July 23, 2008
Drug Withdrawal to Get More Hellish Under Smoking Ban
Recovering drug addicts can look forward to climbing even further up the walls starting tomorrow, when all drug treatment centers in New York State implement a smoking ban. Bryan Lapsker, a 21-year-old PCP addict, tells amNY he’s been dreading the change: "Nicotine helps (addicts) get through the day. Now you take the nicotine away from us, it's almost impossible to get through the day. Addiction is addiction, I understand that, but nicotine is a legal substance." The state will now spend $8 million training health care workers how to treat nicotine dependence, and if the regulation’s a hit, maybe they’ll finally take away addicts’ caffeine, chocolate and soda pop, too.
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TS. If only you hadn't become a junkie in the first place.
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This seems like a horrible idea.
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#1, so you're saying we can solve all the world's problems by wagging our fingers at "bad" people and saying "Shame shame shame"? I think you should run for office; we'd be living in a utopia in no time.
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who gets addicted to dust in 2008? this guy is a genius. i hope wet makes a comeback.
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First they came for the smokers.....
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boo hoo. cry me a fucking river. People only start smoking cause they think it's "COOL" and then they get addicted to it. No one ever started smoking cause it made there clothes smell better. We are supposed to feel sorry for small minded people who think that putting a cancer stick in your mouth is "COOL"? Smokers deserve all the shit put on them. Higher taxes and bigger societal disdain I says. and #3 if your parents actually did the "shame, shame" thing when you were younger, maybe you wouldn't feel so self entitled. All my friends who were the biggest smokers in college have all quit cause 1. higher taxes 2. Health problems and 3. from me shaming their asses everytime they light up. shaming is a form of caring.
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there a variety of ways to get nicotine by not smoking.
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#7 - edEx
Valid point, though they're going to have to start handing out complimentary "dip cans" at the clinics.
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a PCP addict! who the hell gets addicted to PCP?
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Hey Babyhitler -= I bet you drink an awful lot to quell the voices in your judgemental little pinhead. Please - tell me how alcohol is any better.
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i'm supposed to feel sorry for a junkie who can't get his fix of the new drug he's decided to become addicted to? who's paying for his recovery? my tax dollars? it doesn't seem to be working:
"Addiction is addiction, I understand that, but nicotine is a legal substance."
so is alcohol, genius. is he going to replace smokes with liquor? some of these addicts don't deserve any help. this idiot needs to understand what "clean & sober" actually means.
jds please link to the article about people getting sick from second-hand caffeine, chocolate and soda pop. i'd like to read that one.
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Could you please try proofreading before you put these headlines up? There's no such word as "withdrawl." It's withdrawal.
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Wait. Can't they just step outside? I don't get it.
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More laws
More signs
More judgments
All by people sitting up high in glass towers
Whats next, we will become like russia and government youth groups will start harassing and disappearing doctors that prescribe methadone
oh wait they already do that to abortion clinics
city on hill
what a joke
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Nicotine is as addictive as heroin. Perhaps more so.
Who's being judgmental?
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#10 - sorry, I don't drink bitch. that defeats your argument. And if someone drinks unlike cigs, they don't harm my health and olfactory senses unless they are behind the wheel of a car. All this "BOO HOO you are hurting my feelings by not having compassion for my smoking addiction" is just too funny. Smokers should all die! and they will, if they don't give up.
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I'm pretty sure no-one dies from passively ingesting caffeine, chocolate or soda pop.
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Name one person killed by second hand smoke #17. Just one.
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It is possible to catch cancer from second hand smoke based on the amount of exposure. I can't point out any cases but it does happen, such as kids whose parents smoke often.
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That's what we're constantly told #19, but I haven't seen a single definitive case mentioned. Doesn't that seem odd to anyone else?
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Why the hell are some of you people acting like this is government Big Brother type control? It has nothing to do with private citizens. It is a state run rehabilitation clinic that is subsidized using your tax dollars. Do you seriously want money coming out of your pockets to further addictive behavior in people who have proven they can't control themselves?
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#18 - Dana Reeve, the widow of the late actor Christopher Reeve, died from lung cancer. She was a life-long non-smoker and her cancer was attributed in no small part to the years she performed in smoke-filled nightclubs.
Actually, smokers are more likely to die from heart disease than lung cancer. But don't fool yourself, smoking is toxic and will eventually get you one way or another.
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i personally believe i have asthma from my father's years of smoking in the apartment I lived in.
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Never mind second hand cancer. Anyone ever think that maybe this will help some of these drug addicts to NOT become addicted to nicotine in the first place?
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true fact. Carbon, the black burnt shit that's left when you burn something is the biggest carcinogen known to man. Carbon, carbon monoxide = cancer. You smoke you will eventually hurt and eventually die. It's not the 40-60's anymore where smoking companies can throw out all this propaganda and nobody knew that smoking kills and has serious health effects. You guys are all educated now. If you want to smoke and die, no problem. If you want to smoke and be near me with that foul shit and want me to pay for your hospital bills because of your poor choices, then we have a problem. The pain and suffering is of your own accord. You did it to yourself and that's what really hurts.
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Why is smoking still allowed in outdoor dining areas ? I had the misfortune of sitting next to a smoker the other day.
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#20/18
Keep smoking, UFB.
Your day will come.
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@ Babyhitler (#25):
Was that a thinly-veiled Radiohead reference?
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TN
Smoking IS banned within sidewalk cafes, except in the Smoking Section of the sidewalk area (if, in fact, there is a designated smoking area).
If you are not in that Smoking Section, smoking is otherwise prohibited.
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I worked for years in smoke filled restaurants, and believe me, it affected my health. No, I didn't die from second hand smoke. Yes, it affected my health adversely. The doctors, nurses and counselors working with the recovering addicts should not have to be subjected to such unhealthy toxins.
Recovery should be about addressing the issue of dependence and addiction, no matter what the substance is. Substituting one material for another is not success.
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really, this just comes to show what a horribly addictive drug nicotine is. the real solution would be to outlaw all tobacco and eradicate all the tobacco crops. plant something actually useful on the land like food or something for biofuels.
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My great-aunt was a non-smoker who died of lung cancer after working her whole life in a smoky restaurant. When they autopsied her, her lungs looked much like those of a smoker.
Yeah, addiction sucks but you can get nicotine from chew, snuff, patches or gum without harming anybody else. Or just go outside.
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Thankfully, heroin is still plentiful and there's no tax!
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Heroin was introduced to cure Morphine addiction, cocaine was introduced to cure heroin addiction, .38 calibur handguns were introduced to cure cocaine addiction (sort've true, look it up) clearly addicts need something else to assume their addiction. I'm assuming masurbation will be the new addiction now that smoking is banned...