it is a shame that people like this are making it harder for people who really need the medications to live a normal life....

I was crushed in an industrial accident when a 7000 lbs. cable plow rolled over my legs. I have healed considerably but I am in perpetual pain. I am almost 40 years old and have no history of doctor shopping or drug seeking. Even with an injury such as this and a lifetime history of not seeking pain medication, yet my doctor refused to prescribe me any narcotic pain medication. He is well aware of my considerable muscle damage and constant 7 of 10 pain level pain I endure. I finally had no choice but to openly ask him if he would prescribe me a small amount of hydrocodone ie; 7-10 per week , so that when it actually IS too much to handle I have something to relieve the intense edge. He informed me that "He doesn't prescribe any narcotics to patients", and proceeded to make me feel like I was in fact a drug-seeker whom he was 'on to'. He did however, prescribe for me a bunch of Vioxx, Naprocyn, Celebrex I informed him that I would rather use something that I KNEW worked and KNEW what the risks are over being a guinea pig for the big pharmaceutical companies!! I may be mistaken , but I believe that BOTH VIOXX and CELEBREX were soon after PULLED from the market due to putting users in some kind of dire medical risk.. http://arthritis.about.com/od/vioxx/a/vioxxrecall.htm http://celebrexlawsuit.lawinfo.com/celebrex-class-action-lawsuit.html ....risk enough to pull the products off the market right? I also asked him how that is an effective or acceptable practice for medical practitioner? What I mean by that is ...I have a legitimate injury giving me a 10% permanent partial disability in my lower extremities and I am in severe pain less than six months after my injury, and I am put in the position of committing and actual FELONY!!!! I can go on the street and buy what I KNOW works and KNOW what risks I have from multiple unscrupulous people who have no visible pain....at least not enough to keep their own medication??? WTF??? I realize the dangers of addiction, AND I accept that addiction to pain medications MAY in fact become a permanent part of my life, but at least I know what I am in for.
I also have less fear of addiction than desire to be in this amount of pain (addiction free for the rest of my life!!!!
I DO see the problem here, but c'mon..pffft some people NEED these medications and 'should' have them. The regular person without the need for daily pain management never sees this side of things though, but instead are inundated with the dark-side of this issue. I mean seriously, what about the my mom who can't function (seriously can't ..shaky hands , irritable,......strung out) without coffee? or the thousands of people in this country who get drunk EVERY SINGLE night?? That is the way things should be handled. I think what they are doing in Florida is the way that medicines like that SHOULD be prescribed and distributed. All the way across the country , in the Pacific NW, (Where it's not nearly as liberally distributed) I can go out on the street and get the medication that I need to get through my days. I am not buying this stuff from people that NEED it? I am not able to use my hard earned medical insurance that I get from WORKING day in and day out. I KNOW I am not the only upstanding, hard-working, person out there in this kind of daily pain; who is forced to do this regularly.
I think that addicts should be held accountable for their actions, and allowed to have some sort of access and ability to medicate themselves back to being able to function in society properly, when the side effects are pretty much Tylenol(Kidney, stomach, liver damage after long time usage) is not only an incredible pain killer, but also makes me feel good with the added addiction to make sure I take the medicine on a schedule. (hahaha maybe I slightly minimised and simplified that a bit :D )
Try to compare this to the hundreds of thousands of liquor stores in the country. The liquor store isn't accountable, the drug of alcohol isn't accountable. The liquor is even less monitored 'cause I don't even have the (most likely completely uncaring, but CERTIFIED and Hippocratic oath taking) doctor giving my records a cursory review...(which I think DOES actually make this an acceptable way to distribute this medication. I mean these ARE REAL DOCTORS...maybe they are there for a check and no longer care, but they ARE taking mri's and looking at the paperwork....they don't want to go to jail, and I believe some don't feel they are violating their oaths either ( I don't believe they are..in fact Thank You to the pain center Doctors who do this THANK YOU!!!).
, BUT they are at least giving them a quick glance. In the video the fella couldn't get his prescription due to paperwork.
How would that differ from alcohol? I want it, (should I have it?) I simply get it (are the liquor stores scrutinised in a documentary?) I get drunk and drive, (Narcotics should be held to this too) I get a dwi. None of these situations holds true for pain medication at all though even if the numbers are infinitesimal compared to alcohol or even tobacco. There isn't an 'expose' on the high amount of liquor stores in poor urban neighborhoods, but there are shows like "intervention" or "Celebrity Rehab w/ Dr. Drew". The USER takes responsibility for his or her own actions. There is USE and ABUSE and ADDICTION. You can be ADDICTED to getting a little RELIEF FROM PAIN and USE narcotics without ABUSING the medication. I don't want to get into the whole abuse vs addiction thing though.....I just want it out there that if I take narcotics EVERY DAY for real pain...I probably am addicted, but I am not necessarily ABUSING it. For instance; my grandpa takes heart medication EVERYDAY or he will have bad chest pains and "maybe' have a heart attack. Is he an addict? Of course he is an addict...he is totally dependent on that medication to function properly, but he is not abusing the medication. Am I addicted to Water? or to Oxygen? I know it's stupid, but we are all chemically dependent. If these people CAN'T get a government and big pharmaceutically overseen drug with documentation that they can read legitimate information on and KNOW what they are taking....they WILL end up taking a much more risky drug to kill the pain, such as; heroin. If a guy has been on Oxycontin for 5 years he is addicted but not abusing; 'cause an abuser would move to cheaper more amount of use per dollar heroin after 5 years of abusing oxycontin.
I will stop now. I would just like you guys to compare this to alcohol or cigarettes...or even coffee (which has tons of bad side effects too and is a small business mainstay in this country)and see that most people should be able to decide what level of pain they are comfortable with , bust individuals who deal the stuff, and have more leniency on distribution such as Broward County, FLA.
I look forward to your feedback.........and I do apologize for the ranting :D

Why aren't the companies that make these drugs being held responsable? it makes no sense. just like illegal immigrants. they take it out on workers that want the opportunity instead of the companies that offer it. If you want to fix the problem, you need to address it at the root. Don't take it out on the people, take it out on the companies doing it. They are the ones creating the situation and in the long run it'll cost alot less than continuosly arresting and jailing people.