My real experience watching hardcore drug Addicts. 20 years as a hospital nurse.

I've been a nurse in the USA for 20 years. I worked my way through college as a janitor at a hospital on the weekends off from university ( nightshift 11P-7:30a ) then as a CNA (2005) in a hospital for several years (2009) before getting my LPN/RN license. I worked in Med/Surg for 8 years with a handful of years non stop in the ER. I've dealt with hundreds of drug overdoses and 100s more chronic drug addiction cases. These are my feelings and observations. <br><br>Heroin caused more deaths, ruined more families, destroyed more relationships, and brutally took the life of so many young promises than any other drug I saw at that time. I literally worked at a hospital giving out methadone for almost a year. So, i saw these people daily. Methadone was free to the patients (paid for by tax), because the government determined heroin was a bad drug. I watched heroin overdoses skyrocket because it was cheap and mixed with fentynal. I also literally watched a pharmaceutical opioid epidemic mix with heroin in the 2010s. I saw tons of people addicted to opioids with no symptoms of significant drug use outside of enlarged pupils and a slightly elevated heart rate...and was forced to give them a dose of Narcan against their will- then searched and had the officers confiscate any drugs they found....only to call the family and tell them their "junkie" daughter/son was in the ER, overdosing on heroin, and the cops are going to come pick them up and transport them to jail after we pump their stomachs and get rid of anything left in their system. <br><br>Because of the heroin/fentynal "epidemic" people with chronic pain that required narcotics to function can't get them anymore. I've worked with 2 LPNs that had Been throughijuana (sp?) training and were chronic pain patients. Both had their chronic pain prescriptions yanked because their urine tests showed THC. Here they are- licensed medical professionals that have dealt with people like those previously described- who cannot get their pain managed by mainstream medicine because they smoke weed. <br><br>As for weed, the only thing I've seen is people get stupid high and have to spend the night in the hospital because they don't feel right. Or they eat too much candy that was mixed with thc and feel like they're having a panic attack. <br><br>I worked in the psych ward for almost 3 years and had tons of patients with a history of drug use. I even worked in a unit that combined patients with a history of drug use and those with severe mental illness. It wasn't the weed smokers that were the problems. <br><br>I know there are exceptions. I know people develop a dependence on THC and experience withdrawals. I'll tell you this, the withdrawals from THC are nothing compared to alcohol, heroin, or even xanax. Also, weed smokers don't seem to steal to get high. They also don't typically spend their last dollar on weed when kids need fed. <br><br>I used to work with a gal that smoked weed before work every single day. She worked as a team player, had a happy attitude, and didn't seem to suffer any negatives from it. I've worked in many different departments with a lot of people that used weed recreationally and never saw any negative effects. <br><br>This may be anecdotal but weed seems to be the least destructive drug out there. The weed smokers are the ones watching mouths, taking vitals, drawing blood, doing the dirty work. It's not the heroin junkies.