The Law Of Unintended Consequences: Trump's War On Opioids
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When Trump took office I read about his upcoming "War of Opioids" but never thought it would affect me personally. You see, I'm one of the people that doesn't abuse the privilege of receiving help to mitigate my pain... I should have known better. When I went to pick up my monthly supply, I was informed that the government had become involved... and when government becomes involved in attempting to solve any problem- things can only get worse. The government is good at only two things- extorting money from honest citizens and war. I spent a good part of yesterday wracking my brain for one problem that the government has successfully solved- I came up blank.
I have to believe that most people that need help with pain are like me... they appreciate the privilege and don't abuse it. I don't watch TV so when I went to the pharmacy and one of the pharmacists told me that "people are dropping like flies from overdoses" you can imagine my surprise. It hasn't happened to anyone that I know. If I had to guess, I'd say that 75-80% of people getting opioids use them properly. Of course, I have no way of knowing. My biggest fear is running out before I'm supposed to, so I count them constantly just to make sure. If people are overdosing, it almost has to be on purpose.
I've learned that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has involved themselves and set forth ridiculous guidelines that could have only been formulated by someone that doesn't experience constant often blinding pain... I didn't even know that pain is a disease (I guess everything is nowadays), so why the CDC involved themselves is beyond me. They claim "scientific studies" have determined that the equivalent of 50 mg. of morphine per day provide optimum pain relief... What a joke! 50 mg. of morphine provides me with about 4 hours of relief. However, given the way "scientific studies" are conducted now, I'm not surprised. The scientific method of discovery has been inverted. Now, a predetermined result is formulated and then "evidence" to support it is invented, for the most part. Grants are given to "scientists" that come up with the right results.
When Trump took office I, like many other Americans, had great hopes that he would prove different than his predecessors. I, for one, am sadly disappointed. His handling of the situation with N Korea demonstrated that he's the same as the rest. The North Koreans are in a desperate situation brought on by sanctions imposed by Clinton, Bush and Obama... when people are starving they behave irrationally. All of the saber rattling about Guam was just that- saber rattling. Kim is an idiot, but he's not insane, he'd no more strike Guam than the US itself... it would be suicide.
Mark my words... when these CDC policies take effect in October, here's what is going to happen. First, everyone's dosages of opioids will be cut back. People will attempt to deal with it- but rather than live in debilitating pain, many will take them all at once. You will see overdoses on an unprecedented scale... on purpose, this time. Then all of the drug-dependent seniors will be gone and the assholes in Washington will pat each other on the back and claim victory over this nefarious group of drugs! I was kind of surprised that the pharmaceutical companies didn't squawk, but opioids are fairly inexpensive so it won't cut too far into their profit margin... good thing the CDC didn't go after the psychotropics like Latuda ($1500 a month)... Then the shit would really hit the fan!!!
By the way... please spare me all the comments about wonderful homeopathic cures and crystals, pyramids etc. I don't feel like flagging anybody- I just got my voting power built back up after flagging a scammer into oblivion!
GIF by @papa-pepper
I think people will go to the black (free-) market instead and buy what they need there... Although they will not be sure what they will get from a street dealer... might be very adulterated stuff...
Most seniors are on a fixed income and can't afford street prices.
Add me to the list, but for different reasons; I expected legal war with the Deep State and The Left; draining the swamp.
I don't uses drogas, but the War on Drugs is an incredible violation of American rights and a stupendous waste of resources. So sad to see trump take this direction.
reSteemed
I don't use them because I enjoy it... without them, I'm bedridden and I am NOT going to spend the rest of my life unable to move! I expected more out of him for the reason you mentioned as well... this thing with N Korea showed his true colors to me. If the sanctions were relaxed and people could eat- you'd see a completely different world view there- maybe even a move toward democracy.
yup. I get that...but my point is that even if you were using for pleasure, it is not my business or anyone elses in the first place ;>
I'll dispute you about a detail on the norks...the norks are starving b'c of Fat Kim's distribution policy, not due to sanctions. Fat Kim is using hunger as a means of population control, as the Soviets did in the Holdomor
I'm certain you know more than I about NK... I don't watch news- basically it was an uneducated guess!
certainly a plausible one.
sanctions are usually a bad way to influence a State; the citizens suffer, not the rulers
so we usually use sanctions derpy derp!
I just look at sanctions as a prelude to war... they seem to accomplish nothing else!
Have any of you suffering from opiate use/abuse ever looked into safer alternatives?
There is Kratom and Black Seed Oil that may help you wean off of opiates. However Kratom is an opiate as well, but a safer and legal one at that. You can also have withdrawals/addictions with it but if you know what your doing you can use this to get over the hardcore opiates.
Black Seed Oil is another great oil that has a ton of benefits and is not a drug. But it supposedly does hit slightly on the opiate receptors. It may also be another aid in helping withdrawal since it can also help calm you down a bit.
Black seed oil is useless (at least for me) I hear Kratom has side effects much like speed. No thanks!
There are different strains of Kratom. Some stimulating, relaxing or a mix of both. I've never heard it compared to speed though. Although I guess if you take a stimulating strain and do a ton of it that something like that may happen.
I've taken all strains of Kratom and have been able to come off and on of it pretty easily but I know everyone is different.
Someone else suggested it so I began to do some research and a few articles I read said it had an effect like a stimulant... I'm high strung enough!
If your high strung have you ever looked into L-Theanine? It's not a drug or anything like that. I found that it helps to calm me down.
Are you high strung due to anxiety or any reason in particular? You may want to look into foods that help balance your gaba and glutamate. Foods high in MSG can cause your gaba to drop giving you high anxiety/strung out effect.
You can always give meditation a try as well, it may take some time to see the results but it's worth it.
High anxiety... Financial woes... Plus I'm one of the high energy overachievers that is having trouble adjusting to old age!
hah that sounds EXACTLY like me. All meds/drugs/supplements can do is slightly ease the pain or calm down your thoughts..which the calming down isn't that bad since it can help you concentrate and figure stuff out.
Have you ever heard of Polygala Tenuifolia? It's a chinese herb? A lot of people swear by this, and I just got it today.. I'm not sure if its a placebo effect or just a first day symptom but I'm actually surprised that it knocked out anxiety for me and I actually feel better.. You should read up on it and maybe see if it could benefit you. I'm still holding out since sometimes supplements work great the first day and then nothing happens after that.
14 hours of sleep did me a world of good. I've always been manic in my work habits- I push until I drop... It's the only way to make it through special forces training.
I really enjoyed your post and the way you managed to tie in so many health and political topics together in a cohesive way. I can relate so much with this, I once had a doctor tell me that when becoming a doctor, he took an oath to help people like me, but if he did the DEA would take his medical license, so he gave me a prescription and asked me to try to find another doctor, which I did.
I have Cerebral Palsy and kidney issues which had me on opioids for almost two decades and for the last decade I had a doctor that loved to randomly cancel my appointments and go out of town for weeks at a time leaving me with no option, but to go to the ER. I always found it odd that I was not allowed to stop abruptly, but he would not have refills ready each month when he skipped town.
This type of behaivor by the medical community drove me into the arms of the drug markets on the darknet, so I could have a stock pile of medicine as a back-up.
Almost a year ago my health had improved enough to where I could wean myself off the opioids and now I rarely take them, but if I was in your shoes, I would look into the drug markets on the darknet, because that's a lot better than attempting sleep under crystals shaped like pyramids.
I understand! One of my best friends growing up, Eddie Ferrolla had CP and took opioids... There wasn't the onus back then and even when we were grown in the 70's he had no problems. I know this sounds terrible, but his nickname was "Eddie the Cripple," (we could call him that- if somebody else did, we'd beat the crap out of them). It wasn't like he didn't know, back then it didn't matter as much. He worked on the garbage trucks (In Cambridge Mass this is like hitting the lottery) so his healthcare was paid for. He NEVER got disability- he worked so he wasn't disabled... that's how people used to be. Now disability has become like a lifegoal or something.
I lol'd at: Eddie the Cripple
I never got on disability either, but about 3 months ago I moved to England to pursue a Steemit relationship with @cathi-xx and strangely enough CP might be the key to British citizenship since they have tightened the immigration laws in 2012. I am not allowed to work here, which works great for me since my only source of income is trading cryptos and writing posts.
What do you think you will do to manage your pain and to avoid being surprised with a sudden detox?
Very well written article, enjoyed reading. Sorry about "The Trump" problem.
Thanks... I hope my doc and I can work something when I go next month.
My condolences on the pain problem.
I totally agree with your assessment of the government...any government.
Thanks Ev! The only difference there is in any governments is the location!
I would NOT be so presumptuous as to tell you what to do...but other countries have different policies in regard to drugs. Mexico for example (I hear the cost of living is pretty cheap)...so I've heard tell. You can buy _over the counter) there, what would be considered controlled substances here.
Or so I've heard....I don't know that from experience.
I have friends that have gone down there. You used to be able to order stuff through the darknet, Tor. I don't know if its still so or not.
dunno...might be worth looking into.
Interesting post! So sorry for all your pain. My Grandmother used to say that when the government gets involved nothing works as it should. I am becoming more appreciative of her opinion after all these years. LOL
Your Grandmother is/was a wise woman... Look at FDR's attempt to end the Depression- he prolonged it by 10 years. Or Lincoln's attempt to end slavery- it resulted in a war that cost over 600,000 Americans their lives, decimated the 9th & 10th Amendments and caused animosity that still exists today.
DEA budget in in the billions of dollars each year and increasing. It is in the best interest of the cartels, DEA, and CIA to have partial prohibition on drugs: cartels so they can increase profits, DEA so their funding will increase, and CIA to benefit from extra funding via drug transports. As some have mentioned, people will obtain needed pain relief through unlicensed pharmaceutical distributors, which will result in increase of heroin use. The government is manufacturing new crises to solve, in order to expand the ever-increasing bureaucracy.
This sucks. I'm sorry that you're having to deal with idiocy on top of chronic debilitating pain. The VA has been letting the DEA dictate its patient care with regards to medications for several years, and its utter and complete bullshit. We need drug policies that help someone besides the cartels, imho
I gave up on the VA years ago... you couldn't get me there at gunpoint! Also there's a 1 1/2 year wait just to get in where I live!
The federal government has had a war on opiates that began about two years ago with severe limitation of prescribing opioids and opiates. There was a huge bug put in the ears of the VA that any soldier/vet not needing to be on opiates must be taken off. The pain management class that I was in had an individual who had multiple spine surgeries that never fixed his pain and could hardly move without being in severe pain - he even had a spinal stimulator surgically implanted in his back.
Trump may be declaring that it is his idea, but it is not. The people in control of the feds put this word out years ago and Trump is becoming the face of it.
Have you ever looked into using Kratom as a replacement for your pharmaceuticals? Kratom contains two alkaloids that do most of the work, mitragynine and 7-hydroxy-mitragynine. 7-hydroxy-mitragynine has the potency of 10x that of morphine, but is only found in the plant material at a ratio of nearly 0.1%. It is an incredible medicine for pain. I have fibromyalgia and have had two shoulder surgeries and have three herniated disks in my lumbar region, Kratom keeps me walking some days.
No, but I'm going to see what I can find out about it right now... Thanks!
I hope it is something that is able to help! Here is an old experience report of when I first began taking Kratom, if you're interested:
https://steemit.com/nature/@alchemage/the-powers-of-a-soon-to-be-criminal-plant-experience-report-of-using-kratom-mitragyna-speciosa-for-pain-management-and-anxiety