Painkillers now kill more Americans than any illegal drug

Right now, a lot of people in the United States are misserable on a lot of levels. It's not just their back pain, or the roaming pain--misery seems to bring. It's the economy. It's finding a place other than a room in your baby boomer's parent's home. It's even finding a shit job--a shit job used to be easy to find. Now--shit jobs are just aweful. Plus, you are competing with very desperate immigrants that happily work for minimum wage, and have no social qualms living like caned Sardines. (I 'm not stereotyping. A lot of immigrants don't see anything weird with a sharing a small room with multiple family members.) In the U.S. it's looked down upon. Especially in the formative years, where you are trying to prove to that perfect person you are a Superman/Superwoman. You are the one. You are the independent winner. You are the one he/she should marry, or just have sex with. It's not your fault you not the big baller. And no it's not just getting the B.S. Degree. It's a whole lot more than that.

Back to the person in pain on opioids. The drugs make them feel better. This is what they think they need to function in this world--some Do! Physical pain is Real?

The big problem is opioids lose their efficy over time. Doctors don't tell the patient in pain up front about tolerance. Why--because in a lot of medicine, a good doctor wants to induce the placebo effect, along with the effect from the drug, and their not idiots. Some actually want you to feel better. They all don't just don't care about the office visit fee. I think?

(While opoids do require more, and more over time in order to get the original effect; there are studies done in Rest Homes, with older subjects where tolerance of opoids did not materialize. The studies are numerious, and many doctors were taught opoids are safe in med school.)

In my case, and the people I know opoids are far from being a non-addictive drug, or tolerance resistant. But the drug has been so vilified, and stereotyped who knows. All those addiction t.v. shows, and even well meaning professionals have told us for years, getting off opoids is very hard. I truly wonder just how difficult getting off opioids is--if we weren't conditions into thinking it's the most difficult drug to kick? I know when I'm told something is going to be a bitch to get off of--it's always worse than the times I didn't know how difficult the withdrawal will be. And the greatest junkie (Burrows) once said something like, 'Geting off opoids is not as hard as they say.'

Now to the opoid deaths. I don't know about the deaths among very ill patients whom are on patches like fentanal. I know about the guy with the bad back who was given opoids. Then the doctor stopped the refills. That patient went to the black market to get their opoid, usually heroin because it's cheaper. At this point, their lives are usually a complete mess. If they are poor, they usually have a record with the authorities. Every day becomes a nightmare. "I'll few drinks along with the heroin--who cares?" A hit of meth--who cares? A sleeping pill with the opoid--who cares? Who cares? I've given up. I can't function like my parents did.

Death from overdose follows.

We have a problem. I think there's a short term solution to a drug problem, and an out of touch society. A society that's still living in the 50's in terms of expectations.

That short term solution is Buoenorpine. It can help a lot of these people whom are addicted to opioids. Don't require the addict to pay a fortune for this drug. Don't make them pay for expensive office visits. Just give them the drug. If they sell it, or abuse it; they go back to herion.

As to people in extreme pain, let Medical doctors treat it. Leave them alone. Let them do their jobs. No government official should be telling them how to alleviate cancer pain, or any physical pain. Hell, they shouldn't have to take a special course in order to prescribe bupenorpine. They shouldn't be limited to 100 patients. Leave MD's alone. Again--leave medial doctors alone. Let them prescribe what they feels works. If the patient abuses the drug--that's not the doctors fault.

If you think the average doctor is willy nilly writing prescriptions for opoids--well just see what happens when you see a doctor, and complain about pain.

Most likely you will be offered 400 mg's of Ibuprofen. Doctors are very leary of writing a script for any opoid. Good luck getting one. The DEA is breathing down their backs.

As a society, the people in real physical pain are being told they can't have opoids. It all seems fine, until you are that person in intense pain in that exam room.

So yes we live in a country that expects a lot from its citizens. We are all suspose to be successful. Even the poor are expected to "make it"--whatever that means anymore. At the same time jobs have gone away. We are in this sharing economy. A economy that just seems to serve the wealthy?

The glow from opoids is enticing in this judgmental society. Bupenorpine might be a quick answer to a complex problem? A real problem. What do we have to lose at this point? I'm tired of hearing about overdose from opioids. Really tired! A least freely provide naloxone over the counter?

I am not a libertarian, but I have worked in drug policy reform advocacy groups, and a number of my colleagues were libertarians. This is not at all an accurate description of the prototypical libertarian argument against prohibition.

Criminal laws create self-enforcing social norms to discourage undesirable behavior. Making something illegal is one way of society condemning that activity. Ideally, the social norm itself drives compliance, not enforcement. E.g. it's the social norm that keeps people from stealing, not the threat of getting caught. If people started ignoring the social norm at a large scale, law enforcement would have no hope of stopping them.

As a general principle this is sound. E.g. making eating and drinking on the metro illegal has worked pretty well in creating a self-enforcing social norm. Hasn't worked that way for drugs really.