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Visualizing The Costs Of Drug Addiction

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Drug addiction ravages the health of the body and mind, but it can also be ruinous to the wallet. Here is a look at the financial costs associated with drug addiction and treatment, which for most people includes counseling.

 

Economics of Addiction
Source: Best Masters in Counseling

 

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Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:19 | 5067778 TeamDepends
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Self-esteem can not be measured.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:30 | 5067820 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

They forgot to include marijuana. Probably because the author smokes a lot...

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:33 | 5067839 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

He's not "hiding" anything.  He just prefers not to talk about it.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:45 | 5067881 economics9698
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$9 dollars a day for alcohol?  Steel Reserve is much cheaper.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:13 | 5068009 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

Well, I always say a man has to have at least 1 addiction :)

I like my beers and wine... That's one
And I can't fall asleep if I didn't get laid even if it only takes 5 minutes :)

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:18 | 5068029 BurningFuld
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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/07/methadone-treatment-for-drug-add...

 

The report also said the annual per-patient costs for treatment programs in B.C. is about $4,200 compared with as much as $45,000 in Ontario and the United States for those with untreated opioid addictions.

The B.C. costs include physician, pharmacy and drug costs, while the costs from Ontario and the United States include estimated health care, law enforcement and other social costs.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:58 | 5068441 eclectic syncretist
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Meanwhile, for a dollar one can buy enough champgne yeast to make about 100 gallons of cider just by dropping a little in the cheap bottles of juice available everywhere and waiting about a week.  Oh, I forgot this is the 21st century and people don't know how to do anything that doesn't involvefinger-fucking a small electronic.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:42 | 5068580 BigJim
BigJim's picture

That chart is some scary, man. If drugs are like really bad maybe our government should make them illegal or something. That way no one would take them and we'd have more money to spend on great Apple products and stuff.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 02:30 | 5069139 LetThemEatRand
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Cash made it, but Kris wrote it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbqGWTxwZEA

Mon, 08/11/2014 - 10:46 | 5076106 N2OJoe
N2OJoe's picture

So in other words, drugs boost GDP.

No wonder there's a gubbmint a war on drugs, to increase the supply through greater profitability!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:40 | 5068135 AchtungAffen
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Lord Henry, in Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray" said: "I can't trust a man who says to have no vices."

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:03 | 5068234 zerozulu
zerozulu's picture

If you want to stay away from one addiction, I'll say stay away from debt. That is a damn tough addiction. Has ruined every superpower.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:47 | 5067892 NemoDeNovo
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Good Grief - WHEN will we finally realize Cannabis is not a drug it is a plant/herb, and it is so disingenuous to include it in these discussions.  I mean we can rail on and on about the evils of the state, central bankers, etc, but yet there are still so many 'open minded' people here at ZH that continue to perpetuate the myths about the evils of cannabis.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:53 | 5067920 McMolotov
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Apparently Nancy Reagan has a ZH account and has voted you down.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:07 | 5067983 gh0atrider
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Friends don't let friends do altcoins.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:04 | 5068461 eclectic syncretist
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Meanwhile your crazy ass is addicted to DMT or ketamine

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 12:53 | 5070037 NickVegas
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I looked up his blockchain spending. It's clear he deals weed to support his coke habit. Satoshi on people.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:28 | 5068540 Wait What
Wait What's picture

here in california you can't go more than a couple of blocks without the smell of someone toking up a joint. i shit you not... while out for a happy hour drink today i passed no less than 3 groups of ppl smoking out in plain view. call it a 'tobacco alternative' or a 'natural' whatever, but you can't deny that people use it 'to get high.' if that's not an indicator of its 'drugginess' got ahead and Newspeak a better term for it, but i'll keep calling a spade a spade.

btw, i have nothing against marijuana, only delusional people who rationalize their choices to convince everyone else of how noble their cause is.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:21 | 5068698 Jendrzejczyk
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I went out for a toke tonight and I shit you not, there were people guzzling alcohol all over town.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 02:53 | 5069103 Skateboarder
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Let me join the club. *leaves*

edit: *enters* Bud-dha om shanti chakra namaste, praise be to Jah. :-)

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:57 | 5067933 Jab Cross Hook
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And our dogs love it, too.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:06 | 5067944 ZerOhead
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Even sugar is a drug if you think about it. Caffiene certainly is as well.

It's really still all a gray area and although meth and crack are really devastating for those addicted to it the most lethal drug out there by far is definitely alcohol and it's legal.

Not just from liver/cardiac failure etc etc but also the drunk driving homicides of innocent victims. Plus when violent crimes are commited and drugs were consumed... 90% of the time the drug was alcohol.

Of course young kids smoking pot all day long until they are basically comatose is not going to help them have full and meaningful lives either. One really has to wonder if anything is safe.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:43 | 5068151 AchtungAffen
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You can't get comatose from THC. You can't overdose from THC. And there are other cannabinoids in marihuana which are (as recently discovered in places where such research has become legal) which help in many cases where Big Pharma just poisons (neuro-moderators for kids with bad cases of epilepsy, for ex.).

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:00 | 5068451 drdolittle
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People do get addictd to marijauna. There is a withdrawal syndrome. OTOH, I'll admit it is the most benign of all the drugs  except maybe caffeine.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:06 | 5068467 AchtungAffen
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Yeah, one or two days of feeling nervous. Wow, what a bummer, right? As compared with alcohol or opioids were it might mean death...

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 03:10 | 5069168 Jadr
Jadr's picture

Opiod withdrawals won't cause death.  Alcohol and Benzo withdrawals can cause death. 

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 10:52 | 5069647 sleigher
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Benzodiazepines can cause death while withdrawing.  Opoids you may wish you were dead, or feel like you are dead, but that's about it.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:27 | 5068076 Phillycheesesteak
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Tobacco is a plant. Cocaine is derived from a plant. Heroin is derived from a plant. What's your point?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:01 | 5068233 Prisoners_dilemna
Prisoners_dilemna's picture

Just say no to HoneyOil?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:14 | 5068270 TheEndIsNear
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Cannabis isn't addictive like the three you mentioned.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:32 | 5068339 Phillycheesesteak
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I know plenty of people who can't make it through the day without some weed. That's an addiction. Besides, I was addressing his assertion that marijuana is not a drug because it's a plant. Not true.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:10 | 5068475 AchtungAffen
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If those people can't get weed, for whatever reason (just can't get it), for no matter how long; they won't die. Now change weed for alcohol or opioids and it's a whole different picture.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:36 | 5068356 mt paul
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 'Cocaine is derived from a plant. Heroin is derived from a plant." 

via an unnatural chemical process

 

cannabis is a natural plant

plain and simple


Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:12 | 5068479 AchtungAffen
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And let's not forget that people near the Andes chew on coke leaves non stop, and it damn works for them. I've chewed a couple times myself. Even when I was in Perú, got me some great and strong Coca tea which is awesome for digestion.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:39 | 5068563 pakled
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Plant... drug... whatever. Perhaps not evil, and I am not anti-drug, but it IS a very powerful substance, and some who delve in shamanism (for lack of a better word at the moment) might tell you there is a powerful spirit associated with cannabis as well.

 

Our society does not often give "plant medicine" the respect it warrants. Most folks I know imbibe it to escape the shity, fucked-up reality called l-i-f-e. Can't blame them on those grounds. But they often abuse it, and end up with unintended consequences.

 

I totally support full legalization -and taxation- though.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:28 | 5068726 Jendrzejczyk
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"-and taxation"

....because the gov never squanders your tax dollars on usless crap.

 

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 10:59 | 5069669 sleigher
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Decriminalization.  No taxation.  I should be allowed to do as I please without government intervention as long as i do not encroach the rights of my neighbor.  Taxation is control.  

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:27 | 5068183 teslaberry
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No he's not reporting cannabis because of the big lie that marijuana is not addictive .

 

It can be very habit forming. And it is basically an anti anxiety drug for MANY self medicating daily smokers.

 

Having been a habitual user for a few months in college, its apparent that pot is addictive.

 

hOWEVER cannabis has ver y VERY mild to NO withdrawal effects which is why it should be legalized everywhere in the u.s. 

 

cANNABIS would be a much cheaper and safer anti depressant anti anxiety drug for most people to experiment with BEFORE trying MAOIs or SSRIs. Those drugs have crazy side effects and withdrawal can cause catastrophic depression surge.   The biggest vested interest against camnabis legalization other than illegal growers AND alcohol companies is BIG PHARMA

 

And for anyone saying marijuana cannot be addictive because its possible to have an occasional smoke, that would be like saying alcohol lacks addictive potential for the same reason. 

 

Nonsense. Studies of the very small percent if cannabis users that smoke multiple times a day everyday , usuallty keeping a small amount on them at most times and regularly buying and smoking an average iof quantities of 5 to 30 grams per week.

 

If you want more proof lookup up 'wax' or 'dabs' , a concentrated solvated wax of cannabis----described as the crack cocaine of cannabis. Cannabis CAN be addictive and massively time wasting but its SO MUCH LESS HARMFUL FOR ADDICTION that it must be legalized.  

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:14 | 5068490 AchtungAffen
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Having been a user for over 10 years and stopped cold turkey, I can say it's not addictive. I tried stopping tobacco cold turkey and it was hell. I'm not an alcoholic, but alcohol addiction and doing the cold turkey means death. Same with opioids. Marihuana addiction is mostly a psychological thing which can be overcome really easily.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:39 | 5068574 DoChenRollingBearing
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AchtungAffen wrote:

"...but alcohol addiction and doing the cold turkey means death."

That is not true in all cases.  I am such a case in point, and I am still alive.

 

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 02:30 | 5069138 teslaberry
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fair enough.

but what compelled you to do something everyday for 10 years?

my asuumption is "user" implies every day useage and not an occasional habbit.

you are defining 'addiction' simply by withdrawal effects.

i drink coffee every day. for yeasr. i've quit before. the withdrawal isn't too bad.

but CAFFEINE ISN'T FOOD. it's a psycho-active substance, and highly regular daily useage is a form of addiction, regardless of hte severity of withdrawal.

that's the way i see it.

if someone is highly dependent on LEGAL anti-depressants. that's an addiction too. people don't like the stigma of the term, but the reality is the dependency and the continued compulsion to use as a psychoactive crutch.

dependency isn't ALWAYS bad thing. it has benefits.......and they sometimes outweigh the costs!.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 03:13 | 5069170 Jadr
Jadr's picture

You have posted incorrect information like 5 times in this thread.  Opiod withdrawals will not cause death.  Benzos (xanax) withdrawals can cause death.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:39 | 5067859 AchtungAffen
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Sure mate. Because Marihuana is such a seriously addictive and dangerous drug, right? Sure...

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:43 | 5067872 FreeMktFisherMN
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one can be anti statist intervention in drugs and alcohol and also be against drugs, too, you know.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:45 | 5067882 AchtungAffen
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And what is a drug you say? Ciggies and alcohol are drugs. Even ibuprofen and paracetamol are drugs... Or do you mean "illegal drugs"? Ain't that "too statist" for you?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:23 | 5068023 ZerOhead
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Love is also a drug when you think about the dopamine and seratonin it produces in the brain.

Untill we decide to throw those who drink beer in jail (we tried it and it failed) it makes no sense to throw anybody else in as far as I see...

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 02:48 | 5069156 StychoKiller
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Roxy Music agrees...

The bottom line:  Should the State be allowed to dictate what substance(s) you use to alter your own consciousness?

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 05:28 | 5069258 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

 

 

 

 

OXYTOCIN.

 

Of course Noradrenaline and Serotonin reuptake is affected. But the main neurotransmitter secreted is OXYTOCIN.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 15:26 | 5070514 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

Thanks for the clarification.

Brain tumor from too much drug consumption... ;)

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:38 | 5068124 FreeMktFisherMN
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mind altering ones, including alcohol. I vehemently oppose alcohol, weed, etc but do not endorse statist intervention. People need to voluntarily realize the detriment/how it leaves them out of sound mind, and/or parents lead kids in right way and keep them out of using drugs/warn them of consequences.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:44 | 5068157 AchtungAffen
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And you don't think "intoxicants" can be beneficial for society? Many mammals in nature do them. Why can't or shouldn't we?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:11 | 5068256 FreeMktFisherMN
FreeMktFisherMN's picture

I'm by definition all for competition in the health marketplace as far as alternatives and more proactive nutrition therapies, etc. But these kids using this stuff are not doing it for health benefits. It is purely a fleeting way to get a high and leave the realities of the world, as they increasingly abandon morality and make it relativistic.

It's kind of like how Ron Paul got so much support at campuses; color me skeptical that the people were so much in favor of his Austrian econ arguments as they were his 'legalize pot' message. That is not a good thing, still, because using these substances is not good. And it is almost universal, now, too, by the way, at thesecampuses, the use of this stuff. And it only gets stranger, too, and more potent. The 'legalize pot' idea needs to be interpreted as 'anti-statist intervention and do-gooderism' rather than endorsing its use.

I don't care if something is 'medically healthful' if it is morally wrong.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:18 | 5068287 AchtungAffen
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What part of "intoxicant" isn't clear?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intoxicant

Of course they don't use them for "medical" purposes. They use it as an intoxicant. The issue here is: "Are intoxicants good or bad for society?"

Morals aren't an objective thing. If they were there would be ein Reich, ein Volk, ein Religion. There ain't. What is moral or not changes according to individuals. For good or bad.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:18 | 5068690 FreeMktFisherMN
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Morality comes from the Bible, God s Word. Mankind deviates and tries to redefine the laws. I'm not for statist intervention but I'm also against these mind altering drugs is all I'm saying. I think it s horrible all the victim less crimes that have the people sent to prison.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 05:45 | 5069270 Tall Tom
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Psychoactive Drug Use is Sorcery considering the Bible.

 

Pharmakopia is more proprly translated as Drug User. That is the Greek word from which the English word pharmaceutical is derived. 

 

That is the Greek word translated as Sorcery in the Bible.

 

Sorcerers, Drug Users, shall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

It is, however, your choice. Personally I am for legalization of ALL drugs.

 

That takes the profit margin away from organized crime.

 

That takes away a major portion of funding for CIA operations.

 

Thus legalization brings an abundance of good.

 

Personally I refuse to use. (I also refuse to have promiscuous sex. I refuse to buy prostitutes. I refuse to drink heavily. I also refuse to do a lot of other activities.)

 

But I will not ever choose to enforce those rules upon anyone else. That needs to be legal.

 

But I believe that Drugs are a LOSER game. (So is drinking heavily, promiscuity and buying prostitutes...)  But...please...Knock yourself out if you are so inclined.

 

Just do not force me to imbibe.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 07:37 | 5069339 AchtungAffen
AchtungAffen's picture

Morality might come from the bible if you're a christian... Or from whatever book according to the different Abrahamic religions. I belong to none of those, so the argument dies there.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:25 | 5068715 trulz4lulz
trulz4lulz's picture

Cannabis is a drug? Learn somehting new everyday!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:29 | 5067821 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

No, but it can be padded.

Called up Howard Stern back in the day when I was 17 and had a crush on this Girl, told him I was suffering from unrequited love, he said "Stuff some socks in your drawers."

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:36 | 5067833 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

And neither the incoherent, yet oddly entertaining life-story ramblings of an alcoholic.

Sun, 08/10/2014 - 01:15 | 5071991 good man
good man's picture

My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... http://goo.gl/bhiamE

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:19 | 5067779 toady
toady's picture

The winning side of the trade gains all the money lost by the people on drugs.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:21 | 5067787 Arthor Bearing
Arthor Bearing's picture

CIA, providing cheap heroine since the Russians invaded Afghanistan. Nowadays it's cheaper than beer. See: BCCI.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:28 | 5067816 toady
toady's picture

All those numbers are way low, except the oxy, which is way high. Who created these numbers, a sixty year old from a spreadsheet?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:33 | 5067837 Oath_Keeper
Oath_Keeper's picture

$10-$50 per milligram street price, do you work in a pharmacy?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:40 | 5067860 toady
toady's picture

$10 a 5/325mg pill at the truck stop. More than 5 or 6 a day will kill you, so max per day price is $50-60

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:57 | 5067937 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

I believe that the 5/325 you refer to is oxycodone, not OxyContin. Very different formulations. The 5/325 is trade name Percocet and the 325 refers to the amount of acetaminophen in the pill 5 is the amount of oxycodone.

At least this is just what I have heard.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:11 | 5068001 toady
toady's picture

I think your right... The oxy part must have thrown me off...

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:11 | 5068477 eclectic syncretist
eclectic syncretist's picture

Ask Billy Mays about oxy

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7KVqBqjEk

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 06:04 | 5069279 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

So you have not ever extracted the Codiene out of the pills?

 

That can be done rather easily as Codiene precipitates out of solution at a different temperature than that of the Tylenol.

 

Then you can take the Codiene and synthesize Heroin if you know the process. It is actually easir than you may want to think.

 

Simple Kitchen Chemistry.

 

Do you really know anything about this sordid lifestyle?

 

(I DETEST IT.)

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 09:11 | 5069437 toady
toady's picture

I grew up in it, and made some damn good money for a while. haven't really been in it for a while, thus my confusion about oxy. Pills in my day were usually black beauties, acid, mescaline, etc.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:51 | 5067909 toady
toady's picture

I've never seen a coke head spend less than $100 a day, and I've never seen one with any leftovers from last night.

I've never seen a meth head spend less than $30 a day, and I've never seen one with any leftovers from last night.

Most heroin users are in the $200-$300 a day range, but its been a while since I've known any. AIDS really kicked their ass.

I suppose prices may have gone down, but that's hard to believe.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:35 | 5067843 armageddon addahere
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CIA has been supplying America with heroin since the Vietnam War, out of the Golden Triangle via Air America. Possibly even earlier through their man in Sicily, Lucky Luciano, and the French connection Turkey - Marseilles - New York.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:42 | 5067864 BobPaulson
BobPaulson's picture

You bet they have. The poster showed costs and did not show the revenue it generates for the weapons, police, prison and military industries. And that is largely in untraceable printed 100s.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:00 | 5067946 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Air America...

Gene: Relax, I crash better than anyone else I know.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:30 | 5068092 DanDaley
DanDaley's picture

...providing cheap heroine since...

 

I love a good cheap heroine...heroin, not so much.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:26 | 5067810 ZH Snob
ZH Snob's picture

sure, but they never talk about the cost of living life straight.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:35 | 5067845 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Yup; the U.S. Pharmaceutical industry is the biggest pusher on the planet.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:19 | 5067781 NoPension
NoPension's picture

Looks like meth is your best bang for the buck, followed by coke. Hey, does coke include crack?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:22 | 5067791 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Human crack or the substance crack?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:27 | 5067813 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Thank gawd I read ZH.

I was about to go into the crystal meth business.

 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:37 | 5067853 armageddon addahere
armageddon addahere's picture

Remember the Breaking Bad dude who got into making meth because he was dying of cancer? He would have done better to make the cancer drugs, $20,000+ for one week of chemo.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:47 | 5067890 mastersnark
mastersnark's picture

Plus, you don't have to make sure the chemo drugs you make even work.

"Sorry Mrs. Smith, but you'll remember we told your husband that sometimes the cancer doesn't respond to the therapy." 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:21 | 5067785 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

Alcohol is a bargain!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:49 | 5067907 ugmug
ugmug's picture

Its the same pattern every time. Drug addict comes out of rehab. Government finds them good apartment next to me because landlord is a greedy hellish drug addict himself. Then the drug addict's friends come over to reintroduce him or her back into the addiction. The drug asshole stops paying the rent. Spends all his money on drugs and parties. Gets eviction notice. Trashes apartment, trashes neighborhood, and then plugs up the sewer by flushing cat litter or sakrete down toilet.

 

Fuck all drug addicts!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:01 | 5067950 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

Rehab is for quitters!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:40 | 5068137 auntiesocial
auntiesocial's picture

wow! according to this chart, cocaine is a bargain! sweet. 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:58 | 5067940 Urban Redneck
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Only if you stick to Black Label, Beast, Old Milwaukee, Nati Light, Schlitz, Schafers, Mickey's, Ides, O.E., and Private Stock. If you move up to something like Fosters go Keystone you might go above that 75 cents a can budget. Then there's bankster booze, which tends to be a six-figure a year habit, even for non-addicts.

Good Times.

I miss the 25 cent bumpers on the stoop, but the '82 first growth Bordeaux I can do without.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:27 | 5067786 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Hey, where's "FED Gravy" and "Wall Street" on that list?

How about addiction to political ideologies that are complete dead-ends?

How much is wasted on bail-outs, QE, foreign countries, elections campaigns, lobbying, and pharmaceutical and insurance ads?  Those are the addictions that are costing the nation its soul!

Wish I had some good pot so I could smoke a bowl.

Have to settle for a Martini.

Stoned sex is great.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:24 | 5067799 petaloka
petaloka's picture

The doctors get you hooked on oxy, and when you can no longer afford it heroin is half the cost. It's an epidemic in my area.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:24 | 5067800 e_goldstein
e_goldstein's picture

Hopium, it's a hell of a drug.

 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:25 | 5067803 Row Well Number 41
Row Well Number 41's picture

I guess the cost of weed is a real bargin.

#41

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:26 | 5067807 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

Weed would be around $4.2 dollars a day ($60 dollars for an eigth, divided by 14 days as 2 weeks is considered the avg consumption rate for said bag o' weed).

Now you know why they wanna keep it illegal (and it emotionally kills our desire to consume more.  "That's not good for GDP"!).

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:36 | 5067849 ZerOhead
ZerOhead's picture

" and it emotionally kills our desire to consume more..."

The hippie movement back in it's day was considered a real threat to the economy. Although the junk food industry would beg to differ...

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:12 | 5068008 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

The last thing we want is a mellow and content population.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 11:40 | 5069802 sleigher
sleigher's picture

Yet Soros pushes for marijuana legalization. hmmmm

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:31 | 5067808 armageddon addahere
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Addicts can be off drugs, and free of withdrawal symptoms in hours and drug free within days thanks to a simple electronic device pioneered by Dr. Margaret Patterson. Starting in the seventies, she cured hundreds of addicts including Keith Richards and Pete Townsend. This was written up in Omni magazine in the early 80s.

The cure is still available and improved versions of her device are still being used. Total cost, under $5 for a 9 volt battery. Cure rate, 90%.

http://www.netdevice.net/

Look up Neuro Electric Therapy, Dr. Patterson, and you will find much food for thought.

 

 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:43 | 5067868 XitSam
XitSam's picture

My sister kicked an oxy habit and earned $9500 last week and you can too just by eating two avocados for breakfast!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:46 | 5067885 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

Check out these 10 weird tricks to kick crystal meth!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:37 | 5068355 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

Oh so that was your sister that banzai made a picture of fucking a chicken with a strap on?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:44 | 5067876 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

Is she the one who also discovered human sex phermones, and created a cologne that guaranteed you would score with women? I saw that in the back of Omni Magazine, too.

Ben Bova lives!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:30 | 5068547 pakled
pakled's picture

"Addicts can be off drugs, and free of withdrawal symptoms in hours and drug free within days thanks to a simple electronic device pioneered by Dr. Margaret Patterson. Starting in the seventies, she cured hundreds of addicts including Keith Richards and Pete Townsend. This was written up in Omni magazine in the early 80s."

 

Not sure why the down-votes armageddon. That was helpful input/link. Must be some big pharma trolls out today.

 

 

 

 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:27 | 5067814 tarsubil
tarsubil's picture

I heard a story about someone who went to Vegas for the weekend and spent 35 large. Not one dime on alcohol, drugs, or gambling. The number one drug in America.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:36 | 5067838 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Patient:  "Doc, I'm addicted to pussy, is there a cure?"

Doctor:  "Death or castration.  You want me to write that down?"

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:49 | 5067877 mastersnark
mastersnark's picture

"Not one dime on alcohol, drugs, or gambling."

Man, that's alot of candy bars. I bet he was full after that, LOL!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:16 | 5068284 armageddon addahere
armageddon addahere's picture

And they found him dead with a champagne bottle in one hand and a whore's tit in the other.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:32 | 5067825 Ninguna
Ninguna's picture

Ibogaine can deal with it all (plus support), but then that's why it is illegal in the land of distraction (but legal in Canada and Mexico).

It's also illegal because it could displace a ton of $ going to Methadone treatment, which is just a legal addiction. Ibogaine interrupts

the craving for most drugs, but Methadone is the hardest one to counteract.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:35 | 5067840 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

M'kay kids.....um....drugs r bad, m'kay?
Seriously?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:36 | 5067851 directaction
directaction's picture

I remember back in the '70s a guy had to lay out $100/day in '70s dollars to keep a pretty decent cocaine habit running. Compared to that price ($500/day in today's dollars) the stuff's damn near free. With prices this low anyone struggling to decide which drug to get strung out on should give cocaine serious consideration. Although no drugs at all would be the best choice of all. 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:43 | 5067866 SheepDog-One
SheepDog-One's picture

For a lot of us, drugs are the only thing keeping us going these days! WTF do they think, we can handle this shit sober?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:53 | 5068198 ersatzteil
ersatzteil's picture

Adderall and acetone-washed blow are the premium fuel that champions run on. We just bill it under office expenses.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:52 | 5068199 ersatzteil
ersatzteil's picture

Adderall and acetone-washed blow are the premium fuel that champions run on. We just bill it under office expenses.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:42 | 5067865 jballz
jballz's picture

Lamest stack of shit ever posted to this site.

All these numbers are tucking ridiculously wrong.

Sadly I waited til the bottom to see the sources cited. White House dotgov.

Whatever uh fucking retards running this site now.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:48 | 5067898 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

The blog editors were replaced by new Chinese blog-editor-robots. They only cost $59.99 each, and work for free, of course.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:15 | 5068013 jballz
jballz's picture

If I could have a $27 a day cocaine habit, I totally fucking would!

Be way more productive too.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:35 | 5068106 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

That is the truth.  if you didn't have to deal with any human filth to get it, even better.  But alas the man says we are not allowed to make our own choices because we are dumb and they know whats best for us.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:43 | 5067867 mastersnark
mastersnark's picture

Not one mention of huffing. We are addicts too, you know.

Dicks.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:54 | 5067925 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

No mention of empathogens, either.

I love you man, and that bag over your head is just fascinating.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:02 | 5067955 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

Ethnogens? Like LSD, mushrooms, etc..?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:05 | 5067971 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

No, man, Molly!

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 06:49 | 5069312 PeterB
PeterB's picture

Breakfast of champions

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:45 | 5067880 XitSam
XitSam's picture

Either you believe you can tell other people what they can do with their bodies or you can believe in freedom.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:37 | 5068119 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

Truer words have never been spoken.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:53 | 5067919 blindman
blindman's picture

the central cost is measuring up to the mob
that controls their system of distribution
and their enforcers.
but, forget that, i never said it.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:56 | 5067926 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

Cocaine is a dangerous CNBC Network drug. Dennis Beeker and Cramer are examples. Certainly, Beeker is long gone. Just a reminder. 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:57 | 5067934 syntaxterror
syntaxterror's picture

What's the price of being addicted to QE, ZIRP, Bailouts, Insider Trading, and Ponzi Scheming?

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:01 | 5067951 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

We shall soon know that answer.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 18:59 | 5067945 Grouchy Marx
Grouchy Marx's picture

What's the economic cost for getting hooked on ZH? 

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:06 | 5067978 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Stop the Kerry-Forbes families. Somebody call the police.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:07 | 5067982 youngman
youngman's picture

I was a commercial real estate broker in the ging 80s...our top office broker got into drugs and hookers....he was the top producer...the company sent him to rehab 3 times....he lost it all...his wife and two kids...a real tragedy...stupid...the drugs just took over him..he was smart...the drugs were more powerful...

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:11 | 5067998 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

Hit a couple lines of coke and roll up your sleeves. We are about to rock and roll.

Cramer is dead.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:24 | 5068058 NoPension
NoPension's picture

......hey dude...eh..officer, whhhats up?
Sir, have you been drinking?
Na man, well maybe one or two...
Please, step out of the car. Now, see that white line? I want you to walk, heel to toe, on the line.
Naw,man...I can't walk it, but if you give me a straw, I'll snort that sumabitch.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:11 | 5067999 Jab Cross Hook
Jab Cross Hook's picture

Think how many jobs render one reliant on drugs just to be accepted within the workplace. I.e., if you don't show up for the drunken networking events, liquid lunches, you're never getting a call-back. All good as long as you can write it off, I suppose.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:31 | 5068089 Make_Mine_A_Double
Make_Mine_A_Double's picture

The old 3 or 4 martini lunch followed by a quick gram crowd is long gone. Either dead or put out to pasture.

Only folks I know that even drink at lunch are Canadians or Euros.

Even the Japs have pretty much hung up their spurs on the hours long evenings food and booze benders they used to do.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:35 | 5068103 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

Koreans

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:19 | 5068507 Jab Cross Hook
Jab Cross Hook's picture

I'd love to agree, but I don't see it. Here on the West Coast, I got lotsa family in sales, and they love any excuse to cut loose and get plexi'd during hours.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 00:21 | 5068956 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

I miss those days.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:51 | 5068188 Duc888
Duc888's picture

 

 

600B is chump change.

We just printed 12+T since 2008.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:51 | 5068189 CoolBeans
CoolBeans's picture

A follow-up article should be:  Visualizing the Costs of Perfectly Legal, Prescribed Drug Addition.

I am more than 2 months off a prescription drug I've taken (smallest dose available a few times a day) for a lifelong chronic pain condition.  I decided after a total of 13 years on the suckers it was time to stop and let my liver, kidney, brain, etc. to heal.  Went with all natural products.  

The first pain drug I took was for a period of about 8 years.  No withdrawl issues, nothing.  I just didn't take that much of it, despite it being for so many years.  In their infinite "wisdon" the FDA banned the drug (caused some heart rhythm issues in a few folks).  I was very sad.  Well, doc puts me on the only other one that can really be used for someone who doesn't want a lot of pain medication in their bloodstream.

That drug x 5 years was a NIGHTMARE. I had no idea until I didn't take it.  Checked on-line and found so many folks are addicted to it because it not only helps pain - the crap messes up your serotonin. So, when you try to stop it, you get a cascade of some hideous withdrawal symptoms.  Well, I just very, very slowly weaned myself off and have been free.

Never felt better.  This drug is so nasty that when you need your next dose - the pain symptoms are positively amplified.  I thought my condition was getting worse - but it was the damn drug.

Big Pharma is out of control.  How much $$$ is spent on these awful things + how much worktime is lost due to this nasty stuff?  There's a story.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 19:56 | 5068212 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

+100

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 20:23 | 5068300 Spastica Rex
Spastica Rex's picture

Ask your doctor if our addictive, expensive, side-effect ridden drug is right for you.

(He'll say "Yes.")

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:25 | 5068528 pakled
pakled's picture

Yep. And that's why I stopped going to contemporary (allopathic) doctors many years ago.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:23 | 5068704 Jab Cross Hook
Jab Cross Hook's picture

Got any extra?

/s

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:12 | 5068483 pakled
pakled's picture

"I've been snorting cocaine for 15 years, and I ain't hooked".

 

-late comedian Richard Prior

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:17 | 5068506 22winmag
22winmag's picture

Hopefully, the war on drugs will be a museum exhibit in some future time and place, so that future generations can marvel at the slavery, debauchery, and hell once known as government.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 21:21 | 5068515 SemperFudge
SemperFudge's picture

$10K per year on COKE? Flavor Flav says this guy's a lightweight.

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:20 | 5068696 studfinder
studfinder's picture

Judging by all the fat mother fuckers I see, i think most of the country is addicted to FOOD.   Holy horse shit...these fuckers need to get hooked on coke  at least they would lose weight!

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 03:23 | 5069181 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

And the food is shit, so they have a shit addiction. Que horible!

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 22:43 | 5068766 MollyHacker
MollyHacker's picture

Moving drugs is big business: check out the Columbian cartels submarine fleet. You will need to google it up. (Mini subs)

Fri, 08/08/2014 - 23:11 | 5068831 ThroxxOfVron
ThroxxOfVron's picture

Native American sez: I'm enjoying my pipe; what's yer problem with it?

IF you can't form a cogent 'my problem with it is...': FUCK OFF.

Sat, 08/09/2014 - 00:21 | 5068951 Aussiekiwi
Aussiekiwi's picture

my problem with it is.....your not sharing

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