Rush's Dilemma: The Truth about Oxycontin

Patriot Paradox ^

[sonsofliberty2000]

Rush is not alone. Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh came out in what had to be a hard and very painful statement to tell his audience that :

Over the past several years I've tried to break my dependence on pain pills and in fact I've twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. But I recently agreed with my doctor about the next steps. So. Immediately following this broadcast, I will check myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold that this highly-addictive medication has on me.

Highly-addicted is an understatement. Oxycontin is an agonist opioid. According to HowStuffWorks.com:

Opioid agonists are some of the most effective pain relievers available. Unlike other analgesics, opioid agonists have an increasing analgesic effect with increased doses. Meaning that the more you take, the better you feel. Other analgesics, like aspirin or acetaminophen, have a threshold to their effectiveness. You can see why, particularly for people who suffer chronic pain, a medication like OxyContin can be so beneficial: It can potentially provide up to four times the relief of a non-opioid analgesic, so even the most severe degree of pain can be managed.

So the more you take the better you feel. And why is it so addictive:

Rather than ingesting the pill as indicated, people who abuse OxyContin use other methods of administering the drug. To avoid the controlled-release mechanism, they either chew, snort or inject the medication to get an instant and intense "high." Frequent and repeated use of the drug can cause the user to develop a tolerance to its effects, so larger doses are required to elicit the desired sensation and the abuser gets increasingly addicted to the drug.

What can come about from oxycontin abuse. Death for one. Look at this info from the National Drug Intelligence Center:

Several deaths have resulted specifically from the abuse of OxyContin in Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The Pike County, Kentucky, Coroner reported 19 OxyContin-related deaths during calendar year 2000. In December 2000, seven OxyContin overdose deaths were reported in Southeastern Kentucky by two Kentucky State Police posts. The Logan Daily News reported in October 2000 that four Hocking County, Ohio, residents overdosed on OxyContin over an 18-day period. Two of the four died. There have been at least four OxyContin overdose deaths in Pulaski, Virginia, since 1998. In July 2000, The Williamson Daily reported five OxyContin-related overdose deaths in southwestern West Virginia since May 2000.

I want to talk a little more about the last bit there about southwestern West Virginia. Gilbert, WV in paticular. Why? I grew up and visit there often and I want to tell you that it is depressing. Oxycontin is the number one drug in that area, and the hell it has caused can be seen and is on the lips of everyone you talk to. Stores have closed because owners abused the drug, and lives are ruined.

One article at HealingWell.com has a blurb from Gilbert:

And Gilbert, W.V., police call the drug the worst they've ever dealt with, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center, which last month issued an advisory on the drug and similar products.

and the Media Awareness Project has an article from the Charleston Gazette about the epidemic in Gilbert:

The 41-year-old hairdresser says she has been around at least one person on OxyContin.

"It's like people under the influence are really intoxicated - highly intoxicated," says Vicki Stanley, who lives in the unlikely drug cradle of Gilbert. "Then when they're trying to come off, it's like they have the flu - - muscle cramps, body aches, sick at their stomachs.

"And that's just the physical addiction. The mental addiction is worse."

For the last couple of months, Stanley and other residents of this Mingo County town have been grappling with what they say is a narcotic epidemic.

According to families and friends, a good percentage of the town's population of 456 has developed an appetite for OxyContin, a potent opiate used to treat pain.

...

Palmer keeps abreast of the Gilbert group's activities. He said residents report people selling the pills at Gilbert High football games. Parents of students have entered the school, attempting to peddle the drug, he said.

How bad is it when parents of students are peddling this stuff? In a letter to Tommy Thompson, Congressman Frank Wolf laid out the issues better then most:

Several pharmacies in my congressional District have been robbed at gun point in recent months for OxyContin. No money was taken; the robbers only demanded the drug. Earlier this month, a prominent defense lawyer in northern Virginia who twice served as a local prosecutor in Prince William County pleaded guilty to federal drug charges linked to a large-scale investigation into the illegal distribution of OxyContin and other painkillers.

Communities where the illegal drug has taken hold are being completely destroyed. I am told there is one county in southwest Virginia where no one isn’t either using the drug, knows someone using the drug or been the victim of a crime by someone needing the drug.

When a professional baseball player recently died after taking the dietary supplement ephedra, your agency immediately issued fact sheets regarding potential serious risks of dietary supplements containing ephedra. You were even quoted as cautioning all Americans about using dietary supplements that contain ephedra.

According to fact sheets produced by the FDA, two deaths, four heart attacks, nine strokes and five psychiatric cases involving ephedra have been reported. More than 240 people have died from the abuse of OxyContin and countless numbers of families and communities have been torn apart by this drug.

What should be done? I don't know. Stricter regulations won't do anything, education might, but the hold of this drug is hard to break. Ask Rush. Ask anyone in Gilbert, "where no one isn’t either using the drug, knows someone using the drug or been the victim of a crime by someone needing the drug". Yeah, my birthplace, a place where I still have family I love, a family that if I asked about this drug would be able to tell me many stories of its horrible reign, was the county Wold mentioned. In a way it was a good thing that happened to Rush. I'm thankful he was given a wake-up call. Should he be ashamed? No, he should be thankful. Maybe Rush will put a human face on this epidemic. If left up to the media, however, it will probably be all about the smear campaign.

[Dane]

The British went to war for the 'right' to sell opium to the Chinese. It turned the British government into the largest drug cartel in the world at the time

Well gee, I guess to your the British Government is selling opium to the Chinese today, at this very moment.

How much money do you give to Lyndon Larouche?

[NittanyLion]

LOL. You certainly see issues in a "unique" light, and make connections where none exist.

Carry on, then.

[Lurker]

Probably about as much money as you give to the DNC.

L

[MississippiMan]

How did our ancestors tolerate pain? They had very little to take for it.

Depends on how far back you want to go, I guess, but until the first quarter of the twentieth century, I'm pretty sure you could buy all manner of opiates, much purer probably, over the counter at a general store. Or you could get you one of the early version Coca-Colas and understand how it got so popular so fast.

Fact is, stuff like this in some form has been around for hundreds of years, back to the time when bleeding-by-leech was an accepted medical treatment, back to the time before the USA was the USA.

MM

[Dane]

LOL. You certainly see issues in a "unique" light, and make connections where none exist

Uh no, NL, all I was doing was pointing out a fact about 70's drug culture(that qualudes were stamped with the number 714, the same as Joe Friday's badge) and you and Stewie, go nuts.

You really should have never enrolled in the Nancy Pelosi correspondence course of political debate.

It was a major waste of money, IMO.

[NittanyLion]

all I was doing was pointing out a fact about 70's drug culture(that qualudes were stamped with the number 714, the same as Joe Friday's badge) and you and Stewie, go nuts.

The evil libertarians made me do it...ROFL.

[Dane]

Probably about as much money as you give to the DNC

I have never given money to any demo candidate or the DNC, but since you brought it up I gave $20 to FR, how about putting your money where your mouth is.

[nmh]

I don't believe that Rush intentionally took these pain killing drugs knowing they were addicting. I believe because that because of their effectiveness, need for a stronger does to sustain the pain removing affect that he became addicted.

BTW WHY is their NO mention of Rush's doctor and the role HE played in providing this addictive drug or was it the MAID that introduced Rush to it. If it was her, then she ought to have the book thrown at herself.

[SarahW]

The pill isn't the problem. The people who grind up the pill are the problem.

[Junior]

After a recent surgery, my doctor prescribed 10 200-mg Oxycontin for pain. I took one every 12 hours. Now, most of the warnings I've found are for the 600- and 800-mg doses. I tell you, the 200-mg versions made me feel quite nicely -- not high, per se -- but relaxed and with an "I don't care about the pain" attitude. I called them my "happy pills."

[Dane]

The evil libertarians made me do it...ROFL

Whew dude you really should throw out that book from the Nancy Pelosi correspondence course.

You with your replies on this thread are starting to make the character that Linda Blair played in the movie, "The Exorcist" look sane, IMO.

[nmh]

"His "outing" might be the best thing that could have happened to him...."

It was otherwise at the rate he was going he'd be dead soon. It was an embarassing blessing in disguise. NOW he is in the hot seat for all to see. People that really care about him now know to WATCH him and makes sure he stays off it.

[Stew Padasso]

Thanks, I corrected myself.

[NittanyLion]

You with your replies on this thread are starting to make the character that Linda Blair played in the movie, "The Exorcist" look sane, IMO.

Is it true Linda Blair is a libertarian? Because that's what I've heard.

[Clara Lou]

but is there not some better means or drug that doesn't cause people to destroy their lives over it?
No. Nothing works like an opium-based drug-- not aspirin, not ibuprofen-- nothing. Take it from me-- about 5 years ago I tried them all.

[NittanyLion]

BTW WHY is their NO mention of Rush's doctor and the role HE played in providing this addictive drug or was it the MAID that introduced Rush to it. If it was her, then she ought to have the book thrown at herself.

Drugs of this sort are available on the black market. There's a huge drug diversion industry to ensure their availability. I suspect that's what occurred in this case (although it could be a corrupt doctor).

[nmh]

"Now the question is .. why in the heck are doctors prescribing OxyContin???"

Like most "traditional" doctors - they don't care. Teh drug rep tells em - hey a great pain relieving drug" and the doctor takes the sample, gives them out, hears they "work" and starts prescribing. Of course some automatically prescribe. Traditional doctors are in bed with pharm companies. LOOK at WHO does the research - pharm companies ... look at WHO subsidizes medical school and provides stuff to students - PHARM companies. Each is addicted to the other for $$$.

[thoughtomator]

Guns don't kill people, people kill people.

Clearly, the solution lies in outlawing people.

[freedomlover]

I was on OC for a week (colon removed) and it took 2 weeks to get off and I was a real grouch. The Percocet I take now is like aspiren in comparison

[nmh]

"Traditional" doctors and pharm companies are ONLY interested in $$$. That's the ugly truth OR they wounldn't be prescribing suhc addictive drugs. Check out other side effects - it will make your hair stand up.