# Political responses to opioid abuse **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 29, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317 "2017-03-29T23:44:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/21 "2017-03-31T00:05:54Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Laws like the one in the OP are too ham-handed to really address the issue. They may decrease the number of people who get addicted to the stuff but at the cost of people who absolutely, without a doubt, need the stuff to avoid excruciating pain. > > It is a difficult problem. I am not sure of a good fix to it. Mostly we need to rely on doctors to be the gate keepers here and it seems they are abetting the problem more than fixing it. This is it. Even if it does what is intended (which is unlikely) it will cause many to suffer unimaginably, and _force_ them to seek relief outside the law. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/22 "2017-03-31T00:15:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > **My wife explained that without her medication all she is capable of doing is lying in bed watching the clock tick by and wishing she were dead.** > > I agree with the idea that doctors shouldn’t be handing out Oxycodone like candy as it appears that they did in Rittersport’s case, we are deeply concerned that they will rush too far in the opposite direction. I snipped this quite a bit. Bolding mine. I have chronic pain. I have migraines every day. Every time we have a thread here on the Dope about most painful thing people have ever experiences, migraine is always listed. There are a host of other symptoms too, some of which can be treated, but I cannot get treated for the pain. About all I can do is spend my days on the Dope, in bed, in the dark. I think about death often, but also remember my kids and try to redirect my time to finding the Next Thing. The next treatment to try. The next drug. The next surgical option. Whatever it might be. A good day is one where I can eat dinner with my family, but I usually have to leave before we finish. Sometimes I can manage to put the laundry in the washer, or even (gasp) drive to the grocery store, but then I’m wiped out for the next few days. Pain management for people in chronic pain should be something that’s on the table. Since opioid addiction issues have entered the national consciousness, it’s virtually impossible for chronic pain sufferers to get treatment. We need to find a balance between stopping addiction and helping those in need. Like any other drugs that users want, illegal users will find a way to get their meds. Perhaps more time should be spent on helping addicts, and less time on preventing prescriptions. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/23 "2017-03-31T00:30:43Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Every time we have a thread here on the Dope about most painful thing people have ever experiences, migraine is always listed. Not trying to play a game of one-upsmanship and certainly not trying to minimize the excruciating pain that can be migraines (my brother suffered from them…I get it). That said I have heard of a thing called cluster headaches that are reputedly off the charts bad. There are numerous YouTube videos [like this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCSyikUiXm8) that show it in action (warning: that is hard to watch). In the end horrid pain is horrid pain and there is little value in wondering who has it worse. The main point is that nearly unendurable pain is a reality for a lot of people and without treatment suicide is an all too common result. No one should have to live with this if there is a treatment that will help them. @Sunny Daze: I have seen some things about cluster headaches that suggest [magic mushrooms helps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQSO4Tzbwk) (i.e. psychedelic mushrooms). There is also [some evidence that marijuana helps with migraines](https://www.leafly.com/news/science-tech/new-study-confirms-that-cannabis-can-help-migraine-sufferers). I am not pushing you to use illicit drugs. Just saying there _might be_ some alternatives. Medical marijuana (even recreational marijuana) is legal some places. Might be worth a try. That said I am not a doctor or expert on any of this. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/24 "2017-03-31T00:57:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > There are anecdotes galore about this stuff. I could relate one myself (not me, someone I know). > > Bottom line is there are plenty of cases where people need aggressive and continuous pain management. > > Unfortunately these meds are either over prescribed or too casually prescribed which causes a raft of bad issues. > > Laws like the one in the OP are too ham-handed to really address the issue. They may decrease the number of people who get addicted to the stuff but at the cost of people who absolutely, without a doubt, need the stuff to avoid excruciating pain. > > It is a difficult problem. I am not sure of a good fix to it. Mostly we need to rely on doctors to be the gate keepers here and it seems they are abetting the problem more than fixing it. We already know the answer, but it’s not politically palatable. You have to decriminalize the drugs, increase education, and provide clinics that will actually help those who are addicted live a normal life. Note that I didn’t say “help those who are addicted detox,” because, while that’s a possible solution, it’s not the only one. Just letting them stay on a dose of a safer opiate where they are functional is still an option. It’s already been tried in Portugal. And it works. Prohibition doesn’t. You’d think the “conservatives” would be all on this strategy. There are no regulations! And it saves money! But, nope. It’s the Republican governors who sign laws that increase regulation. And fuck over people with real pain. This better fucking stop before it spreads anywhere else. This better be a North Carolina situation. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/25 "2017-03-31T01:22:33Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > @Sunny Daze: I have seen some things about cluster headaches that suggest [magic mushrooms helps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mQSO4Tzbwk) (i.e. psychedelic mushrooms). There is also [some evidence that marijuana helps with migraines](https://www.leafly.com/news/science-tech/new-study-confirms-that-cannabis-can-help-migraine-sufferers). > > I am not pushing you to use illicit drugs. Just saying there _might be_ some alternatives. Medical marijuana (even recreational marijuana) is legal some places. Might be worth a try. That said I am not a doctor or expert on any of this. I am pursuing a disability claim at the moment. Unfortunately that means that I can’t pursue these options (and I do live in a state where marijuana is legal). It’s disqualifying to use these. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/26 "2017-04-06T09:56:03Z")
[Many articles imply that heroin is not as addictive as some say!](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html?) > [@](#): > > [During] the Vietnam War … heroin was “as common as chewing gum” among U.S. soldiers … some 20 percent of U.S. soldiers had become addicted to heroin there … > > But in fact some 95 percent of the addicted soldiers … simply stopped [when they returned home]. Very few had rehab. They shifted from a terrifying cage back to a pleasant one, so didn’t want the drug any more. So why has addiction to painkillers suddenly become such a problem? Is it that many Americans no longer live in a “pleasant cage” ? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/27 "2017-04-06T10:20:04Z")
Yes, psychological and socio-economic pressures might well be a factor. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/28 "2017-04-06T20:53:30Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I am pursuing a disability claim at the moment. Unfortunately that means that I can’t pursue these options (and I do live in a state where marijuana is legal). It’s disqualifying to use these. ☹ I was classified as disabled by the SSA (Soc Sec) in 2006 or 2007. My OA started in 2005. By 2006, I was rapidly becoming tolerant to Vicodin. Point: I was on an opioid at the time of my psychological test. It was never mentioned as a possible disqualification for SSA Disability. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/29 "2017-04-06T21:07:12Z")
I could see limiting ER doctors to 7 days. Many ERs don’t even allow their doctors to write for outpatient narcotics anyway. I personally believe that a lot of the opiate “crisis” is people taking them on purpose because heroin addiction has been glamorized (don’t kid yourself; it is) and think addiction is cool. :rolleyes: I swear, every few days I see yet another story about a White Middle-Class Educated Person who kicked addiction (see spoiler) and their life is so wonderful now. :smack: Kicked addiction for now, anyway, and probably relapsed by the time the program aired. My pharmacist colleagues are saying that Narcan is not exactly flying off the shelves, and really, does anyone think that heroin addicts are going to appoint their version of a designated driver? Whenever I hear about someone dying from heroin addiction, I’m torn between the person’s (former?) friends and family experiencing grief and loss, and that yet another useless burden to society is gone. :o ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/30 "2017-04-07T01:09:09Z")
i was given script for 15 days of narcotics. I don’t think heroin is the problem this witch hunt is after. Oxycontin is a new contender for “Most Abused Narcotic”. It is called “White People’s Heroin” for its demographic. This reminds me of the AIDS story. As long as it was confined to “Those People”, the Powers That Be didn’t give a rat’s ass. When it started infecting “People Like Us”, it became a problem to be addressed IMMEDIATELY. As long as the people dying of drug addiction were poor and black, nobody cared. When the Middle Class White People started to die, it became a political hot potato (or potatoe). We are now seeing the grandstanding politicians love - it makes them look like they ARE DOING SOMETHING about this National Crisis. ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317/31 "2017-04-07T02:44:45Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [Many articles imply that heroin is not as addictive as some say!](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-real-cause-of-addicti_b_6506936.html?) > > So why has addiction to painkillers suddenly become such a problem? Is it that many Americans no longer live in a “pleasant cage” ? Twenty percent of our soldiers self-reported being addicted to heroin in Vietnam, and this suggests to people that heroin was _not_ that addictive? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-responses-to-opioid-abuse/783317.md?page=1)