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Dec. 29, 2004 A relative of mine admits to being a drug addict. He is addicted to just about anything you can name, Oxycontin (known on the street as Oxycotton), Methadone, Heroin, Xanax, Ritlan, Morphine, and many others. Let me explain how he became addicted, as he explained it to I. He had back surgery and the pain of the surgery followed him around for months and Vicodin was prescribed to him. The Vicodin worked for awhile, but he soon found himself needing more and more of it to help the pain. Then, Oxycontin was prescribed to replace his constant need for Vicodin. It worked great for awhile. Soon, as you can guess, the Oxycontin stopped being effective. My relative began seeking illegal medicines to assist with the pain because physicians would not give him anything stronger (not there is much stronger). He soon found himself shooting Heroin. Soon after, this thirty-year-old man had a major heart attack, more drugs. The circle of addiction began all over again and he found himself attending a Methadone Clinic weekly to get off the Heroin. Now, he’s hooked on Methadone. He told me that Marijuana helped some, but like all the others it is illegal. Every one of these drugs are addictive, except perhaps for Marijuana and that’s questionable. How does this circle of addiction began? My personal belief is that it begins in several ways: 1. A person is pressured by peers and begins experimenting. 2. A person has a legitimate medical condition, which begins the prescription circle. 3. Our legal system does not assist with addiction, they arrest addicts. 4. Our medical system in this country prescribes an addictive drug with no plan on how to titrate its use. I am sure there are many more ways, but these are some that come to my mind.
My thought is we addict our citizens to
prescription drugs and because they still need
relief many patients turn to illegal drugs. We
then arrest them for taking illegal drugs and
stick them either in prison or an overpopulated
rehabilitation facility. Is this not a vicious
and unproductive circle? It is ineffective and
stigmatizing. Our system creates drug addicts
and then we stigmatize them for being drug
addicts. There is a system breakdown in our
criminal justice system and in our medical
community.
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