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If it was me or you, we would have already experienced life in an orange jumpsuit

I believe that is wrong. Rush is the first case I'm aware of in the US where they're going after a former user of prescription drugs. The goal has always been to get the person treatment more than punish (for 1st time offenders at least), and I challenge you to find a case in the US where a prosecuter has gone after someone who just went through treatment. Not to mention all the privacy violations and fishing they're doing by seizing his medical records.

I agree that digging through medical records, in this case, is excessive.

But think of the Elvis example for a moment. His doctor wrote him script after script of meds for years. That showed neglect and abuse of his medical license. But they were scripts.

In the case of Rush, it seems he went under the table and simply acquired the drugs in that magical way that only rich people demand. When he ran out of doctors, he turned to his house servant. You see, folks, there is a point where "prescription drugs" become "illegal narcotics." I think Rush crossed that point.

Put another way, if I am prescribed Valium or Xanax by my doctor and pick them up at the pharmacy, that's fine. BUT, if I buy a baggie full of same on a street corner, that's illegal. Orange jumpsuit time.

I believe that is wrong. Rush is the first case I'm aware of in the US where they're going after a former user of prescription drugs. The goal has always been to get the person treatment more than punish (for 1st time offenders at least), and I challenge you to find a case in the US where a prosecuter has gone after someone who just went through treatment. Not to mention all the privacy violations and fishing they're doing by seizing his medical records.

And particularly a celebrity. Neither Darryl Strawberry nor Robert Downey Jr., to name two of the most egregious offenders, did any jail time until they had been caught several times; plus, they were on cocaine and heroin! And as for painkillers, Matthew Perry went through rehab twice for that, and never faced any charges.

SirAllen:

It may never happen where Rush lives in Florida, but there are places all over America where it happens all the time. I can think of several cases locally where people were arrested and convicted for "doctor shopping." We had a case a while back where a prominent local news anchor was charged and his case went to trial. He was addicted to hydrocodone and was going to doctors all over town getting multiple overlapping prescriptions. He even tried to get my father who is also a doctor to prescribe him pain medication. He was acquitted at trial though probably because the jury thought, like my father, that it was a pretty crappy thing to do to go after someone in this type of case who had a legitimate health condition and became addicted to the drugs he was prescribed for it. Incidentally though rumor has it that this guy was fairly heavy into cocaine and other drugs before the neurological condition for which he was prescribed pain medication ever surfaced.

Anyway, it certainly does happen all the time in the in many states. And I keep hearing things that indicate a common misconception people have. People seem to think that it's a nationwide policy to seek treatment rather than punishment for drug addicts, especially those who became addicted to drugs they had been prescribed. This is not the case. Treatment not punishment may be the policy in many places in America, but certainly not everywhere. Moreover, the law itself doesn't delineate in most if not all states between people who got hooked on drugs they had actually been prescribed and people who bought these drugs off the street and got hooked. And regardless of whether states or counties have a "treatment not punishment" policy that does not necessarily mean the accused in these cases get away without being prosecuted and convicted of a crime, which in many cases turns out to be a felony that stays on their records. Even where they favor treatment over punishment, people are still prosecuted for these crimes. They just might not end up doing any time over it and if they are lucky enough to be in a state that does things like deferred adjudication they might be squeak by without a felony conviction on their records.