Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
This is incorrect.
This is dangerously ill-informed.
No, it isn't. Most people are responsible and take meds responsibly. While I would be a fool to say it never happens, the odds of someone developing drug-seeking behavior by following their physician's advice is small. Avoiding taking pain meds when you are in legitimate pain and following a doctor's orders simply to avoid anti-drug hysteria is foolish. Human being have been taking drugs for millenia. It isn't going to stop. It is hard-wired into our brains as higher-functioning mammals. The idea that you can become helplessly enslaved to some drug without your knowing about it is simply hysterical.
Look at how many people drink alcohol. Yet on a percentage basis, far more abuse alcohol than opioids. Roughly 15% of people who drink alcohol abuse alcohol yet the CDC study cited earlier, which did not distinguish between use and abuse, noted 6% of opioid users were using a year after their prescription.
I'm not saying to not be careful and I'm not saying that this is no big deal. But if I got on this board and said, "Hey, I had a drink of whiskey last night and it tasted good but I'm really concerned if I drink tonight I will become an addict," most people would say, "My experience contradicts your fears." Yes, some people do develop an addiction to alcohol. Yes, you should be careful. But you should also weigh the risks and having the government and the media hysterically blare out worst case scenarios does not allow for a reasonable assessment of the risks and a rational weighing of options.
You cannot do this; you can only take controlled substances back to a select few year-round locations designated for year-round takeback or thousands of designated sites on the DEA's annual TakeBack day, which is in late April this year.
Pharmacists won't fill those scripts because they don't want to contribute to abuse and diversion of opioids, and there are usually a few doctors in every town that will over-prescribe meds.
You aren't qualified to make these claims.
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I've been a criminal defense attorney for 25 years. I was a public defender for about 8 of those years 4 of them in rural Alaska where the rates of drug abuse are beyond description.
You ever address a 14 year old's addiction problem because she is huffing gas to stop thinking about when she was gang raped and she lives in a dry village so she cannot afford the $150 for a 750ml bottle of rot gut vodka? I have.
You ever represent someone whose alcohol problem is so bad that her BAC was over .5 when she was arrested for DUI (legal limit is .08 and .4% is generally considered fatal)? I have.
You ever represent someone who cannot really finish a sentence because he was grinding up oxys and smoking them for several years? I have.
I've represented people who started abusing oxys because their body hurt after years of pouring concrete but without health insurance, they had no access to health care. I've represented people who started drinking to stop thinking about the death of their child. I've represented people who refuse to touch drugs but make a good amount of money off it. I've represented physicians who were investigated for 'over-prescribing'. I've represented people prosecuted for forging prescriptions when they were caught seeking their fifth oxy prescription in one day (different doctors and different pharmacies).
The majority of my clients have addiction issues of some kind. I have hired numerous experts regarding substance abuse, drug-seeking behavior, psychological effects of various chemicals, recidivism, treatment and "cure". I have worked with treatment providers, treatment courts, clients, prosecutors, probation officers, physicians, social workers, and therapists to address my client's needs and help them get treatment. I have read numerous article, treatises and journals about addiction in an effort to represent my clients.
No, I am not a physician, nor am I a drug treatment provider, but based upon my experience and what I have studied, as outlined above, I am qualified to say that the risks someone will develop drug-seeking behavior from taking pain meds as directed following surgery are low.