One in six Irish are junkies - with the state's blessing

[JCSkinner]

9% of adults have taken anti-depressants | BreakingNews.ie

It seems the use of prescription sedatives and anti-depressants, which are addictive, dangerous and can lead to suicidal ideation, is rife in Ireland.
But since these are LEGAL drugs, and since the addicts are patients who score from GPs and not from street dealers, apparently that's alright.
Women, divorcees and the unemployed were all found to have higher than average rates of usage for these substances.
I want to know:
Why is this situation considered acceptable?
Why aren't cleaner, less dangerous substances which have positive effects on depression like St John's Wort and cannabis offered instead?
Why do we still criminalise cannabis users while facilitating (and part-funding) addiction to dangerous sedatives?

[oscartango]

How many of the 1 in 6 are also lunchtime-drinking public servants ?

[Easy Tiger]

I see the number crunchers have the numbers at hand, but I hope or worry that they do not also have the names, in the name of patient confidentiality. The thought that there might be a list of all the identitieis of all the people on medication doing the rounds in govt. statistitions' hands is far more concerning than the statistic itself.

[JCSkinner]

How many of the 1 in 6 are also lunchtime-drinking public servants ?

Keep your public service bashing to the four trillion threads already open for the purpose.
This thread is about the state provision of sedative addiction and the hypocrisy of our drugs policies.

[JCSkinner]

I see the number crunchers have the numbers at hand, but I hope or worry that they do not also have the names, in the name of patient confidentiality. The thought that there might be a list of all the identitieis of all the people on medication doing the rounds in govt. statistitions' hands is far more concerning than the statistic itself.

That's not how these figures are gathered. Patient confidentiality is assured.

[Easy Tiger]

That's not how these figures are gathered. Patient confidentiality is assured.

Good.

As for cannabis, it's a nightmare drug for some people causing psychotic episodes and maybe even full-blown psychosis. Alcohol does more harm than tranquilisers too.

[JCSkinner]

Good.

As for cannabis, it's a nightmare drug for some people causing psychotic episodes and maybe even full-blown psychosis. Alcohol does more harm than tranquilisers too.

On a point of fact, cannabis is NOT causative of psychosis.
It is potentially linked in a catalytic fashion to the development of schizophrenia among young adolescents already predisposed genetically to the condition, and even that link remains currently unproven.
Alcohol does indeed cause much more individual and social harm than sedatives and tranqs. It must be remembered that whereas both alcohol and sedatives and tranquillisers cause numerous deaths annually, cannabis has NEVER caused a single death.

[toxic avenger]

I know many people on anti-depressants, for a whole range of conditions. I even know someone who takes medication for nerve damage that she never found out until very recently also acts as an anti-depressant. It seems that if you go to the doctor in Ireland and it's anything mood-related, the answer is to chuck anti-depressants at you. Several of the people I know who took them actually got worse as a result. It's very bad, and I have very little confidence in many of the GPs I have come across, and there must be many many more like them across Ireland.

[Easy Tiger]

I've known personally a young friend of mine many years ago diagnosed with schitzophrenia months after trying cannabis for the first time. I myself had a terrible experience of it. You can't simply assert noone has died from it, maybe not medically, but who knows how many accidents it's caused.

[iartaoiseach]

On a point of fact, cannabis is NOT causative of psychosis.
It is potentially linked in a catalytic fashion to the development of schizophrenia among young adolescents already predisposed genetically to the condition, and even that link remains currently unproven.
Alcohol does indeed cause much more individual and social harm than sedatives and tranqs. It must be remembered that whereas both alcohol and sedatives and tranquillisers cause numerous deaths annually, cannabis has NEVER caused a single death.

I'm afraid you are banging your head on a brick wall arguing with the drugs are bad mmmmkay brigade. I've given up. there are heaps of threads on this and no matter what rational fact based arguments are put forward these people just live in a permanent state of denial. It's like arguing with religious fundamentalists - it's true coz I believe it. No amount of fact will change their mind its already made up.