Osler's Razor

Any drug that has the analgesic properties of the strength and efficacy that Oxycontin or other opiates like heroin have is going to be abused, plain and simple. These drugs exist because they relieve pain, and this is a very powerful feeling, one that people often become addicted to and subsequently abuse. Because of this, I don't think it's possible to ban Oxycontin, because something will come along to take its place; a stronger, more effective pain relief, just like we've seen for the last hundred years. I also don't think that drugs like these should be banned because they exist for a legitimate medical reason. Some people, albeit probably not many that use them, suffer inexorable agonizing chronic pain on a daily basis, and these drugs allow those people to live a better, more tolerable life. I'm certainly in no position to tell a multiple sclerosis sufferer that they can't have their Oxycontin or a cancer patient that they can't use a Fentanyl patch because they have the potential for abuse. That would be a sentence of suffering that I'm simply not willing to sign my name to in the name of curbing addiction.

I think the potential for abuse is pretty high in any system where medical doctors are allowed to make decisions as to the medications their patients should take (which they should). Just like with medical marijuana, there are some who truly need it and others who take advantage of its availability to abuse the system. The answer I think should be in the form of regulating doctors, not patients. As with any other drug, the problem is mostly supply, not demand. Although I don't think that banning them is the answer, I think that closely monitoring their prescription and distribution is the only effective (and humanitarian) means for control.
 

Gotta disagree with you here; banning prescription drugs only increases the amount of cash that goes into pocketbooks of drug dealers. Every pharmacy I've been to has safeguards in place. Just the other day I was at CVS picking up my "don't go bald" prescription only to hear a very angry addict outside trying to con the pharmacist out of some codeine and promethazine for her "sick kid."

She didn't get her drugs.

Now, if she'd gone instead to one of our lovely local drug dealers, would he have told her no? Nope -- she'd have her drank on by now.

My answer would be greater education on the dangers of drugs and addictions, with official policies of no criminal charges for possession of personal use amounts of drugs (even prescription drugs) with instead mandatory programs for addicts to get the help they need to kick their addictions.
 

I should add that it is an offense for both a pharmacist (under Health & Safety Code § 481.128) and a private citizen (under Health & Safety Code § 481.112) to deliver or manufacture substances like Oxycontin and Oxycodone.
 

Osler on CNN is now linked on the Baylor site: http://www.baylor.edu/law/media/index.php?id=72029

That's off-topic, except that it doesn't appear that Osler is on drugs. And nice tie! What's with the haircut, too?
 

Unfortunately, this attitude has resulted in Doctors being unable to prescribe needed amounts of pain killers for patients in dire need.

Many doctors that specialized in pain control for the terminally ill have been prosecuted for writing too many prescriptions for opiates, when all they are doing is helping their patients.

The entire drug law fiasco has only led to the current situation in Mexico and south america, with no reduction in the use of illegal drugs in the US. Billions of dollars have been wasted, and countless lives ruined, for no good reason other than the notion that if it feels good, it must be wrong.

Many European countries have much more sane laws, with no increase in addictions. Controls on the opiates are necessary, but not to the ridiculous extent that we currently embrace.

Treatment for addicts would be a better use of the money than our prisons, DEA, and other law enforcement trying to prevent people from getting the substances that are so readily available. Prohibition never works - it seems to be a human trait to want to alter their conciousness on occasion.
 

Unfortunately, this attitude has resulted in Doctors being unable to prescribe needed amounts of pain killers for patients in dire need.

Many doctors that specialized in pain control for the terminally ill have been prosecuted for writing too many prescriptions for opiates, when all they are doing is helping their patients.

The entire drug law fiasco has only led to the current situation in Mexico and south america, with no reduction in the use of illegal drugs in the US. Billions of dollars have been wasted, and countless lives ruined, for no good reason other than the notion that if it feels good, it must be wrong.

Many European countries have much more sane laws, with no increase in addictions. Controls on the opiates are necessary, but not to the ridiculous extent that we currently embrace.

Treatment for addicts would be a better use of the money than our prisons, DEA, and other law enforcement trying to prevent people from getting the substances that are so readily available. Prohibition never works - it seems to be a human trait to want to alter their conciousness on occasion.
 

Following Anonymous' comment -- is there really any doubt as to why people take drugs? Drugs make you feel awesome, at least temporarily. An artificial euphoria from being drunk or stoned or high or whatever is still euphoric. Yes, they're dangerous, illegal, and can do lasting physical and psychological damage, but people take drugs "recreationally," i.e., "for fun." As long as drugs make people feel a certain way, people will take them. End of story.
 

THIS IS ALL TOO TAME WE SHOULD DISCUSS WHETHER CHUCK NORRIS WILL ROUNDHOUSE KICK LANE WITH HIS LEFT FOOT OR RIGHT FOOT

ALL CAPS GUY
 

Sorry for the double post - I hit the button twice by mistake. And no, I wasn't stoned at the time! :D