Drug addiction (Alcohol is a drug) 200 000 Kiwis are dependent
Professor Doug Selman, of the national addiction centre findings , 200k are dependent on alcohol alone , addiction and recovery is years behind other countries , ( USA 23 million in long term recovery) Google "the anonymous people" watch trailer, NZ DHBs are mainly funded CHRISTIAN REHABS , what has Jesus Christ got to do with ADDICTION ? The rehabs are getting no results !! Less than 300 people long term sober with around 400 million dollars given too them in the last 10 years , this must stop , it is offensive to millions of New Zealanders to have too go to a house of Jesus Christ ,for gambling and other addictions, Public image is also stopping many kiwis from getting help , they think they are "Not that Bad" because they are not homeless, i have 28 yrs in this field in NZ and know the true figures, human rights laws are been broken , people are been made to go to church or be kicked out of tax payer funded rehabs , its a 7 week wait in Auckland for medical detox , getting off alcohol can kill, medical detox is a must .I propose that all tax payer funding to organized religious groups under health care stop, and only non religious groups get taxpayer funding for healthcare
fuck you assholes Wed 23 Jul 2014 9:12AM
What is the point of this thread? The title is barely even a statement, let alone a question.
Loui Yukich Wed 23 Jul 2014 9:32AM
adrenalin is my drug of choice and I am addicted big red stags, broad bill and blue marlin the effect is so extreme it makes me shake no drinking or smokin weed when I go fishing it takes the edge of the rush you should try it before someone decides that adrenalin supposedly more powerful than heroin is banned or they start taxing it
Damian Rangi Wed 23 Jul 2014 10:01AM
Okay that spiel you put up just made me cross-eyed. WTF is the proposal?
Luke Williams Wed 23 Jul 2014 10:02AM
I agree that we need to look into providing better addiction/rehab facilities. Funding facilities that include anything to do with a higher power should not continue, it's just exploiting people when they are at their weakest.
Our entire view of addiction needs to change. Most only focus on chemical related addictions when behavioral addictions can be equally if not more dangerous to society. Blaming addictions on genetics is also very dangerous (and scientifically incorrect). Most importantly, we need to start treating drug related addictions as a medical issue instead of a criminal issue (and prohibition needs to go, it doesn't work for anything that has demand). This situation we have gotten ourselves into is completely ridiculous.
John Martin Wed 23 Jul 2014 10:41AM
Well if you just take straight adrenaline... No fish have to die... No stag has to run away with its leg half shredded. That way its just self harm aye. And you can stand there banging your head against the wall going, 'oh wow, oh wow, oh wow...'
Jane Butter Wed 23 Jul 2014 11:45AM
This is the current norm - the legal drug of advertising and social acceptance. Generations of alcoholics, 200,000 realistically it is much higher. You ask most people who drink if they think they are an alcoholic and their answer is usually no. It is an absolute blight of the poor and the mentally unstable. Kiwis as a nation drink excessively - I should know I drunk excessively from the age of 15. I choose to not drink now and I chose not be involved with AA. Young adults brains are still developing their handbrakes until 24 and the amount of brain-damage done by alcohol is incredibly sad. I don't know how to stop it apart from getting people to see a video of themselves when they think they are having an amazing time or to see the liver/kidney/brain victims that are amongst us in each of our communities...
Jane Butter Wed 23 Jul 2014 11:47AM
Whanau/family based rehabs (not based on religion but on regaining self worth) seem to work well but they need to be safer - alcoholics are unlikely to complain if they have suffered abuse at the hands of the administrators so there needs to be regulated safety rules and an independent overseer....Needs to address the mind, body, and spirit of the person because these are the areas that are broken after long abuse of the waipero (the poisonous water)
Marc Whinery Wed 23 Jul 2014 8:11PM
Alcohol is fine. The level of controls in shops ensure that no minors ever end up drunk in a Hamilton skate park.
@janebutter "You ask most people who drink if they think they are an alcoholic and their answer is usually no. "
The human brain is flawed. "not me" is the brain's answer to risk. "I don't need to wear a seatbelt, I won't crash" is a common thought. We are more afraid of flying than driving, though driving is much higher risk per trip and per km.
"I can stop when I want to" is true, until it's not. And when you cross that line, it's not lined with a visible marker. All the "can stop" people get offended when you try to take away their drugs, and the "can't stop" people, well, can't stop.
At least in NZ, there's much less pressure to drink (at least among the people I know). Though I did finally come up with a "no" that nobody challenged and ended all conversation at that point. "No, thanks. My father drank enough for us both." Most people trying to make me drink look at me like I slapped them, then walk away.
fuck you assholes Wed 23 Jul 2014 9:01PM
@marcwhinery Our drinking problem is entirely a cultural issue.
Just like every other part of "New Zealand" culture, we inherited our drinking culture from the English, right along with rugby and fish and chips.
Damian Rangi · Wed 23 Jul 2014 9:09AM
I have a feeling the dependents are only a fraction of the bingers. Our whole drinking culture needs to be sorted out. Drink = okay. Drunk = not okay.