http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/02..._take.html

Sessions is a lucky man to make it to his age and never require greater pain relief than is available over the counter.
But hey he also thinks pot is one of our biggest drug threats despite multiple studies now showing that opioid prescriptions fall significantly in states that have "legalized" pot.

Pot ain't the answer to the opioid problem but it is part of the answer.

Opioid epidemic is exaggerated.

Jacob Sullum at reason Wrote:As Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, noted in a 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article, "addiction occurs in only a small percentage of persons who are exposed to opioids—even among those with preexisting vulnerabilities." A 2010 review found that less than 1 percent of patients taking opioids for chronic pain experienced addiction. A 2012 review likewise concluded that "opioid analgesics for chronic pain conditions are not associated with a major risk for developing dependence." Volkow found that "rates of carefully diagnosed addiction have averaged less than 8% in published studies."

The risk of fatal overdose is even lower. A 2015 study that had followed pain patients treated with narcotics for up to 13 years found that one in 550 died from an opioid-related overdose, which is a risk of less than 0.2 percent. A study of opioid-related deaths in North Carolina found 478 fatalities among 2.2 million residents who were prescribed opioids in 2010, making the annual rate 0.022 percent.

(02-09-2018 05:31 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Opioid epidemic is exaggerated.

Jacob Sullum at reason.com Wrote:As Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, noted in a 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article, "addiction occurs in only a small percentage of persons who are exposed to opioids—even among those with preexisting vulnerabilities." A 2010 review found that less than 1 percent of patients taking opioids for chronic pain experienced addiction. A 2012 review likewise concluded that "opioid analgesics for chronic pain conditions are not associated with a major risk for developing dependence." Volkow found that "rates of carefully diagnosed addiction have averaged less than 8% in published studies."

The risk of fatal overdose is even lower. A 2015 study that had followed pain patients treated with narcotics for up to 13 years found that one in 550 died from an opioid-related overdose, which is a risk of less than 0.2 percent. A study of opioid-related deaths in North Carolina found 478 fatalities among 2.2 million residents who were prescribed opioids in 2010, making the annual rate 0.022 percent.

Compared to other addictions, drug deaths, all forms of drugs.....

are only a very very small % compared to nicotine & alcohol addiction. Not only that the cost is just a tiny fraction to nicotine & alcohol.

Just like nicotine & alcohol a person is not going to give up their drug addiction because the government makes it harder to get. The only thing making something harder to get does....

punish those that are actually in daily pain. Pain that makes living their live productive, hard to do with out some help to mask that pain. And the addict to move on to some other drug. Most of the time a drug just as addictive but stronger. Just like with the nicotine & alcohol abuser....

the drug addict harder ever goes down to something less stronger

A addict will change once something in their life dictates it....to them. Laws or prison will not stop it in most cases. Treatment will help but a person must want it

(02-09-2018 02:49 PM)cb4029 Wrote:  http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/02..._take.html

Here is one of the few times I agree with Sessions.

(02-09-2018 06:17 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(02-09-2018 02:49 PM)cb4029 Wrote:  http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2018/02..._take.html

Here is one of the few times I agree with Sessions.

Yep. I’m not much of a fan of his but we hand pills out for everything like a pez dispenser and have been doing so for generations. Lots of different reasons for that.

He's right.

(02-09-2018 06:15 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(02-09-2018 05:31 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Opioid epidemic is exaggerated.

Jacob Sullum at reason.com Wrote:As Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, noted in a 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article, "addiction occurs in only a small percentage of persons who are exposed to opioids—even among those with preexisting vulnerabilities." A 2010 review found that less than 1 percent of patients taking opioids for chronic pain experienced addiction. A 2012 review likewise concluded that "opioid analgesics for chronic pain conditions are not associated with a major risk for developing dependence." Volkow found that "rates of carefully diagnosed addiction have averaged less than 8% in published studies."

The risk of fatal overdose is even lower. A 2015 study that had followed pain patients treated with narcotics for up to 13 years found that one in 550 died from an opioid-related overdose, which is a risk of less than 0.2 percent. A study of opioid-related deaths in North Carolina found 478 fatalities among 2.2 million residents who were prescribed opioids in 2010, making the annual rate 0.022 percent.

Compared to other addictions, drug deaths, all forms of drugs.....

are only a very very small % compared to nicotine & alcohol addiction. Not only that the cost is just a tiny fraction to nicotine & alcohol.

Just like nicotine & alcohol a person is not going to give up their drug addiction because the government makes it harder to get. The only thing making something harder to get does....

punish those that are actually in daily pain. Pain that makes living their live productive, hard to do with out some help to mask that pain. And the addict to move on to some other drug. Most of the time a drug just as addictive but stronger. Just like with the nicotine & alcohol abuser....

the drug addict harder ever goes down to something less stronger

A addict will change once something in their life dictates it....to them. Laws or prison will not stop it in most cases. Treatment will help but a person must want it

The over-prescribing began because those 1% addiction rate studies were industry-funded. The 8% figure is better accepted and had that been the data used when approval was sought there would have been more restrictions, though probably not the ones we are imposing now that are making Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroin so profitable.

Reality is if you want a profitable small clinic the faster way there was to be very willing to prescribe valium, xanax, ADHD meds and pain meds based on patient reports rather than your own observations.

Right now the government is basically having a competition to see who can come up with the most onerous restrictions on opioid prescriptions and I think it is a given that right now doctors over-prescribing anti-anxiety meds and over-prescribing speed in the form of ADHD meds are flying under radar because opioids are the chosen focus of review.

Patients ought to be able to get any of these drugs under medical oversight. But there is no reason I shouldn't be able to get my 15 Percocets after, say, a root canal or throwing out my back. Limit quantities and a no BS tracking database on a secure network. Maybe 15 Percocets per month could be appropriate. Anything more would require justification and authorization from a specialist (a major surgery would be a justification) to weed out the crooked PCPs. It isn't rocket science.

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(02-09-2018 05:31 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  Opioid epidemic is exaggerated.

Jacob Sullum at reason Wrote:As Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, noted in a 2016 New England Journal of Medicine article, "addiction occurs in only a small percentage of persons who are exposed to opioids—even among those with preexisting vulnerabilities." A 2010 review found that less than 1 percent of patients taking opioids for chronic pain experienced addiction. A 2012 review likewise concluded that "opioid analgesics for chronic pain conditions are not associated with a major risk for developing dependence." Volkow found that "rates of carefully diagnosed addiction have averaged less than 8% in published studies."

The risk of fatal overdose is even lower. A 2015 study that had followed pain patients treated with narcotics for up to 13 years found that one in 550 died from an opioid-related overdose, which is a risk of less than 0.2 percent. A study of opioid-related deaths in North Carolina found 478 fatalities among 2.2 million residents who were prescribed opioids in 2010, making the annual rate 0.022 percent.

yup.....

also wkuyg and arkstfan came with some good relative info....

I've posted about a 'pharmacy' the feds busted here in the 'burg a number of times.....I'm not going to repost the article, but one needs to understand that hattiesburg is a planned retirement community with a shiteload of old folks....

it's hardly surprising that sessions is pining about this in FLA.....

it's amazing how stupid they are attacking the real issue.....that stupid fk doesn't have a clue what he's doing....

you go after the dispensaries and protect the border/mail/etc distribution techniques.....you can't stop the chemists.....

you educate the young folks that are tapping into the chemistry in a way you guys have no clue about.....

you can't stop people that willingly destroy themselves.....you can only attempt to curb that appetite via education.....

and that happens by creating incentive to get a goddddammmmed job......

the rest of the hype is utter bs....

Didn't engage in a full blown hunt for it but there is an interesting article somewhere out there that looks at the boom/bust cycle of addiction outbreaks.

Outbreaks basically start with ___ being touted by doctors or pharmacists or street dealers as safer than some other drug. There is a rapid explosion of use, and eventually after hitting crisis levels run out of steam because there is a shortage of new users. A comparison of cities that made crack a high emphasis enforcement issue saw the crisis end at about the same time as cities that didn't take extraordinary steps because the public became aware of what the hell you look like after using crack for a long time. Once the public is turned off the demand falls.

(02-10-2018 11:14 AM)arkstfan Wrote:  The over-prescribing began because those 1% addiction rate studies were industry-funded. The 8% figure is better accepted and had that been the data used when approval was sought there would have been more restrictions, though probably not the ones we are imposing now that are making Chinese fentanyl and Mexican heroin so profitable.

Counterpoint: A large study, reported last month, pegs the number at 1%. No funding received; no industry affiliation. [Note: Receiving funding or being affiliated with a vested party doesn't refute data. One should bring more to a critique of scientific studies than ad hominem.]