How best to fight the opioid crisis? (1 Viewer)

[Stealthycat]

but many people become addicted to opiods because it was prescribed to them by a doctor

nobody does opioids without knowing how addictive they can be

 

[Stealthycat]

treat opioids like guns - ban them 

 

[Ilov80s]

nobody does opioids without knowing how addictive they can be

A) What’s your point?

B) A person can know something is addictive but can’t truly know how addictive something is until they start to feel the pull of addiction from it 

 

[Ilov80s]

treat opioids like guns - ban them 

It would almost certainly lower opioid deaths. The market is flooded with them right now and they are very easy to get acces to.

 

[tonydead]

It would almost certainly lower opioid deaths. The market is flooded with them right now and they are very easy to get acces to.

Great, now only the addicts can buy heroin. 

 

[Ilov80s]

Great, now only the addicts can buy heroin. 

Yeah I wouldn’t cold turkey ban them- would provide it for addicts under supervision to try and wean them off it. We really do need less opioids and should perhaps be careful with who we prescribe them to, what doses we prescribe, how well we follow instructions when taking them, etc.

 

[urbanhack]

I think we all realized this was a problem when there was a superbowl ad last year for a prescription drug to help you fight constipation from taking too many opioids.  I mean WTF

 

[Ilov80s]

I think we all realized this was a problem when there was a superbowl ad last year for a prescription drug to help you fight constipation from taking too many opioids.  I mean WTF

Pharma is next level capitalism. Sell an addictive product that has side effects so bad that you need to buy another drug from them and they hired every doctor everywhere to endorse it. 

Reminds me of this Marx Brothers skit

 

[The Commish]

Thanks.  Relative is currently trying to use ibuprofen/acetaminophen combinations, and just in searing pain all the time.  I can't imagine some plant from Asia is going to seriously help, but if there's a chance I'll get it delivered to her tomorrow. 

Had a brief conversation with her last night....here's a bit of her history.  It seems that all she's on now is this Kratom.  She had to leave before we finished our conversation so I had a couple other questions for more clarity:

I really do.. it all began in middle school. I noticed I was experiencing a lot of back, abdomin and straight up all over pain. They found that I had endometriosis and I was out of school a lot for it. In high school the laparoscopic surgeries started where they scrape as much out, burn as much off as they can. It grows back btw.. then I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which explained a lot! That included chronic fatigue syndrome which feels like someone turns down the gravity. It's tough just to sit or stand up. And skeletal muscle seizing, which feels like Charlie horses from your core out. Electric jolts etc.. After a couple decades of this, I had my daughter which triggered everything to get worse. Fibro is triggered by trauma. I had to have an emergency hysterectomy because they found a mass in my cervix. Mission dissected my right corrodid artery which gave me a stroke. I lost eye sight in my right eye and weakness on the left side of my body. I've worked very hard to rehab and gain strength back..but ever since then the pain became unmanageable. My doctors had me on morphine and Vicodin scripts for decades, but then took them at the beginning of the "opioid epidemic". He left me for dead. Didn't check on me once. I went through over five months of withdrawals on top of the daily pain, I was suicidal. My family found kratom and it saved my life. I've been utilizing it for over a year and I feel healthier then I ever have. Cleaner, more focused instead of out of it all the time. I'm nothandcuffed to their poisonous pulls any longer. I thought finally, no more living at a doctors office..but now they are trying to ban it state by state. NC is legal now, but I fear they will be pressured to out law it. I know I will not make it if this happens. I'm trying not to get on everyone's nerves by posting pro kratom posts a lot, but I'm literally fighting for my life and millions of others. Kratom has been used for over 2000 years for pain management. It is a miracle. I need everyone who cares about me to support kratom if they can. Thank you Matt for your support and encouragement ♡xo let me know if I can be of help to your friend!!

 

[parasaurolophus]

I would say, more opiates, and give the opiates to the teachers.

That would give them their raise when they sell them! Nice, teach em to fish. I like your style. 

 

[Sinn Fein]

nobody does opioids without knowing how addictive they can be

WAT?

 

[Stealthycat]

A) What’s your point?

B) A person can know something is addictive but can’t truly know how addictive something is until they start to feel the pull of addiction from it 

The post just made it sound like the person taking the drugs was duped and surprised that they had become addicted. Doesn't happen that way. Everyone knows what drugs are. Sure, they might trick themselves into thinking everyone else gets addicted but they won't ..... but its a self lie.

Everyone knows when they get on opioids its a hard thing to break. They take the drugs willingly. I'm not saying there isn't a need for opioids ....... some people's medical conditions are bad. But the epidemic we have in the US far exceeds people needing vs people addicted and wanting I think

 

[parasaurolophus]

I think we all realized this was a problem when there was a superbowl ad last year for a prescription drug to help you fight constipation from taking too many opioids.  I mean WTF

Diary of a poopless frank?

 

[The Commish]

Thanks.  Relative is currently trying to use ibuprofen/acetaminophen combinations, and just in searing pain all the time.  I can't imagine some plant from Asia is going to seriously help, but if there's a chance I'll get it delivered to her tomorrow. 

Had a brief conversation with her last night....here's a bit of her history.  It seems that all she's on now is this Kratom.  She had to leave before we finished our conversation so I had a couple other questions for more clarity:

I really do.. it all began in middle school. I noticed I was experiencing a lot of back, abdomin and straight up all over pain. They found that I had endometriosis and I was out of school a lot for it. In high school the laparoscopic surgeries started where they scrape as much out, burn as much off as they can. It grows back btw.. then I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia which explained a lot! That included chronic fatigue syndrome which feels like someone turns down the gravity. It's tough just to sit or stand up. And skeletal muscle seizing, which feels like Charlie horses from your core out. Electric jolts etc.. After a couple decades of this, I had my daughter which triggered everything to get worse. Fibro is triggered by trauma. I had to have an emergency hysterectomy because they found a mass in my cervix. Mission dissected my right corrodid artery which gave me a stroke. I lost eye sight in my right eye and weakness on the left side of my body. I've worked very hard to rehab and gain strength back..but ever since then the pain became unmanageable. My doctors had me on morphine and Vicodin scripts for decades, but then took them at the beginning of the "opioid epidemic". He left me for dead. Didn't check on me once. I went through over five months of withdrawals on top of the daily pain, I was suicidal. My family found kratom and it saved my life. I've been utilizing it for over a year and I feel healthier then I ever have. Cleaner, more focused instead of out of it all the time. I'm nothandcuffed to their poisonous pulls any longer. I thought finally, no more living at a doctors office..but now they are trying to ban it state by state. NC is legal now, but I fear they will be pressured to out law it. I know I will not make it if this happens. I'm trying not to get on everyone's nerves by posting pro kratom posts a lot, but I'm literally fighting for my life and millions of others. Kratom has been used for over 2000 years for pain management. It is a miracle. I need everyone who cares about me to support kratom if they can. Thank you Matt for your support and encouragement ♡xo let me know if I can be of help to your friend!!

More from her:

I used cannibals for over 25 years to help, and it helps A lot. All I take is Dantrolene (skeletal muscle relaxer. What they give before surgery), Meloxicam for inflammation, and blood pressure meds. I've had 5 laptops, but the endometriosis has grown into my organs. I take cbc oil daily, and A lot of different vitamins. Kratom is definitely my lifeline. I have to take a tbsp and a tsp every 5 to 6 hrs for any quality of life. Super nervous NC will ban it. I hope I am helping educate folks, I know they are tired of my kratom posts, but this battle is life or death for millions. Oh, I am still on gabapentin for my small fiber peripheral neuropathy. I've reduced from 3600mg to between 800mg and 1600mg daily once I found out it prevents new synapses to grow... big pharma poisons. I'm trying to gradually reduce to just kratom, but I do not know if I'll get there

 

[Ilov80s]

The post just made it sound like the person taking the drugs was duped and surprised that they had become addicted. Doesn't happen that way. Everyone knows what drugs are. Sure, they might trick themselves into thinking everyone else gets addicted but they won't ..... but its a self lie.

Everyone knows when they get on opioids its a hard thing to break. They take the drugs willingly. I'm not saying there isn't a need for opioids ....... some people's medical conditions are bad. But the epidemic we have in the US far exceeds people needing vs people addicted and wanting I think

Most people that use doctor prescribed opioids do not become addicted. 

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

I just want everyone to realize that the government helped create this epidemic by pushing pain as the 5th vital sign, and tying reimbursements to patient pain satisfaction scores. There were other players involved certainly - big pharma with their new and exciting opioid products, docs writing scripts willy nilly at times, pharmacies dispensing without enough questions and regulation - but the government helped create this beast. https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/publichealth/57336

I'd also add that Dantrolene is NOT something given with any regularity prior to surgery. (Two posts above).

 

[wikkidpissah]

paging Dr. @Just Win Baby!!

 

[Skoo]

Treatment instead of jail.

 

[matttyl]

Oh...also...####### legalize cannabis.  States that have done so have seen a 25% decrease in opioid-related deaths.

While I've seen that number - the study that created it was only done looking up to 2010.  At that time synthetic opioids (other than meth) caused about ~3k deaths.  That number was over 20k in 2016 and still growing.  Heroine at the time caused about the same number of deaths (~3k) and now is the cause for over 15k deaths a year.  Point is, I don't think the above statement has any merit any longer.  I can get into some details about how I believe the ACA itself has reversed the trend your study found if you like.

 

[Stealthycat]

big pharma with their new and exciting opioid products, docs writing scripts willy nilly at times, pharmacies dispensing without enough questions and regulation - but the government helped create this beast

but ultimately its the people taking the drugs willingly isn't it ?

there is hundreds of millions to be made yearly on keeping people addicted - because of that, there will be no solutions IMO

 

[Stealthycat]

Most people that use doctor prescribed opioids do not become addicted. 

where can you find that information ??

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

but ultimately its the people taking the drugs willingly isn't it ?

there is hundreds of millions to be made yearly on keeping people addicted - because of that, there will be no solutions IMO

To help with their pain.

 

[Stealthycat]

To help with their pain.

what % do you think need help with their pain vs using opioids to get their highs and stay addicted ? i don't know that anyone knows ......... but there are a lot of numbers to be found out there

do you think its a problem then or just a choice people should have ? serious ....... if they're not hurting anyone, should they have a right to stay addicted?

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

• Roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.6
  
• Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid use disorder.7–9
  
• An estimated 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin.7–9
  
• About 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.7
  

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

what % do you think need help with their pain vs using opioids to get their highs and stay addicted ? i don't know that anyone knows ......... but there are a lot of numbers to be found out there

do you think its a problem then or just a choice people should have ? serious ....... if they're not hurting anyone, should they have a right to stay addicted?

https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis

• Roughly 21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.6
  
• Between 8 and 12 percent develop an opioid use disorder.7–9
  
• An estimated 4 to 6 percent who misuse prescription opioids transition to heroin.7–9
  
• About 80 percent of people who use heroin first misused prescription opioids.7
  

Obviously there is a need for pain relief due to numerous afflictions. I believe that quite a few needed help with their pain and then ended up becoming addicted. I certainly believe there are addictive personality types - ie those who are more prone to become addictive, and end up so because of pain issues for which they sought help. I'm sure there are numerous people who go on to heroin and other street drugs, and likewise there are some who seek prescription highs after getting addicted with street drugs. In many ways prescription opioids are easier to obtain and also obtain legally.

As to a question of choice, no, once they've become addicted then it is no longer a choice for them and it is a problem. And as for the second part of the question, most times it is safer and more productive to keep them addicted than to try to cure them. That has been the whole point of methadone clinics. But addiction is not a benign state in most cases and it depends on the individual involved. Whatever form successful treatment entails should be tailored to the individual in conjunction with specialists familiar with treating such addictions.

As an aside, I'm an anesthesiologist and give people opioids, and other pain modalities, every day.

 

[timschochet]

Obviously there is a need for pain relief due to numerous afflictions. I believe that quite a few needed help with their pain and then ended up becoming addicted. I certainly believe there are addictive personality types - ie those who are more prone to become addictive, and end up so because of pain issues for which they sought help. I'm sure there are numerous people who go on to heroin and other street drugs, and likewise there are some who seek prescription highs after getting addicted with street drugs. In many ways prescription opioids are easier to obtain and also obtain legally.

As to a question of choice, no, once they've become addicted then it is no longer a choice for them and it is a problem. And as for the second part of the question, most times it is safer and more productive to keep them addicted than to try to cure them. That has been the whole point of methadone clinics. But addiction is not a benign state in most cases and it depends on the individual involved. Whatever form successful treatment entails should be tailored to the individual in conjunction with specialists familiar with treating such addictions.

As an aside, I'm an anesthesiologist and give people opioids, and other pain modalities, every day.

Thanks for posting this KT. As somebody who is intimately familiar with this issue, I'm curious as to what steps, if any, we should be doing on a national basis (politically) to help with this crisis?

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

Thanks for posting this KT. As somebody who is intimately familiar with this issue, I'm curious as to what steps, if any, we should be doing on a national basis (politically) to help with this crisis?

We see chronic pain patients all the time, and they are very difficult to treat. They will stop breathing before they get adequate relief from opioids after surgery. So we are devising treatment plans that use meds that work in different ways and combining that with pain specialists while they are hospitalized. I really think that a similar approach is necessary in the real world. My thoughts:

1. Better management of pain patients with fewer opioids, different modalities to treat pain, and by physicians more familiar with their treatment, (pain specialists)

2. Easier communication with pharmacies and docs to cut down on people who abuse the prescription process (Centralized communication with opioid scripts so all pharmacies can see which patients have received them, proper ID of patients for scripts, limiting the number of pills dispensed, the potency of opioid used, etc.) - so law changes needed

3. Treatment programs for pain patients - Again: counseling, group therapy AA type, drug oversight, careful addiction management with drug therapy (methadone, etc.), so funding for such programs would be necessary - (This is politically a good place to start).

4. And IMO keep government from getting overly involved in the day to day of how a physician works and does their job. Focus on education rather than penalties for busy docs who are trying their best to take care of patients. I really do believe that government's big push on reimbursement etc for the "proper" treatment of pain for patients did more damage than we could imagine

 

[Tau837]

There has to be some reporting of doctors that is better monitored.   "X" number of prescriptions / number of patients.   Is this type of data centralized   and monitored in the first place to flag potential abuse?  I have no clue.

This does have some big drawbacks.  If you're an oncologist who treats a lot of end stage patients those stats will look immediately fishy (though likely legit).  I distrust the government to handle this properly - they're largely just not competent to handle a database that has criminal consequences at the end of it.

 

 

[Tau837]

With regard to the OP, it depends on how you define the opioid 'crisis.' There are two significantly different elements - opioid prescribing and illegal opioids (e.g., imported illegal heroin, Fentanyl, etc.). Illegal opioids are the reason for the majority of opioid-related deaths, which is the focus of most people who talk about the opioid crisis.

Battling illegal opioids is not unlike the "war on drugs" the Government has been waging for decades against cocaine, heroin, etc.

Opioid prescribing has been under extremely heavy scrutiny since the beginning of the Government's focus on this opioid crisis. I think this scrutiny has eliminated the majority of the over-prescribing problem.

Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, the Government has done a terrible job in this initiative, making decisions and guidelines without appropriate supporting scientific evidence and without input from actual pain experts. Just like everything else, it has been driven by biased individuals who don't care about actual facts and merits. As a result, the Government's actions have done real harm to chronic pain patients, such as @The Commish's relative he posted about above. My wife is another.

There is a lot of good information in this thread: The Opiate and Heroin Epidemic in America

 

[Stealthycat]

I certainly believe there are addictive personality types - ie those who are more prone to become addictive, and end up so because of pain issues for which they sought help

this is true

I can drink beer everyday for a month and then not for 9 months ... alcohol does nothing for me, there are people who cannot do that. I think smoking would be highly addictive for me, I've never done it.

I've had 3 knee surgeries, I took the pain meds for 1 day and then threw them in the trash and dealt with it. The pain that some people have, like cancer, is what opioids are for.

Pharmaceuticals and Dr's make incredible ammounts of money prescribing pain meds. There is a root evil there that everyone needs to recognize too.

FYI I'm a big supporter of medicinal marijuana

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

this is true

I can drink beer everyday for a month and then not for 9 months ... alcohol does nothing for me, there are people who cannot do that. I think smoking would be highly addictive for me, I've never done it.

I've had 3 knee surgeries, I took the pain meds for 1 day and then threw them in the trash and dealt with it. The pain that some people have, like cancer, is what opioids are for.

Pharmaceuticals and Dr's make incredible ammounts of money prescribing pain meds. There is a root evil there that everyone needs to recognize too.

FYI I'm a big supporter of medicinal marijuana

I disagree on the doctors making a lot of money prescribing pain meds. They get paid the same whether they write a script for pain meds or not. 

 

[Stealthycat]

I disagree on the doctors making a lot of money prescribing pain meds. They get paid the same whether they write a script for pain meds or not. 

Ornstein continued, "It's illegal to give kickbacks to a doctor to prescribe drugs, but it is legal to give money to doctors to help promote your drug. Some doctors make tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year beyond their normal practice just for working with the industry."Mar 4, 2014

Is that not true ??

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

Ornstein continued, "It's illegal to give kickbacks to a doctor to prescribe drugs, but it is legal to give money to doctors to help promote your drug. Some doctors make tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year beyond their normal practice just for working with the industry."Mar 4, 2014

Is that not true ??

I would say not true. What he is referring to is paying a physician to talk about a certain topic, sometimes a drug or device, and the physician gets paid for doing so. Here’s a link that outlines that: https://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2015/07/15/how-doctors-make-money-from-drug-companies

No physician gets directly paid to prescribe a certain drug or type of drug. Speaking engagements such as ones mentioned above are pretty rare. He also mentions honoraria and research. Again, these are rare. Are there docs getting some income from pharmaceutical companies? Yes. Is it common? No. Could physicians lean toward drugs they speak about? Sure it’s possible. They may know know about it and feel safer prescribing it. 

What is being implied in the opioid crisis is that docs are intentionally prescribing opioids for patients who don’t need them and are benefiting monetarily for doing so. I don’t think there’s evidence those two things are present. 

 

[D_House]

More evidence-based prescribing: 

For all their risks, opioids had no pain-relieving advantage in a yearlong clinical trial - Los Angeles Times https://apple.news/A9rvM9RC7QTCN-Og4JAWqVA

This is just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics. The guidelines have already caught up, but we still see patients with relatively new opioid prescriptions for their low back pain.

 

[Sheriff Bart]

More evidence-based prescribing: 

For all their risks, opioids had no pain-relieving advantage in a yearlong clinical trial - Los Angeles Times https://apple.news/A9rvM9RC7QTCN-Og4JAWqVA

This is just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics. The guidelines have already caught up, but we still see patients with relatively new opioid prescriptions for their low back pain.

That's bull####.  My life would be infinitely better if I could take a vicodin every morning. I know from years of experience.   

Also, nothing against weed, been smoking it for 35 years, but I don't get pain relief from it. 

 

[Stealthycat]

at 48 I'm managing to not take anything

compared to a lot of people, I have no pain however, its been years since i slept well and I mean that to be that every 30 minutes I wake up from knee/back pains

I wore a fitbit one night and I had I think 42 sleepless events and woke up 9 times in 7 hours. That sounds about right. I'll admit, its tempting to take drugs to help. Tonight I'll play 2 hours of competitive racquetball, get home, shower and after 5 minutes on the coach I'll stiffen up like a road killed possum

I watched over 6 months as kideny cancer killed my father in law ....... that can of pain has no explanations to someone who hasn't lived it. Marijuana helped (concentrated / rendered pill form ) in many ways more than opioisd that just blew his mind

 

[Tau837]

More evidence-based prescribing: 

For all their risks, opioids had no pain-relieving advantage in a yearlong clinical trial - Los Angeles Times https://apple.news/A9rvM9RC7QTCN-Og4JAWqVA

This is just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics. The guidelines have already caught up, but we still see patients with relatively new opioid prescriptions for their low back pain.

I will be interested to see the reaction in the medical community to this study. It does not track with my own experience with my wife, who has suffered from severe chronic pain for 20 years. And given her situation, I read a lot on this subject, and I have encountered many pain practitioners and pain patients over two decades, and these results do not seem to fit my experience with that population either.

Also, you say "just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics" as if you are aware of multiple other studies that show the same results. I am not aware of any such studies. If you have links, please post.

 

[Sheriff Bart]

I will be interested to see the reaction in the medical community to this study. It does not track with my own experience with my wife, who has suffered from severe chronic pain for 20 years. And given her situation, I read a lot on this subject, and I have encountered many pain practitioners and pain patients over two decades, and these results do not seem to fit my experience with that population either.

Also, you say "just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics" as if you are aware of multiple other studies that show the same results. I am not aware of any such studies. If you have links, please post.

Same here with my wife.  She can't walk in the morning until about 45 minutes after she takes her pain meds.  FWIW, she also does yoga and cardio work outs 3-4 times a week so isn't lazy.

 

[Tau837]

More evidence-based prescribing: 

For all their risks, opioids had no pain-relieving advantage in a yearlong clinical trial - Los Angeles Times https://apple.news/A9rvM9RC7QTCN-Og4JAWqVA

This is just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics. The guidelines have already caught up, but we still see patients with relatively new opioid prescriptions for their low back pain.

I will be interested to see the reaction in the medical community to this study. It does not track with my own experience with my wife, who has suffered from severe chronic pain for 20 years. And given her situation, I read a lot on this subject, and I have encountered many pain practitioners and pain patients over two decades, and these results do not seem to fit my experience with that population either.

Also, you say "just the latest publicized study showing the relative lack of benefit of opioids in chronic pain vs other less risky analgesics" as if you are aware of multiple other studies that show the same results. I am not aware of any such studies. If you have links, please post.

And some reaction is now available, and it supports my skepticism about the study. From Is New Opioid Study Based on Junk Science?

“You've been had by anti-opioid advocates disguising their advocacy as science.  Krebs is well known in professional circles for this kind of distorted advocacy junk science,” wrote patient advocate Red Lawhern, PhD, in a comment submitted to the Philadelphia Inquirer after it published a misleading headline of its own, “Prescription opioids fail rigorous new test for chronic pain.”

“I suggest that you retract your article.  In its present form, it is propaganda not fact,” said Lawhern, a co-founder of the Alliance for the Treatment of Intractable Pain (ATIP). “Opioids have never been the first-line medical treatment of choice in lower back pain or arthritis. That role is served by anti-inflammatory meds, some of them in the prescription cortico-steroid family.  NSAIDs have a role to play, recognizing that they are actively dangerous in many patients if taken at high doses for long periods.

The same article makes it clear that the study's author has a strong anti-opioid bias, which has been demonstrated in the past.

 

[Righetti]

It's my understanding that marijuana has the ability to lessen pain....Doctors seem to be very conservative when diagnosing, why not be conservative when prescribing.

I’ve been dealing with a very painful back injury recently and tried both OxyContin and Codein and neither did much to help me with pain..the one thing that did help the pain was a little Mary Jane gummy.   First time I’ve even thought about doing it in 20 years but it was the only thing that touched that pain. 

 

[Dedfin]

FYI I'm a big supporter of medicinal marijuana

What's the point of being a "big supporter" of a cause if it's #14 on your priority list on determining who represents you?  99% of the time, this is a statement, since the people they vote for are against it.

 

[Sand]

What's the point of being a "big supporter" of a cause if it's #14 on your priority list on determining who represents you?  99% of the time, this is a statement, since the people they vote for are against it.

Does anyone actually have this as their first priority?  

(Probably not, because there are many things that are actually much more important than this).

 

[mquinnjr]

The Federal legalization of medical marijuana...In many cases marijuana could replace opioids.

Was coming in to post this. Happy to see it near the very top of the thread.

Legalize recreational, regulate it like alcohol if not more stringently but let it be. Take marijuana out of schedule 1 and get it into pill form to provide pain relief, preferably without the high but if not it would be no different than prescription opioids if not infinitely better. Take this out of the hands of big pharma. Opioids are physically addictive, which is why to avoid dope sickness prescription pill addicts turn to heroin once their scripts are cut. Marijuana doesn't cause dope sickness or physical dependency. I get really frustrated with why this is so complicated. Politics are why. This is important enough of an epidemic where if people really cared to fix it, they'd check the politics at the door and do something. Just makes me angry, fin rant.

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

I think the key in that study is the timeframe of one year. Acutely, I’d wager they are beneficial, but going long term reduces their efficacy, especially compared to NSAIDs. 

 

[Tau837]

Take marijuana out of schedule 1 and get it into pill form to provide pain relief, preferably without the high but if not it would be no different than prescription opioids if not infinitely better.

You can already get MJ in hundreds if not thousands of forms/strains/concentrations. THC is what causes the 'high' people associate with MJ. My wife gets medical MJ chews that have low THC but high CBD, and it helps with her pain without any high.

That said, she also takes very high dose opioids for her pain, and the medical MJ is a complement but could not be a complete substitute for her. YMMV.

 

[Tau837]

I think the key in that study is the timeframe of one year. Acutely, I’d wager they are beneficial, but going long term reduces their efficacy, especially compared to NSAIDs. 

Perhaps in that study for those specific types of patients. But different conditions would likely show different results. There is no one size fits all answer here, no matter how badly some people want it to be so.

 

[kwille]

Has the death penalty been floated as a solution for the Opioid crisis yet?

 

[Tau837]

Has the death penalty been floated as a solution for the Opioid crisis yet?

Sadly, for all intents and purposes, it has. Many long term chronic pain patients have taken their own lives as a result of being denied opioids that had previously enabled those patients to have some semblance of quality of life. Some examples are listed here.

I have zero doubt that my wife would choose to end her life if her opioid medication was cut off. Her pain would not be bearable. We have discussed this openly during the Government's misguided 'war' on the opioid 'epidemic'.

 

[Sheriff Bart]

Does anyone actually have this as their first priority?  

Hostess and @LittleDebbieLVR

 

[fatguyinalittlecoat]

at 48 I'm managing to not take anything

compared to a lot of people, I have no pain however, its been years since i slept well and I mean that to be that every 30 minutes I wake up from knee/back pains

I wore a fitbit one night and I had I think 42 sleepless events and woke up 9 times in 7 hours. That sounds about right. I'll admit, its tempting to take drugs to help. Tonight I'll play 2 hours of competitive racquetball, get home, shower and after 5 minutes on the coach I'll stiffen up like a road killed possum

Dude I’m not like an official doctor or anything but I’m pretty sure that’s what weed is for.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

answering the OP

The opposite of whatever trump and sessions do.....war on drugs don't work....legal weed......