[Drugs] A rag-tag band of University of Utah professors from every discipline from Philosophy, Political Science to Law and Pharmacotherapy are trying to shake things up with a new book on society's contradictory views and policies on drugs. The question they ask is why doesn't society approach all controlled substances from some form of uniform policy?
The interdisciplinary tack these scholars take doesn't pull any punches, whether it's questioning what role political lobbying has in keeping alcohol legal and marijuana illegal, or positing whether or not there are stiffer penalties for possession of crack vs. cocaine because of racist implications of crack abuse by certain poor African American populations.
Certainly drug contradictions here in Zion abound where so many Utahns have witnessed the cultural norms about the harmlessness of prescription drugs. Such naive beliefs have pushed many casual pill poppers from a party drug to the hard realities of heroin, as was written this month in City Weekly. (Eric S. Peterson)
I am a physician who is relatively new to Salt Lake City. I am amazed by the overuse of prescription narcotics and muscle relaxants here. I've never seen anything so pervasive. I am constantly treating housewives and other “good upstanding citizens” for narcotic withdrawal or overdose. After doing so, I am always surprised to be treated like a criminal at a restaurant if I want a mixed drink. The hypocrisy is baffling.
ReplyDeleteGet used to it, anonymous physician. And if you want to maintain your sanity, don't try to make any sense out of the "baffling hypocrisy."
ReplyDeletethe hypocrisy is everywhere not JUST in Utah ... if there wasn't a large profit for shareholders ... I think things at "The PHARM" would be quite different ...
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