Comments by "Stevie" (@matthewhorizon6050) on "The Solution to the Opioid Crisis | Joe Rogan u0026 Johann Hari" video.

  1. Good shit! Goood for you.
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  2. You hit the nail on the head. I've been making this claim for yrs. I'm an LMSW and CASAC-L in NYS. Been in Drug & Alcohol for well over a decade and was a junkie myself. Haven't touched the shit in 15-yrs. I'll have a few drinks here and there and am pro-pot (can't smoke for reasons tied to testing at work). MATs are the new push, along w group therapy. Granted, group sessions are highly effective and been around since the inception of clinical care in substance use disorder settings. However, the Federal Gov (SAMHSA) is leaning hard on expanding the group element and gradually removing one-on-one counseling. Not a wise choice, but in their defence, insurance companies are declining patients constantly. It's a real fuckin problem. The criteria that determines the level of care does not align w insurance companies position on the matter (i.e., in their view groups are a better bang for your buck -- and there is some truth to that thinking). But to eliminate one-on-one's entirely or even just one per moth is ludicrous. The first point of contact for many who find sobriety in rehabilitation centers is shown to be instramental in folks WANTING to change their life: we can't lose that aspect -- assessments are not therapy, but the patient-clinician time can be The catalyst for changing attitudes. Nevertheless, we don't have great success rates and the numbers claimed by inpatient and outpatients are fraudulent: that's a fact. The War on Drugs is over! It can't be won! We need to legalize and educate. People don't give enough credit to national campaigns geared towards educate the youth. It works! Look at smoking. Kids simply don't smoke anymore. Sure, some do, but not nearly as many when I was in high school (I'm 43 now). Here's the kicker though: MAT programs are supported by big pharma; and the prison industrial complex survives only by incarcerating people for illicit drug-related crimes. Legalization would crush these instatutions, especially jails and prisons. Quite the conundrum.
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  3. I agree w you whole heartedly, but it's a poor strategy to lay a comment w orders attached to it. This is why folks done get along.
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  4.  @Denzel_Watchington  MATs work, I recommend patients for them all the time! I go above and beyond to NOT introduce new drugs into a patients lives (e.g., vivitrol, suboxone, methadone, etc.), but for example, if they've been incarcerated 5 times and relapsed 10 times then I apprehensively recommend them to our psychiatrist who will likely place them on our MAT program. I prefer that people learn how to get clean and stay clean w/out the aid of mind-altering substance, but sometimes folks aren't ready to get sober. It's better they become higher functioning members of society than throwing them back out in the community where misusing illicit drugs is oftentimes inevitable.
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  5.  @muccmaster  Look into this topic before you knock it. Clearly, you don't have a firm understanding on how these programs function. They're a HIGHLY CLINICAL setting and the doses are not exorbitant and you go there three times per day (morning, lunch and night). And save your breath on lecturing me of the the variables I don't understanding, I shot dope in Williamsburg and Bushwick Brooklyn many yrs and spent quite a bit of time on the Island and upstate NY facilities. But I got clean and went to school for nearly 10 yrs and worked in the field for another decade. I understand what you're saying, but you are looking at this from a street perspective. I questioned the same things you mentioned until I read the peer re viewed literature during one of my undergrad degrees.
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  6.  @PHeMoX  That's the whole point, removing the idea of it being an issue. It's like I heard from some guy, "As soon as I hear the 'war on anything' I automatically know it's condemn to failure." It's all about accepting the situation for what it is and education the next generation. Smoking was out of control! That was lessened old school educational deterrent-oriented ad campaigns and classroom action.
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  7. @Ric Star,  Yeah! That section of Kingsland -- if my memory serves me correctly -- was called "Granparents." I lived on Jackson St between Woodpoint and Kingsland for 5 yrs. The two bodegas on the corner -- not the best places for me to hang out. I did some wild shit in that hood! From what I've heard, that area is ultra hipster now. You from that area?
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  8.  @manicmurph  Last time I remember, any dose over 110, the clinic administering the dose has to call Albany for clearance. I used to go to the clinic in Manhattan on Delaney St and Essex. A huge Indian guy (feathers, not dots) was on 160. Unfuckin real.
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  9.  @ricstar2839  I wonder if Flip is still alive? It would be a miracle if he was haha. Hopefully, he got his shit together too. I mention him because he was super notorious in that area. Odds are, you probably don't know him. I haven't been there in about 14 yrs and it was hot AF back then; I can't even imagine it being worse. The only reason I rocked for a while is due to officially living in one of those brownstones. Williamsburg is a different world, man. I remember when I first moved there about 18 yrs ago. No white people except my girl and I would be on the L-train past Bedford haha. That shit has changed! Cool talkin to ya, man. Blast from the past. I had some good times there, but the bad easily out-weighed the good. Best of luck to ya w the sobriety!
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