Man Of Jackistan: Reason and Truth's Time and Place

They Should Understand Addiction, Or At Least Try! Rant #4 ( Opinion ) Originally February 24, 2020 Somebody said that they hate when people don't understand addiction as a disease, or that sometimes, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) such as buprenorphine (usually called by the most famous brand name of it, Suboxone) and methadone. These treatments involve taking a person addicted to opioids and administering Suboxone or methadone to them, in order to quell withdrawal symptoms and craving. Because both are actually just different opioid drugs, it prevents those things from happening. 'Giving drugs to addicts' seems controversial, especially when somebody knows little about those treatments or the science behind it. Below, I have cleaned up the response I gave to my friend: I am so annoyed when people say "I'd never get addicted to that because I have strong willpower" or "I've [drank/done drugs] and I never got addicted." Yes. So cle...

Adderall Manufacturer Mallinckroft Is Awful A Review Containing Subjective Input Originally February 16, 2020 I have been prescribed Adderall/its generic equivalent on and off for 13 years; I've been on IR, XR, Vyvanse, brand name, various manufacturers. In the last 7 or 8 months, at least 3 times I have refilled my Rx for 20mg IR 'Adderall' and gotten these white, octagonal pills. The bottle lists "Mallinck" as the manufacturer, shorthand for Mallincrodt. These pills are, for lack of better word, garbage. While I am not going to take more than the doctor has prescribed me (because I can't; 60 mg a day appears to be the upper limit), if I wanted to take a dose of Mallinckrodt equivalent to the normal kind I get, I would have to probably take somewhere in the range of 1.5 to 1.8 times the dose--possibly even twice as much or more. Seriously, this stuff stinks. Also, it has a divergent side effect profile when compared to the other brands, it would seem. M...

Q&A: "Are People Better Or Worse Off With All The Prescription Drugs We Have These Days?" Contains Subjective Input/Opinion Originally January 15, 2019 A lot of people have to think hard about this question, citing all the possible side effects of any given Rx as reason alone to criticize the scope of prescription drugs in the United States and elsewhere. Also, Big Pharma has some fairly shady marketing practices at times. Many believe that these companies made up disorders like Restless Leg Syndrome and ADHD just to sell pills, when the medical community clearly recognizes these as legitimate syndromes with particular treatments. Again, the marketing strategies employed by Big Pharma cross into shady territory all too often, but they don’t belong to some grand conspiracy that makes up mental illnesses in order to drug different-minded people into submission to the status quo… Before going off on some tangents that explore America's obsession with pharmaceuti...

Q&A: "How Do People Pass Drug Tests Even Though They Still Get High?" Contains Subjective Input Originally January 14, 2019 With “don’t do drugs” being the lamest and least helpful response to this question, let me at least say that if a person has ingested a substance, its presence can be traced in their body for some time afterwards, so anyone who chooses to take drugs must take that into account when making a decision. Nobody should do any drugs, but realistically, those who choose to use are urged to at least take any precautions possible to minimize the harm done to themselves and others... Also, none of the info contained here should compel a person to try and cheat a drug screen, especially one for probation etc. Also, numbers such as the detection windows listed one should take with a grain of salt, do more research elsewhere to get an even better estimate, and remember: individual circumstances and the specific test will influence the outcome more than...

The Vaccine-Autism Link...Or Lack Thereof Originally composed August 4, 2018 Editor's Note: The anti-vaxxer quandary will not go untouched, as I intend to devote a future article, possibly more, to dissecting the bizarre phenomenon. For now, this article explains the origins of the misconception and clarifies reality. All too often, many people-and smart ones, at that-speak as if factually about the link between vaccines and autism, citing a causal effect of the former on the development of the latter. In fact, 18% of Americans believe this link to exist, according to  a 2011 poll cited by  Time .  Meanwhile, virtually every major scientific organization has openly rejected this presumption. Googling "vaccine and autism" will quickly reveal this unified position among organizations ranging from: the federal government's Center for Disease Control (CDC); news outlets like  Discover Magazine , the  Washington Post , and  TIME ; online healthcare publi...