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| No | 24% | 60 votes | Total: 246 votes | |
| Yes | 76% | 186 votes |
No
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Add to FavoritesThe term "The War on Drugs" means any illegal substance that is ingested, inhaled, or injected into the body for the purpose of getting high. Today's war on drugs is much different that it was five or ten years ago. When we think that we have a new drug under control someone either finds another use for this drug or replaces it with something else. Often times this is a pain medication that was either illegal obtained from the streets or well meaning friends and family or by being dishonest with a physician.
Only few people that have not suffered from chronic pain can truly empathize or sympathize with those that deal with chronic pain on a daily basis. I myself have seen cases where I was absolutely sure that the patient was being completely dishonest because they seemed to overplay the amount of pain they were in. I have also seen cases where I just cringed with pain myself and wondered how a person could live in such agony. It must be a really difficult job trying to figure out the difference on a daily basis as many physicians have to do. To deny pain medication to someone could mean that you will be dooming them to a life of agony and to give it out could mean that you have just been made party to illegal drug sales. Yes many patients see multiple doctors for different pain medication for the sole purpose of selling them for a huge profit.
In some states this issue has been handled by setting up on line connections between all pharmacies. In those states when a patient walks in with or has a prescription called in by a physician their name and social security number and date of birth are run through this on line system. The pharmacist is immediately advised of all prescriptions that this person has had filled in the last 90 - 120 days. It gives the name of the drug, the quantity obtained, the physician that wrote the prescription. If the pharmacist finds multiple physicians it is required of him to call and notify the physician on the new prescription. The physician and the pharmacist will then decide if this patient is scamming the system and if so they can refuse service. If all states would implement a similar system and requirements I believe it would significantly reduce the amount of misuse that we are seeing today and it would also remove some doubt from the physician's mind. It would also greatly reduce the amount of money that is wasted by insurance companies and the United States Government on health care for those that are not ill but just seeking the pain medication, and drug rehabilitation, and other illnesses that are a direct result of drug abuse.
Learn more about this author, Regina W.
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Yes
Drugs for chronic pain management have a number of hoops that must be jumped through by the patient in order to get relief from their pain. I know, as I am one of those pain patients. Doctors are scared to prescribe these beneficial drugs, as they have the feds breathing down their neck whenever these class 2 drugs are prescribed. I'll cite an example:
I have to go to my pain doctor every month to receive my prescription for degenerative disc disease. This is a very painfull malady, and just like it says, it is degenerative. So it doesn't get better, only worse. I must have tried every drug under the sun, and I have finally sought a balance of two medications that allow me to live a somewhat normal life. That doesn't mean the entire pain is eliminated, it just means I'm not in agony everyday. The two drugs are Duragesic patches, which actually adhere to the back and oxycodone pills. When talking about pain management, doctors like to talk about breakthrough pain. Breakthrough pain is pain that is above and beyond the normal pain one feels. That pain is attacked with oxycodone. Oxycodone is a wonder drug, and it lasts about 4 hours. The duragesic patch has fentanyl in it, which is one of the strongest (if not the strongest) pain medicines on the market today. It is about one hundred times stronger than oxycodone, so that gives you an estimate of how powerfull it is. Naturally, only a very small dose is used on the patch, which is worn and changed every 2 to 3 days. But it is extremely effective.
Because of all the dope addicts trying to get high by crushing oxycodone and snorting it like cocaine, the feds have placed restrictions on this drug and others. I have to make a special trip to my pain doctor every month just to get the prescription. He used to be able to prescribe the medicine 3 months in advance, but because of federal restrictions, he can't do that anymore. That is a big inconvenience for me, as I have to pay for the doctor's visit, drive down there, drive over to the pharmacy, and it is a waste of half of a day. All because some morons steal the drug and use it or sell it. Because of my pain, I really don't know what it is when they talk about a "high" from the drug. I took a double dose once and ended up falling asleep. It just makes me tired, but it does conquer the pain.
The "war on drugs" is a huge waste. Remember prohibition? Didn't work, did it? People are going to do what they want to do, and that includes putting things in their body they don't really need. But to throw them in prison for it is ridiculous. We have over 2 million people in prison in America, and most are there for drug offences. And it is easy to go out on the street and buy any street drug you are looking for. Remember Pablo Escobar, the narcotrafficer from Columbia? At his height of power, he was exporting almost twenty tons of cocaine to the states annually and the DEA estimated that was only around 3 to 4 percent of the cocaine available. Think about that! Cocaine in Columbia is like coffee, a huge market and even bigger export. Something is wrong with the war on drugs.
Unfortunately, the people who really need pain medicine suffer from all the regulations and have to find doctors not afraid to prescribe what the drug was designed to do, which is to eliminate pain.
Let's keep the chronic pain patients under a different system for obtaining their much needed medication if possible, and not group them into the "street druggers" category. It only adds to their pain.
Learn more about this author, Anthony Megna.
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