the oxycontin dilemma . . .

The Agony and the Ecstasy
How the OxyContin crackdown hurts patients in pain
by Melinda Ammann
reasononline
April, 2003

http://reason.com/0304/fe.ma.the.shtml

given all the recent discussion about Rush and oxy, here's an article that talks about the dilemma created when an effective pain relief medication can also be misused . . .

(snip)

"Much of the concern about OxyContin stems from a misunderstanding of addiction. Aronoff observes that people mistakenly equate addiction with tolerance (the need for higher doses to achieve the same effect) and so-called physical dependence, changes in the body that lead to withdrawal symptoms if the drug is abruptly withdrawn. Anyone who takes an opioid like OxyContin every day will eventually develop tolerance and physical dependence, but addiction requires an attachment to the drug’s psychoactive effects. "Addiction is characterized by the repeated, compulsive use of a substance despite adverse social, psychological, and/or physical consequences," says Aronoff. "Addiction is often, but not always, accompanied by physical dependence, withdrawal syndrome, and tolerance."

"Conversely, people who take OxyContin and other opioids for pain may develop tolerance and physical dependence, but that doesn’t mean they’re addicted. Several studies conducted during the last few decades have found that patients who receive narcotics for pain rarely end up seeking the drug for nonmedical reasons. "One study found that only 4 out of about 12,000 patients who were given opioids for acute pain became addicted," the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports. "In a study of 38 chronic pain patients, most of whom received opioids for four to seven years, only two patients became addicted, and both had a history of drug abuse."

(snip)

"Rogers resents anti-OxyContin crusaders who gloss over or ignore the drug’s benefits for pain patients like him. "Their backs probably don’t hurt," he says. "No matter what kind of drug is ever produced, there will always be people who will abuse it and give it a bad name. These people never represent the thousands of legitimate patients like me who are not addicted but depend on it for some kind of life, as pain-free as possible."

- much more . . .

http://reason.com/0304/fe.ma.the.shtml

I love this part (and we should remember it for the dittomonkeys):

Several studies conducted during the last few decades have found that patients who receive narcotics for pain rarely end up seeking the drug for nonmedical reasons. "One study found that only 4 out of about 12,000 patients who were given opioids for acute pain became addicted," the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports. "In a study of 38 chronic pain patients, most of whom received opioids for four to seven years, only two patients became addicted, and both had a history of drug abuse."

I guess Rush truly IS unique! (Or at least 1 in 3000)

I would bet that he has been using drugs for a quarter century or more. Everything about Rush is an illusion. He is a living lie.

Drug abuse, of course, includes alcohol abuse.

Anyone buying OxyContin in the quantities he is alleged to have bought is after something other than pain relief.

The response from "law and order" conservatives has been disappointing. A trip to Free Republic from a link posted here last night showed some pitiful examples of denial, double standards, and blame for the former housekeeper who turned Rush in. Imagine if this were a prominent liberal! They'd be calling for the death penalty for him and celebrating the housekeeper as a heroine a la Linda Tripp.

It's that he's had such a dismissive attitude toward others, including those addicted to drugs, not to mention those who suffer in ways that he does not. Then, of course, there is the little matter of the total amount of Oxy that he had -- a rather suspicious amount.