Ohio leads the nation

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Thanks Tom,

I've heard about this opioid epidemic... There's an opioid epidemic in Australia too.

There is a painkiller I sometimes take, it has codeine in it. Thankfully I'm not addicted... I use it only very occasionally, generally for the odd headache or for the body aches that sometimes come with the flu. I hate being addicted to anything...

Currently, it is easily available over the counter here in Australia (though you have to show your driver's license, and they record it, so the authorities can track how much you are buying). However, from next year, it will be prescription-only. I guess that's a good thing, if it helps solve the problem of addiction...

Thankfully, the only thing I've ever been addicted to is caffeine. I don't even like the withdrawal headaches you can get as a caffeine addict! (I do drink coffee at the moment.)

Anyway, my personal opinion is that it is good to avoid being addicted to things. Addiction can really ruin your life.

One other thing I know I could be addicted to if I let myself (but I never have), is gambling. I basically don't gamble. There was a period in my life, many years ago, when I played blackjack regularly... My plan was to card count. I memorized the tables (to minimize your odds of losing when you play)... But then, I figured, there must be an easier way to make money. The thing I didn't like was, if I did succeed, and managed to become a pretty good card counter, and could win often enough at blackjack to make a living at it... The casino could just ban me if they caught on. That's quite a precarious way to make a living, I thought...

Generally, I live pretty clean (but try not to be boring)...

Best wishes,

Dien

I, too, am living the clean-cut life, don't drink or anything, don't really gamble. I love learning, that's about the extent of my vices today!

It wasn't always that way. I had a pretty rough young adulthood, rebelling and "doing whatever I wanted". I was a musician, so I wanted to be a rockstar! There was partying and such, you know the ole' stereotypes about rockstars.

Luckily, I pretty quickly figured out that the illusion that "I'm an adult now! I can do whatever I want!" comes with a caveat: as long as I was willing to deal with the consequences.

Finding myself broke and dragging along in dead-end jobs at 21, just changed me somehow. I decided to take responsibility for my life and that began the journey that I am still on now 6 or 7 years later.

I've completely changed over that time period. Mine is not a totally uncommon experience.

I've seen a lot of people do something similar, and there really isn't a "solution" or "magic pill" - it's a process. Most of the people I've seen that have made good on their lives after being involved in something like that had to hit a rock-bottom in order to find the willingness to change.

With something like opioids, you're numbing out everything. So unless your life becomes too painful to numb out with that drug, it's going to continue to seem like a solution. And those things are darn powerful.

So getting to that point takes time.

My prediction: assuming this epidemic is really breaking news and not just coming to light after some time... Give it 2 years, and you'll see the first really big wave of people hitting rehabs in droves. After that, there will be a steady stream of them coming in.

Rehabs seem to always be good money-makers though, and some people travel far to go to one. Celebrities being the obvious examples.