Percocet

First of all, for God’s sake, take your meds responsibly and don’t be a moron.

I understand that there are individuals who misuse, abuse, and don’t understand their medications. That’s a shame, I hope they don’t die, but they can be trained and it’s a problem that  can often be corrected with education. There are others who are so confused and full of self hate that they can only get through life in an altered state. I completely understand. Drinkers, dopers, gamblers, pornographers, overeaters, etc&etc. Boy, do I appreciate their predicament.

Not everyone, however, is impaired. Believe it or not, there are plenty of people who drink conscientiously, budget a bit of money for the lotto or slot machines, smoke a little weed, graze the pornsites and have an extra piece of pie on weekends. Is it wrong to seek pleasure or stimulation or excitement in a non-conventional manner? No judgment from me. That would be totally hypocritical.

We can become obsessed or addicted to almost anything. I’ll never be out of the woods.

Now headlines blast off about the Opioid Abuse Crisis in America. People are dying. Our young people, our poor young people are in jeopardy. Doctors are prescribing. Law Enforcement, courts, judges, jails, bad, bad.

This isn’t new.

I find it interesting that this “crisis” has arisen just about the time when nearly everyone agrees that Marijuana is not harmful and if legalized it may have some social and medical benefits. Legislation and government and laws and cops are 50 or 60 years behind, but thank Christ they are beginning to wake up. Not much to argue about and we’re finally allowing cannabis to be used in a healthy way and without worry or shame. Like booze.

So what do we stigmatize to take the place of weed?

How do we continue to support the monstrous, top heavy, overcharging, militarized anti-drug industry?

The DEA? The criminal justice system? Private Correctional Corporations?

The Punishment Establishment.

What will their roles be now that weed is smokeable without felonious consequences? It’s a good idea, if the industry wants to continue to maintain and increase its budget, to come up with another bogeyman, another disaster, a national disgrace and an out-of-control threat to everyone.

Pain medications.

Let’s demonize pain meds!

Lets go after the doctors and patients and pharmacists.

Call the DEA, drop a dime.

Reformulate the medications, make them harder to obtain; let’s stick our collective noses up into people’s private business. Again and again.

Change the compounds, change the shape, change the colors.

Harder to crush, break, shoot, snort.

The government will save us.

Just like they’ve saved us from drug addiction and illegal sales and manufacture and how they’ve eliminated overdoses and drug-related accidents and crime.

Now that it’s harder to get ephedrine all the meth labs have disappeared.

Right?

I’m not saying that there aren’t problems. There are always problems. Anything that can be corrupted will be corrupted, but I wonder if we’re not splattering paint with a very broad brush.

We certainly understand, don’t we, that whenever a law is passed criminals are poised to find ways around the interdiction?

When the wall is made higher, people build longer ladders.

Pain medications work. For some they are a lifesaver. If you’ve never had chronic pain, lucky you. Talk to someone who has suffered for decades. Back problems, migraines, shingles, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, nerve damage, etc&etc.

Friends have committed suicide because their pain was severe and unmanageable. Medications are a good way to live without misery while waiting for treatment. Have you tried to see a doctor lately? In some cases you can get an appointment with a specialist in a month or two, and if you need follow-up procedures you might have to wait another few weeks. Or more.

Suck it up. Meditate and use your Ibuprofen and stretching and heating pads and aspirin and chiropractors and acupuncture and reiki and crystals.

Suppose that stuff doesn’t work. It often doesn’t.

If I ask my medical practitioner for some relief am I going to have to fill out a crapload of forms, answer questions, give up more of my personal information, make more appointments with more professionals, register, have my picture taken, initial here and here and here and sign there and we’ll get back to you in a week or so and give you our decision?

I have herniated discs, goddamnit, I’m not Osama bin-fucking Laden.

It’s half of a Percocet, for shit’s sake, not an Uzi.

All those forms will be delivered to the government, a big bland office, to be reviewed by an army of civil servants, ex-TSA workers and recent college grads trying to save enough money for their own apartments. They will care as much as they are paid to care.

Agents and cops will be poised for the reports, the suspicious activity, red flags and furtive movement. We will be safe and our nation will be strong because the prescription medication crisis has ended.

Do you believe that?

I can hardly wait.