War on Drugs and 'Insulin Addiction'

[Marat]

If the War on Drugs has a rational purpose, it must be to prevent the harm to human health and life which drug use can cause, and also to prevent the disruption of normal consciousness and brain function by drugs which can make people more prone to dangerous accidents or irresponsible behavior.

 

But diabetics using insulin create exactly the same social problems as the War on Drugs addresses. Because the insulin requirements of the diabetic body change spontaneously and unpredictably in response to hormal variations, stress, changes in gastric emptying rates with different kinds of food and degrees of neuropathy, and subclinical infections, the amount of insulin required cannot be precisely calculated. This results in diabetics unavoidably taking too much insulin on occasion, and excess insulin can cause hypoglycemia, which can result in brain damage, neurological pathology, and even death. Among type 1 diabetics, 2% to 4% of all deaths are due to hypoglycemia, and among those under 40, 6% of all deaths are due to the mismatch between insulin and calories. Hypoglycemia can also cause diabetics to experience diminished motor coordination and confusion, and this results in inability to work, irresponsible actions, and accidents, just as would happen in a drug addict on drugs.

 

Insulin-dependent diabetes is an even worse 'drug problem' than the illegal drug issues addressed by the War on Drugs, since diabetics can never 'kick their habit,' and they cannot plan when they are going to become unconscious from hypoglycemia the way a drug addict can plan when to get high.

 

Since the War on Drugs has a huge budget while diabetes research has always been grossly underfunded for the size of the problem the disease represents, shouldn't some of the War on Drugs budget go for a cure for insulin-dependent diabetes?

[Izzy_Bee]

Yes, I totaly think it should be shared for the two. My mother suffered from diabetes Type#1. And she passed away due to it. I think you should maybe try getting as many people into a campaigne as you possibly can to see if we can have any chance of changing the way diabetics struggle when drug abusers dont seem to.

 

I for one would help in aiding a campaigne for this.

 

Your ideas here are very good.

You would maybe need a web page of some leaflets.. I think this can be done with some preperation. (-:

[Phi for All]

The solutions here, imo, are mostly political rather than medical.

 

1. Stop pursuing the War on Drugs since it has failed consistently for the last 40 years while eating up hundreds of billions of dollars and ruining countless lives. We don't even necessarily need to legalize drugs as long as we can stop filling the prisons with users possessing small quantities.

 

2. Use the money saved for social and educational programs aimed at keeping people from forming a dependence and for government sponsored research into alternative treatments and cures which the pharmaceutical companies don't pursue due to smaller market returns on the investment. There are other diseases that would benefit and diabetes is a prime example of keeping a part of the population hooked on legal drugs rather than pursuing a cure.

[MDJH]

The solutions here, imo, are mostly political rather than medical.

 

 

1. Stop pursuing the War on Drugs since it has failed consistently for the last 40 years while eating up hundreds of billions of dollars and ruining countless lives. We don't even necessarily need to legalize drugs as long as we can stop filling the prisons with users possessing small quantities.

 

 

2. Use the money saved for social and educational programs aimed at keeping people from forming a dependence and for government sponsored research into alternative treatments and cures which the pharmaceutical companies don't pursue due to smaller market returns on the investment. There are other diseases that would benefit and diabetes is a prime example of keeping a part of the population hooked on legal drugs rather than pursuing a cure.

Are you suggesting that the pharmaceutical industry deliberately avoids curing this disease to keep type 1 diabetics like myself dependent on insulin? If so what proof do you have?

 

And as for diabetes research being underfunded, Marat, do you mean in comparison to other diseases, or disease research in general to the war on drugs?