As someone whose sister just died of a heroin overdose, I hope that we will get to the point that all drugs are legal. My sister died alone in a locked bedroom because of the shame and stigma associated with her addiction and related mental illness. I have no doubt that if there was a safe place she could go to use pharmaceutical grade heroin with clean needles that she would be alive today.
You're probably right. One of the most interesting things about heroin is that there are no long term negative side effects other than the addiction itself. This is as opppsed to something like meth that will make your teeth fall out with regular use. All the pitfalls of heroin addiction are socioeconomic. I'm sorry for your loss.
Thank you. It has been a challenging couple of months.
She was also a methamphetamine user (as a bipolar person she used meth when she was depressed and heroin when she was manic) and suffered no such "meth mouth" complications. The generally accepted reason for that side effect is a failure of dental hygiene and chronic dry mouth when dosed improperly, not necessarily the drug itself. If that were the case, the thousands and thousands of people prescribed Adderall would be toothless.
The major problem with the illegal "hard drug" market is that these substances are synthesized in abhorrent conditions and it is impossible to know what you are getting and in what concentration. For instance, there has been a recent rash of heroin overdoses across the country due to it having been "enhanced" with Fentanyl, an anesthetic designed for exclusive use in a closely-monitored hospital setting.
It took her death for me to change my stance on all of this. She found drugs that made her feel better. Heroin, meth, MDMA, etc. are no different than Seroquel, Xanax, Prozac, or any of those psychoactive drugs.
The reason I'm a productive member of society now after kicking my 6-year heroin addiction is due to this little known fact, coupled with Australia being surprisingly progressive when it comes to Opiate Replacement Therapy.
Constipation and weakening of bowel can be quite inconvenient side effects of opiate use.
Methamphetamine is also fairly safe (mainly psychosis and heart issues right?). Teeth falling out is more of a result of people tweaking for days without taking care of themselves. After all, methamphetamine is a Schedule II, prescribed, commercial medication.
Teeth falling out is more a consequence of smoking its hydrochloride. The vapor condenses to hydrochloric acid which has a predictable effect on teeth.
Amphetamines are not neurotoxic, methamphetamines are. If you want to read some scientific research search pubmed for methamphetamine neurotoxicity and you'll find a ton of results.
As far as I know, meth does very little harm to your teeth as such. Habits associated with being a person who regularly uses meth do much more. Add to that selection bias - if somebody uses meth every day but is otherwise a nicely groomed stock broker, how would you know he is a drug user? OTOH, seeing a "typical meth addict", esp. in the news and propaganda, rotten teeth and all, is readily recognizable.
