[MistyCA]

I happen to think you are wrong. It is a highly addictive drug that works very well for pain, but it has heavy downsides to it. When you are talking about long term pain that requires the use of a drug for long periods of time, you MUST be concerned about the addictive effects. The problem here is that doctors have not been concerned enough about how to get their patients off this drug. In Rush's case, he was dealing with a debilitating pain that was not going to just go away. He isn't the only person who has been sucked into the viscious cycle of pain relief/addiction.

[J. L. Chamberlain]

I'm sorry, perhaps I'm not making myself clear on this point. The problems with these strong drugs is not in their use but rather in the abuse of the drug. OxyContin, Percocet and the like CAN be safely used to treat acute pain in both the short term (my case) and chronic, long term pain as well. You just have to be aware of the risks and take the appropriate measures.

Again, if one starts to use the drug for it's unintended "buzz" through chewing it or other methods of getting the drug into one's systems faster, you'll run into problems. That is undoubtedly the case with Rush and I wish him all the best. In his case, as is the case of many addicts, it became not about the “pain” but about the drug.

You and many others on this thread have insisted that the responsibility falls on Rush’s doctors and not him. Victim-hood is one of the cornerstones of liberal thinking and I’m not falling for it.

J