I've been thinking about what you posted yesterday. The thing about fentanyl testing strips and narcon.
Theres a lot more to this than is possible to go over in text....and I don't think what you posted is political in any way. But I've lived thru some of this stuff, and feel the need to share.
Here's what we are seeing in this area. Its happening nationwide. Counterfeit pills are being made using fentanyl. A person who has an addiction to opioids can end up dead because they got a pill that wasn't at all what they thought it was. That's why I see a need for the test strips.
I realize that most people don't have much compassion for a drug addict....but addiction to opioids can happen to good people who never used anything that wasn't prescribed to them by a doctor. If they lose their insurance, or miss an appointment, they can lose access to the substance that they are addicted to. Then out of desperation they seek out something to keep them from being deathly ill.
No, I totally get it
I knew it would or could be very inflammatory when I wrote it
As the father of a recovering addict I have some very strong opinions and I know some of them are probably misguided
I know there are people who get hooked on prescription opioids and suddenly the pipeline gets shut off and they are desperate
I am sure you saw the picture of my shoulder following reconstruction surgery
The ortho surgeon gave me a prescription for Oxycodone at the base pharmacy and a secondary prescription at the local Carrs/Safeway pharmacy, so I ended up with 2 bottles of the stuff and 2 possible refills
When I went back to see him in 2 weeks the first thing he asked was did I want another set of refills and when I told him I took exactly 5 of the pills and then switched over to Tylenol and Motrin he was shocked to say the least
I didn't take another one of those pills until a month later and that was 1 pill so I could sit for 6 hours on the plane back to Hawaii
Did my shoulder still hurt, you bet it did, but the thought of getting hooked on that other *s-word was stronger than the desire for the pills
That was one of the things my son claimed as his reason for getting hooked, prescription opioids following some surgery in his sinus cavities, although when he later admitted he started using and selling coke in high school his reason/excuse/whatever kind of lost credibility
Pain sucks but I think the medical community is way to generous in what they make available to the public
This will draw fire I am sure but I equate a lot of this to the cigarettes and smoking health phenomenon
My dad's generation were furnished with cigarettes during the wars they fought to calm nerves, give them something to do, whatever, and they got hooked before anyone ever thought of putting a warning label on a pack of cigarettes so it is hard to blame them for their subsequent health issues
I just turned 68 and anyone my age or younger doesn't have the excuse "I didn't know they would give me cancer" because that info has been out there for decades now
The prescription pill situation, in my eyes, is much the same; unless you have been in a cave it is hard to not know that if you take too many for too long, you can get hooked
Yes yes yes, the doctor prescribed them, but nobody forced you (not you specifically) to take them and then ask for more and more
I know that there are a multitude of reasons people get hooked, and I do have some compassion
I am going to stop here before I dig my hole too deep to get out of
Peace