Except that addicts can't reliably make that decision.

So everyone suffers because addicts want to get high? They'll get high anyway.

I ran into problems coming off of it as well. Chest pain, terrible breathing, frequent PVCs, etc. It almost killed me.

That does not happen with opiates. If you go cold turkey after building a dependence, you'll be sick for a little while but you won't die like you will with gabapentin.

The doctors are not waging a war on drugs.  The CDC published “guidelines “ for opiate use that CMS has now adopted and is enforcing.  These guidelines are regulations disguised as suggestions.  I have had pharmacists refuse to fill prescriptions I have written for patients because they felt I had over prescribed for post operative acute pain from procedures they know nothing about.  This also can happen with pain management docs or anyone else that prescribes opiates.

So, in response, I have decreased dosages even though I know that what I’m prescribing may not be adequate.  All of this is done because the pharmacist doesn’t want to be on the hook with the .gov for filling a prescription that is outside of the guidelines, with the potential risk of losing their license.  I in turn lower the dose prescribed because I do not want to risk the pharmacist reporting me for over prescribing, which would put my license in jeopardy.

Here is a link to the cdc guidelines and recommendations.  If anyone bothers to read it, you might understand why everyone in the chain is counseling you about the risks and all of the other things you are bitching about when you get “the speech.”

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/Guidelines_Factsheet-a.pdf

They make that decision every day, when they buy illegal drugs.  People make horrible decisions every second of every day.  Pretending that taking away everyone's freedom to put a minor, temporary, obstacle on some people's self destruction is simply delusional.

Well said.

When they sent my Dad home from the OSU James Clinic that last time he went with a prescription for liquid hydrocodone.  I asked the doctor about the prospects for addiction.  His words?  "Drug addiction is the absolute least of our concerns with him.  It's simply not a problem or concern."  Then he turned to my Dad and said "You know if you take xx amount of this you'll just go to sleep and never wake up again?  So just keep that in mind."  Our local pharmacy nearly went insane when I showed up to fill the first prescription because apparently I was getting the Holy Grail of opiates for recreational use.  They insisted that I always carry my gun when picking it up.

Yeah, he was addicted.  It really didn't alter his long term survival outlook.  I don't know that a man in his position these days would have it so easy.

This crusade against opioids is only going to end up affecting the vital supply of drugged-out-of-their-minds GD posters' rants.

Holy. Fuck.  Bureaucrats practicing medicine.

Fuck it, I'm gonna go get a box cutter and steal a sewing kit from a hotel and go into the surgery business.  I mean fuck it, if everyone else thinks they're qualified to practice medicine behind a desk, I might as well give it a crack.

I had no idea the bullshit you guys went through on this.  Damn.