Prescription Drug Abusers

[RadiclDreamer]

I work in a hospital so I see it everyday, people come in begging for pain pills because of some phantom illness and they promptly snort/sell them.

This has several negative effects on society.

First, they clog up the system so legitimate patients cannot get proper care because doctors are too busy dealing with the onslaught of addicts.

Second, they cause further issues with their own health due to improper (snorting) use of the drugs.

Third, patients with legitimate needs for pain management are looked at with a sort of distrust because you never know who is playing you and who really needs some sort of pain control.

Fourth, they will do anything to obtain their next fix, whether this be by selling themselves, or stealing.

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. What do you think is the right answer? What needs to happen to stop the abusers but still allow easy access for those that need it?

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Third, patients with legitimate needs for pain management are looked at with a sort of distrust because you never know who is playing you and who really needs some sort of pain control.

this is what pisses me off. My back is all messed up and I used to be able to MAYBE, once or twice a year was all I needed, get a script for some pain pills + NSAIDs + muscle relaxers to get through a rough week but that ship has sailed

now i have to take a shit ton of ibuprofen and suffer through it...

 

[Amused]

The answer is easy. Allow addicts access to their drug/s of choice and access to treatment and education as well.

Banning/limiting drugs to stem addiction is folly. All it does is create criminals and enrich organized crime. It does nothing to stop addicts. Only education slows addiction rates.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Well they're drug addicts so there ain't no stopping them. Online patient records and such can make it easier for doctors to become aware of this behavior and offer the patient the option of drug rehab.

 

[rudder]

Making doctors accountable would help. I had two painful shoulder surgeries and I was fortunate enough to have a good doctor who was truly concerned about the amount of lortab he was prescribing me. He followed my usage and gradually stepped me off the painkillers.

 

[Barfo]

Send them to the gas chambers.

 

[TechBoyJK]

Throw em in jail just like the evil weed smokers

 

[iamwiz82]

The only good solution is to ban them all! It's worked in every other situation!

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: rudder
Making doctors accountable would help. I had two painful shoulder surgeries and I was fortunate enough to have a good doctor who was truly concerned about the amount of lortab he was prescribing me. He followed my usage and gradually stepped me off the painkillers.

The problem with this is currently doctors can get in as much if not more trouble for under medicating someone who needs it than they can for over medicating someone who doesnt.

 

[evident]

give them their own conservative radio talk show

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: Amused
The answer is easy. Allow addicts access to their drug/s of choice and access to treatment and education as well.

Banning/limiting drugs to stem addiction is folly. All it does is create criminals and enrich organized crime. It does nothing to stop addicts. Only education slows addiction rates.

Who pays for all this? They're addicts, they're not interested in working, they want a fix. If you make drugs legal how many of them will want treatment and education? Few, if any. Why go through that shit when you can get high?

If you make them legal, how many more members of society will we lose to drug abuse?

But, I forgot, the answer is easy.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: evident
give them their own conservative radio talk show

ditto

 

[evident]

Originally posted by: tw1164

Originally posted by: evident
give them their own conservative radio talk show

ditto

i see what you did there

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: Amused
The answer is easy. Allow addicts access to their drug/s of choice and access to treatment and education as well.

Banning/limiting drugs to stem addiction is folly. All it does is create criminals and enrich organized crime. It does nothing to stop addicts. Only education slows addiction rates.

Who pays for all this? They're addicts, they're not interested in working, they want a fix. If you make drugs legal how many of them will want treatment and education? Few, if any. Why go through that shit when you can get high?

If you make them legal, how many more members of society will we lose to drug abuse?

But, I forgot, the answer is easy.

Legality isn't a concern to addicts. Decriminalizing drugs takes the crime out of the business, and makes the addiction safer until they're ready to quit.

 

[ArizonaSteve]

I say we let people have as many drugs as they want. Natural selection will take care of the rest.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Mandating that any medication that has a high potential for abuse should be ineffective if crushed. This would stop the snorting.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

One word:
PLACEBOS!

 

[Marinski]

people will get their fix no matter what. If they cant get it from a docter then they go to the streets. Theres really no way to stop it. Only way is rehab and counseling. I do know alot of people though that get scripts from docs that really shouldn't and people who really need it that cant get scripts. Last year when I threw out my back I was in major pain and could barely move but my doc gave me naproxen sodium, which irked me.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
One word:
PLACEBOS!

Easier said than done. I'm up to 40 a day and still can't get enough.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Do what we can to make the abusers feel ashamed of themselves. Hold them responsible for their actions. Don't allow them to hold jobs till they straighten out.

That's the general idea.

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: Marinski
people will get their fix no matter what. If they cant get it from a docter then they go to the streets. Theres really no way to stop it. Only way is rehab and counseling. I do know alot of people though that get scripts from docs that really shouldn't and people who really need it that cant get scripts. Last year when I threw out my back I was in major pain and could barely move but my doc gave me naproxen sodium, which irked me.

ugh, i hate that stuff, tears my stomach up. Have you tried diclofenac sodium?

 

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: Amused
The answer is easy. Allow addicts access to their drug/s of choice and access to treatment and education as well.

Banning/limiting drugs to stem addiction is folly. All it does is create criminals and enrich organized crime. It does nothing to stop addicts. Only education slows addiction rates.

Who pays for all this? They're addicts, they're not interested in working, they want a fix. If you make drugs legal how many of them will want treatment and education? Few, if any. Why go through that shit when you can get high?

If you make them legal, how many more members of society will we lose to drug abuse?

But, I forgot, the answer is easy.

Not many. People that want it, get it, already. Many people could be saved by intervention. Putting them in jail, aka criminal school, just makes them worse people than when they went in.

 

[Marinski]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey

Originally posted by: Marinski
people will get their fix no matter what. If they cant get it from a docter then they go to the streets. Theres really no way to stop it. Only way is rehab and counseling. I do know alot of people though that get scripts from docs that really shouldn't and people who really need it that cant get scripts. Last year when I threw out my back I was in major pain and could barely move but my doc gave me naproxen sodium, which irked me.

ugh, i hate that stuff, tears my stomach up. Have you tried diclofenac sodium?

Nah, never heard of it. The naproxen messes my stomach up pretty bad too. Thing is you can buy that stuff over the counter, dont need a script for it. I eventully got some vicodens but I had to call back and tell them the pain was to bad.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: boomerang

Originally posted by: Amused
The answer is easy. Allow addicts access to their drug/s of choice and access to treatment and education as well.

Banning/limiting drugs to stem addiction is folly. All it does is create criminals and enrich organized crime. It does nothing to stop addicts. Only education slows addiction rates.

Who pays for all this? They're addicts, they're not interested in working, they want a fix. If you make drugs legal how many of them will want treatment and education? Few, if any. Why go through that shit when you can get high?

If you make them legal, how many more members of society will we lose to drug abuse?

But, I forgot, the answer is easy.

Its a shift of funding. All of the billions and billions in funding for the 'war on drugs', and for prisons costs of drug related criminals, and money spent on local police departments dedicated to preventing/solving drug crimes, the costs of the court systems trying drug crimes...and so on, would be shifted to treatment.

That's not to say I agree all drugs should be legalized, but the money to handle legalization is easily in the system already.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer

Originally posted by: rudder
Making doctors accountable would help. I had two painful shoulder surgeries and I was fortunate enough to have a good doctor who was truly concerned about the amount of lortab he was prescribing me. He followed my usage and gradually stepped me off the painkillers.

The problem with this is currently doctors can get in as much if not more trouble for under medicating someone who needs it than they can for over medicating someone who doesnt.

thats not happening.

The feds are going after doctors they think are prescibing to many narcotic pain pills. So many with chronic pain are being denied enough or in some cases any pain medication.

The "war on drugs" is starting to effect those that really need such medication. It is getting harder and harder to get the amount some need to survive the day.

hell one state wanted to setg guidlines on how much pain medication a person could take. The amounts were far less then many would need.