For sure. The evil bastards are conflating the illegal drugs coming into the country with legitimate, humane medical use.
Absolutely. Facts are being ignored too.
In 1916, Oxycodone is created.
1939: Oxycodone is first introduced to America.
1950: Percodan – a combination of Oxycodone and aspirin – is released to American physicians for a prescription. 1963: The attorney general of California cities Percodan abuse as the source of one-third of all drug addiction in the state.
1970: Oxycodone is listed as a Schedule II drug in the new Controlled Substances Act. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration
Snip
1996: Perdue Pharma releases OxyContin.
The commonly prescribed painkiller OxyContin is an extended-release medication. This means that the tablet is specially designed to release small amounts of Oxycodone for up to 12 hours.
A primary problem with OxyContin was that, if crushed, the entire 12-hour dose could be effectuated at once. Drug users and opiate addicts could crush the highly addictive drug into powder and snort it, smoke it, or inject it intravenously.
In 2001, Perdue was required to add warnings against the recreational use of OxyContin. In spite of this, OxyContin became hugely popular as a recreational drug throughout the United States.
An FDA report indicates that Oxycodone may be more addictive than morphine. It also showed that the labeling, insisted upon in 2001, probably backfired as it suggested that crushing OxyContin would cause the full impact of the drug to be felt at once. This informed the patient or user how they could abuse the drug, essentially acting as a “how-to” for the potential addict.
OxyContin was reformulated in 2013 to create a “tamper proof” version. This pill is harder to crush and turns into a gel when it has been compromised. The new pill is hard to inject and cannot be snorted.
Perdue released the new pill type, but the FDA required all time-release Oxycodone manufacturers (those companies creating the drug in a generic version) also provide a tamper-proof pill. The FDA withdrew all crushable OxyContin from the market.
Although the new, tamper-proof pill does not eliminate the ability to abuse the drug, anecdotal evidence indicates that those who have been addicted to OxyContin are no longer interested in the drug in its tamper-proof form.