and their acquired tolerance for high doses of opioids, for example.

Decriminalization/legalization may offer more protection for someone like Jake than someone like myself.  If he could've legally purchased xanax--or score some off someone else who's old enough to buy it and purchased it legally--he's probably alive today.  Same is true for so many who die of fentanyl overdose after scoring the fake oxy/perc tablets that are pure fentanyl.  

In a world where opioid tablets, manufactured by Big Pharma and regulated by the FDA, are available just like alcohol, heroin use would almost certainly decline dramatically.  Perhaps nowhere near eliminated, but plenty of users would opt for a safe pill with a known dosage strength vs a powder off the street that could prove fatal.

I think objections to legalization entail, among other concerns, one big fear and one mistaken assumption:  The fear seems to be that  people who wouldn't otherwise have begun to use will start, thereby actually creating new addicts.  The misconception is that really is possible to limit/decrease the consumption by addicts (not a chance) and recreational users (perhaps some).  

Harm reduction becomes much more plausible when we get realistic about the fact that a certain percentage of the population is going to use addictively regardless of any other consideration under the sun.  

Sorry about being a bit long-winded here.  tl/dr:  leopards can't change their spots, so make the supply safer.

What could some of the possible legal ramifications be for a physician prescribing prescription drugs to an addict, or someone that doesn't really need the prescription? Or to a pharmacist that lets just anyone walk in off the street and buy a few hundred Oxycontin? Liability is the elephant in the room. Do you just put in vending machines and let people self prescribe?

CHIEF

 

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vending machines
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What could some of the possible legal ramifications be for a physician prescribing prescription drugs to an addict, or someone that doesn't really need the prescription? Or to a pharmacist that lets just anyone walk in off the street and buy a few hundred Oxycontin? Liability is the elephant in the room. Do you just put in vending machines and let people self prescribe?
CHIEF
 

I don’t think anyone is suggesting making certain drugs (such as opioids and Xanax) legal in the sense that you go to a head shop and buy it. But possession and use should be decriminalized. Yes, the person who goes to the doctor and get some under false pretenses and sells to someone else should be held accountable. At least the way I look at it.
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29 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

What could some of the possible legal ramifications be for a physician prescribing prescription drugs to an addict, or someone that doesn't really need the prescription? Or to a pharmacist that lets just anyone walk in off the street and buy a few hundred Oxycontin? Liability is the elephant in the room. Do you just put in vending machines and let people self prescribe?

CHIEF

 

If you're talking about a world in which opioids have been made legal for recreational use, then I'd expect the legal ramifications would be similar to those faced by a bar/bartender.

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