Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin' says Prof David Nutt

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Originally Posted by Loki

Well that is true, but with that kind of substance a bit of responsibility is required. There is no such thing as a compulsive drug.

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Codeine is an insidious secret friend to keep, primarily because pain sensitivity increases under prolonged and heavy use of the drug--which engenders greater use of the drug to relieve the pain. Vicious circle.

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Originally Posted by anonymaus

Codeine is an insidious secret friend to keep, primarily because pain sensitivity increases under prolonged and heavy use of the drug--which engenders greater use of the drug to relieve the pain. Vicious circle.

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Of course, our bodies get used to almost every substance, minimizing its effects, including pain relief. It's called homeostasis. That doesn't mean opiates should not be used to kill pain. They are absolutely invaluable to medicine. Morphine is the gold standard of analgesics. There just isn't anything better.

But yeah, it is reckless and irresponsible usage which makes people addicted. A binge here or there won't make you an addict. But daily usage over months will.

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Originally Posted by Loki

Well that is true, but with that kind of substance a bit of responsibility is required. There is no such thing as a compulsive drug.

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With codeine, it sneaks up on you when you least expect it. One moment you've got a bad back, the next thing you know, you've got rhinitis and the shakes.

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Originally Posted by Treffie

With codeine, it sneaks up on you when you least expect it. One moment you've got a bad back, the next thing you know, you've got rhinitis and the shakes.

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Yeah, my sister got herself addicted to codeine. It was a hellish nightmare for her (mostly because her stupid doctor tried to detox her cold turkey :rolleyes2: ).

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Originally Posted by Loki

Of course, our bodies get used to almost every substance, minimizing its effects, including pain relief. It's called homeostasis. That doesn't mean opiates should not be used to kill pain. They are absolutely invaluable to medicine. Morphine is the gold standard of analgesics. There just isn't anything better.

But yeah, it is reckless and irresponsible usage which makes people addicted. A binge here or there won't make you an addict. But daily usage over months will.

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That's the insidious thing about it: it's not bingers and partiers who get hooked on it, it's average people seeking relief from pain. Very sad but, as you say, opioids are the gold standard and are utterly invaluable in medicine. Allowing their sale OTC is unquestionably beneficial imo.

I'd definitely say alcohol is more socially harmful than any hard drug, simply because its usage is far more prevalent.

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Originally Posted by la bombe

I'd definitely say alcohol is more socially harmful than any hard drug, simply because its usage is far more prevalent.

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Not only that. Alcohol harms other people. Most other drugs don't do that. Men don't take a line of cocaine and then beat their wives up. But they down a bottle of Jack Daniels and do that.

Well, I´ve seen people getting quite agressive with cocaine, xtasy or mdma

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Originally Posted by Falkata

Well, I´ve seen people getting quite agressive with cocaine, xtasy or mdma

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With or without any alcohol (even small amounts) in the mix?

'Cause mixing booze and drugs can produce very unpredictable, not to mention unattractive, results.

Attached is the full study in pdf