Reply #22: Don't I know it [View All]

[Dogmudgeon]

I'm a chronic pain patient. I recently had to discontinue taking pseudoephedrine because of high blood pressure, but I also take schedule II meds -- oxycodone, and possibly hydromorphone (Dilaudid) in the near future.

Naturally, it's a major annoyance having to get a written prescription each time I need a refill, and it really hammers home the paternalism of the medical/pharmaceutical/state complex.

I understand that for practical purposes, narcotics can't be sold over the counter like safe drugs such as tobacco and alcohol. But with each new "drug scandal", they make it just a little more expensive and difficult to part with just a little more of one's money.

And if you're a pain patient, you'll understand, it's not street candy, it's "now-I-can-think-clearly-again-for-two-to-six-hours". (At this hour of the evening, it's "half-a-night-of-sleep".)

--p!