I am a pain specialist and see the good that the medications we prescribe do that are being vilified. I do understand that they are not the only modality of treatment that help patients however in some cases they allow patients to maintain a active lifestyle continuing to be tax payers and many tell me that without the medications they would have to file for SSD and thereby become tax burdens. Many and most likely the majority of opiate overdoses that are currently occurring are from illicit drug usage. Why then are we vilifying legitimate pain patents? Until the medical community comes up with a better or at least a comparable treatment we need to leave the treatment of these patients to health care providers and keep unqualified individuals from making medical decisions. I firmly believe that the “opiate epidemic” is a cover for the real problem in America and that is a mental health catastrophe. We do not have the solution to the real problem so it is being packaged as the current “opiate epidemic” that we are being fed. Even if they are successful in making prescription pain medications harder and in some cases impossible to obtain, those that are suffering from the real problem, depression, will fill that void with some other substance. Please, lets address the real problem and leave pain management to the medical community. Thank you.
Hi Joe, Thanks so much for your comment from the inside of the pain treatment end of things. I think you make an excellent point regarding pain medications being the difference between being a contributing and active member of society and being disabled. The CDC itself published information demonstrating that prescription medications are not driving illegal use or deaths in users of either prescription patients or illegal users.
Ƭhanks , I have recently been looking for info approximɑtely this subjeϲt for
a while and yours is the best I have found out so far. However, what concerning the bottom line?
Are you sure about tһe source?
Hi Confocal, Thanks for the compliment. I have been doing my best to gather the most accurate data I can find. I try as much as possible to use the government’s own numbers – FBI crime statistics, CDC reports, Federal Mortality reports, and so on.
But outside of government sources, one of my favorites is the Shaffer Library. Here’s a link to the main page:http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/
It has links to other very interesting sources, including a Consumer Reports story about black market drugs that paints a far different picture than the government wants us to see.
Also, if you find any info sources that you think are useful, please feel free to pass them along to me!
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I’ve been smoking weed for 43 years and have yet to passe through the “gateway” to harder drugs.
That matches the observations of many people I know. Thanks for commenting!
I am a pain specialist and see the good that the medications we prescribe do that are being vilified. I do understand that they are not the only modality of treatment that help patients however in some cases they allow patients to maintain a active lifestyle continuing to be tax payers and many tell me that without the medications they would have to file for SSD and thereby become tax burdens. Many and most likely the majority of opiate overdoses that are currently occurring are from illicit drug usage. Why then are we vilifying legitimate pain patents? Until the medical community comes up with a better or at least a comparable treatment we need to leave the treatment of these patients to health care providers and keep unqualified individuals from making medical decisions. I firmly believe that the “opiate epidemic” is a cover for the real problem in America and that is a mental health catastrophe. We do not have the solution to the real problem so it is being packaged as the current “opiate epidemic” that we are being fed. Even if they are successful in making prescription pain medications harder and in some cases impossible to obtain, those that are suffering from the real problem, depression, will fill that void with some other substance. Please, lets address the real problem and leave pain management to the medical community. Thank you.
Hi Joe, Thanks so much for your comment from the inside of the pain treatment end of things. I think you make an excellent point regarding pain medications being the difference between being a contributing and active member of society and being disabled. The CDC itself published information demonstrating that prescription medications are not driving illegal use or deaths in users of either prescription patients or illegal users.
Ƭhanks , I have recently been looking for info approximɑtely this subjeϲt for
a while and yours is the best I have found out so far. However, what concerning the bottom line?
Are you sure about tһe source?
Hi Confocal, Thanks for the compliment. I have been doing my best to gather the most accurate data I can find. I try as much as possible to use the government’s own numbers – FBI crime statistics, CDC reports, Federal Mortality reports, and so on.
But outside of government sources, one of my favorites is the Shaffer Library. Here’s a link to the main page:http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/
It has links to other very interesting sources, including a Consumer Reports story about black market drugs that paints a far different picture than the government wants us to see.
Also, if you find any info sources that you think are useful, please feel free to pass them along to me!