Narcotics are remarkably fungible, much to the disappointment of drug enforcement agencies and social workers.
I spend a few hours a week at a transitional house for folks who've been down on their luck (homeless or no fixed address) and are trying to get into the support system. Most are dealing with addiction.
When you ask what they're taking, they often have a long equation of how much they take of X when they can't get Y, and how much of Z takes the edge off Y when their dealer is unavailable or they can't afford it, etc. Many have managed to get into a long cycle of a number of different substances, each being a transitional drug off the last. Since this is a behavior pattern they're used to, we're getting a lot of mileage using (now legal) marijuana as a bridge to sobriety whey they're not willing to submit to detox.
I'm 100% confident that if heroin doubled in price tomorrow usage would drop through the floor, but unfortunately addiction would be pretty stable.
Narcotics are remarkably fungible, much to the disappointment of drug enforcement agencies and social workers.
I spend a few hours a week at a transitional house for folks who've been down on their luck (homeless or no fixed address) and are trying to get into the support system. Most are dealing with addiction.
When you ask what they're taking, they often have a long equation of how much they take of X when they can't get Y, and how much of Z takes the edge off Y when their dealer is unavailable or they can't afford it, etc. Many have managed to get into a long cycle of a number of different substances, each being a transitional drug off the last. Since this is a behavior pattern they're used to, we're getting a lot of mileage using (now legal) marijuana as a bridge to sobriety whey they're not willing to submit to detox.
I'm 100% confident that if heroin doubled in price tomorrow usage would drop through the floor, but unfortunately addiction would be pretty stable.