My first two patients for the day both tried to shake me down for addictive medication.

[Aristus]

It's going to be a long day...

[mr_lebowski]

1. Probably been pretty hard to cop on the streets lately ...

As soon as this thing started a couple months back I posted here on DU ... addicts are going to be in for a tough slog with this thing. Gonna get a lot harder to score.

Sure glad I don't use anymore ...

[Moostache]

3. The heroin business will boom...as will OD's and crime.

There are dominos falling all over the place right now...the people out of work for the last 8 weeks are now entering the point where real hard decisions - food or rent? shelter or bills? theft or hungry family? - start to become reality.

People on the margins are always the ones hurt first, last and hardest. This is especially true in the 2020 pandemic and economic collapse - also known as the Trumpocalypse.

[mr_lebowski]

7. I dunno about the heroin business booming man ...

Heroin requires money ... that people don't have. With lockdowns all over the world I'd imagine transportation and street sales have gotten harder to pull off. When dealers are the only people on the streets, it's easier to spot them and arrest them. I mean I guess DEMAND may go way up, but I don't know that it's going to be nearly as easy to procure under these conditions.

That said, I was speaking specifically of Rx addiction though, which is something I can unfortunately claim a considerable bit of experience with. As such, my understanding of the 'processes' involved throughout the 'supply chain', I would strongly suspect that the culmination of factors involved with this pandemic have made it considerably harder to score pills to feed ones addiction of late.

[captain queeg]

2. There's always booze. There's even delivery in some places

I’d think it’s a bad time for alcoholics. It’d be really easy to just stay drunk, home alone.

[mr_lebowski]

4. Depends on one's definition of 'bad' I suppose ;)

Probably most people that are addicted to something other than booze are that way because booze doesn't do it for them.

Booze doesn't do a ton for withdrawals from opioids, benzos, meth, crack, etc. Take a LITTLE of the edge off but not much.

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Tell me about it. My drunk sister contacted me last night at almost 3 a.m., probably to...

talk BS as usual (stuttering all the while, which is hard for a hard of hearing person to follow (which I am)). I don't answer the phone this late. I even told her before that when she 'drunk calls', I don't answer the phone mainly because I can't understand her anyways. She's was probably mad that my non-alcoholic sister didn't leave her enough alcohol when she left her drunk sister yesterday (when the sober sister showed up this a.m., the alcohol was already gone).

Oh well, the trials and tribulations some go through. It's a hard time for all of us, and then, when these things happen (the drinking etc.), it's like the things that the rest of us are dealing w/ (the CV epidemic for one thing) aren't even happening. Where's my drink!

We've tried desperately getting her to take the critical first step...which they must take, in order to start the long and tedious road to recovery. It's the most hardest step of all...

I pay tribute to my sober sister for doing the 'supergirl' act w/ her inebriated sister so well. What's even more sad, is that my older brother lives in the same area as the two of them do, and he's an alcoholic too. So she doesn't have really any help other than her immediate family (I'm 6 hours away), but her immediate family is wonderful, a husband, 4 kids, grandkids, the whole shooting match (and me too). For those of who in a similar situation, my hats off to you, be strong, be safe and careful, and a final word...I admire the heck of all of you in times such as this.

My hat off to you all.

[tavernier]

6. I used to drink a bottle of wine every other night

because we socialized with wine drinking friends. I’ve cut to one wine night a week when we meet on an open patio six feet at least apart. When I was working I had a very physical job and I would burn it off, but now I just do some walks in the park and some dancing in front of the TV, and I’m afraid I’ll get as big as a house if I go back to wine every other night. The problem is, when I drink I like to eat, especially the next day because of the sugar in the alcohol. It triggers my appetite. I don’t know how true alcoholics get so skinny because I would eat non stop.

[mr_lebowski]

8. There's PLENTY of fat alcoholics ...

I would speculate that if you see a skinny alcoholic it's usually because the disease has progressed to the point where almost all they ever consume is booze. They don't want food interfering with the transfer of alcohol to their bloodstream.

[flotsam]

11. I'm tempted toward song lyrics

And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I'm one...

[Runningdawg]

9. I went cold turkey off all psych and anxiety meds in early Feb.

My GP told me it it wasn't important enough for an office visit during the pandemic and that if I couldn't "deal with it" I should check myself into rehab. Instead I have been rushed to the minor emergency clinic 3 times for anxiety caused by respiratory distress from my COPD and as soon as I believe it's prudent to go out again, I will be finding a new Dr.

[Chainfire]

10. Well, since you are already having a bad day

How about a script of an oldie but goody, Demerol? I had some of that stuff about 30 years ago after dental surgery. I would sit and watch TV for hours and it didn't matter of the set was on or off....

[In_The_Wind]

12. Is today any better?