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Seems like you live in a bubble and don't understand the problem so I will explain. When people are in pain, doctors are quick to prescribe Opioids. Some get hooked, some don't. When I had a C section my doctor prescribed an Opioid. When I had knee surgery, I was prescribed an Opioid. I'm not a drug addict but I could have easily got hooked because they gave me a 30 day supply with refills. Fortunately, I didn't like how it made me feel so I didn't take them. My husband had toe surgery and the same thing happened....30 day supply with refills. A family member has colitis. He has constant flare ups and ends up in the ER where they give him Opioids. He got hooked by no fault of his own. He recently had to have his appendix taken out and refused all pain killers because he didn't want to get addicted again. He goes to meeting several times a week so he won't relapse. I have a friend who has MS who had a never ending supply of Opiods supplied by his doctors.
It's not the people, it's the doctors.
I sure don't know where people find all these opioid-prescribing doctors. I've had chronic head and neck pain for over 20 years due to a fall on a concrete sidewalk, compounded by another fall and a whiplash car accident. I've been under several neurologists care, gone to pain management doctors, done bio-feedback, acupuncture, facet injections, etc., etc., and not once have I ever been prescribed an opioid. According to the state of VA, I'm no longer supposed to feel any pain. I'm lucky that my insurance will allow me ONE low-grade pain pill a day, but it often doesn't touch the pain, and it sure won't handle it for the entire day. I don't break the law or see unqualified pill-pushers, so I guess I'm just *** out of luck on the issue, not that I want to become an addict anyway. But it seems that there should be some way for people needing them to have appropriate pain meds while keeping mass quantities of opioids from those who want to simply self-medicate themselves to death.
Crime and Opioids:
According to the NCADD (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction) At the most intense level of drug use, drugs and crime are directly and highly correlated and serious drug use can amplify and perpetuate preexisting criminal activity NCADD June 27, 2015
Of the 2.3 million U.S. inmates, 1.5 million suffer from substance abuse addiction, and another 458,000 either had histories of substance abuse, were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of committing their crimes or committed the offenses in order to buy drugs. The American Public Health Association
Veterans and Opioids:
About 60% of veterans returning from deployments in the middle east and 50% of older veterans suffer from chronic pain according to veterans affairs officials. Veterans are twice as likely to die from accidental opioid overdoses than non veterans. Until a few years ago the VA was treating the veterans chronic pain almost exclusively with prescriptions for opioid painkillers leading to addictions and fatal overdoses.The VA has reduced the number of veterans receiving opioids. But the number of veterans with opioid disorders continued to grow spiking by 55% from 2010 to 2015
Sen. Joe Donnelly Dem. IN. stated "Although the VA provided a long list of various efforts...there is more work to be done." PBS March 2016
About 11% of the adult homeless population are veterans. The majority suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occuring disorders. TheNational Coalition for the Homeless
The Elderly and Opioids: Many elderly in America have a drug problem. A recent study of medicare recipients found that in 2011, 15% were prescribed opioids when they were discharged from the hospital; three months later 42% were still taking the pain medication. Some ended up addicted. In the past 20 years the rate of hospitalization among seniors that is related to opioid overuse has quintupled. NPR Dec. 20, 2016
If you have no compassion for the "street addict" then have compassion for the veterans and the elderly. Your taxes help to combat addiction on many fronts.
The profile of the average Opioid/ Opiate addict is a white male, age 23 who has not been prescribed o
Opioid pain medication.
The profile of the average Opioid/ Opiate addict is a white male, age 23 who has not been prescribed o
Opioid pain medication.
The FACT that so many Ignore, thanks for pointing it out.
And as such it because more of a criminal/mental health issue and as we know we do a bad job dealing with it at either the criminal level and especially as a health issue.
The FACT that so many Ignore, thanks for pointing it out.
And as such it because more of a criminal/mental health issue and as we know we do a bad job dealing with it at either the criminal level and especially as a health issue.
Should the government place severe restrictions on everything that can be addictive?
Seems like you live in a bubble and don't understand the problem so I will explain. When people are in pain, doctors are quick to prescribe Opioids. Some get hooked, some don't. When I had a C section my doctor prescribed an Opioid. When I had knee surgery, I was prescribed an Opioid. I'm not a drug addict but I could have easily got hooked because they gave me a 30 day supply with refills. Fortunately, I didn't like how it made me feel so I didn't take them. My husband had toe surgery and the same thing happened....30 day supply with refills. A family member has colitis. He has constant flare ups and ends up in the ER where they give him Opioids. He got hooked by no fault of his own. He recently had to have his appendix taken out and refused all pain killers because he didn't want to get addicted again. He goes to meeting several times a week so he won't relapse. I have a friend who has MS who had a never ending supply of Opiods supplied by his doctors.
It's not the people, it's the doctors.
I don't live in a bubble and I understand exactly what's going on here more than you may think. I just don't believe in treating one group of drug addicts one way, and another group of drug addicts a different way no matter how they became addicted.
Should the government place severe restrictions on everything that can be addictive?
Nope.
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