Or what about those of us who have lost a niece or nephew, a friend of the family, a veteran who served with our sons?
Is this one of those subjects for which some feel like the “victims” deserve their fates? If so, then maybe we should withdraw all health are for “opioid abusers”, and just let them kill themselves off. Good idea?
Or does that put me in with perpetual virtue-signalers?
Or what about those of us who have lost a niece or nephew, a friend of the family, a veteran who served with our sons?
Is this one of those subjects for which some feel like the “victims” deserve their fates? If so, then maybe we should withdraw all health care for “opioid abusers”, and just let them kill themselves off. Good idea?
Or does that put me in with perpetual virtue-signalers?
What about those of us who have lost a relative due to his daily, chronic, 24/7 pain, and the fact that he couldn't get the pain pills that are legal and effective for his pain, he couldn't take the pain anymore and killed himself?
There is another side to this, and one answer, which may have eluded you, is personal responsibility. Let's be adults and take responsibility for our choices. If you have chronic, severe, pain, then you have a choice. You can refuse effective medicine that is available for your pain, or you can choose to take the medicine, with the knowledge that there is a risk of addiction if you do. Sometimes, that risk is worth it if the pain is bad enough. What I don't want to see is nanny-state do-gooders restricting my choices. I am an adult. I take responsibility for my choices.
That's not to say that maybe research should be done into alternative medicine or even better medicine that has a lower probability of addiction. However, given the medicine that we have now, there are times when the risk of addiction is worth the reduction in pain that is possible.