Comments about ‘The pull of the pills’

My Goodness! The writer sure knows how to slant the article into an anti-pain reliever rant. Talk about a bad rap these pills do not deserve.

Yes, many abuse them. However, they have been a godsend to those with horrible, crippling pain and make them live a normal life.

You can blame the individuals abusing them, you can blame the doctors for prescribing them when not needed ... but don't place blame on the pills themselves.

That is like saying the Internet leads to Pornography addiction, or "Alcopops" leads to alcohol abuse.

God article.

It reminded me that if you do get hooked on Oxy (or another prescription pain pill) and get caught using another person (your maid) to get your pills, make sure your name is Rush Limbaugh if you want to avoid prosecution for the crime.

I meant to start "good" article.

GWB-Don't worry about it. With or without the "o" your post was lame.

great. i didn't even know you could crush up pain pills for an instant high. Thanks for teaching me something I really didn't need to know. Now, it will be a constant temptation to do it. Thanks for telling me all the bad drugs to take. I never knew their names. But now, I have the information to buy them on the street. Thanks. Deseret News. You have corrupted me.

Pain relievers make it possible for me to have some form of life. To spend time with my kids, once in a while work in the yard, walk the dogs and make an income. Without it, I would do little but sit in the corner helpless to do anything but moan in pain and wish life would end. Been there, done that.

I've never once taken a pill for a high or a change in mood or when I am not in pain. I take as little as I can and sometimes less than a wonderful caring doctor has prescribed. Yet, I am harrassed and my doctor fears being put out of business any minute.

Never once have I tried a harder drug or alcohol. I've never doctor shopped or done anything illegal to get more drugs. I don't ask for increases in dosage. If there were a surgery to fix my back, I would do it today. I've tried trigger point shots, Prolotherapy, VAX-D machines, burning out the nerves, hanging upside down, chiropractors, and on and on. Give me a cure to the pain and I will take it.

The best part is that some of these people highlighted are trying to push the blame on everyone but themselves. "It's not my fault, it's the doctor's and the pills fault." Just step up and admit you were the one who took the pills, you were the one who shopped for doctors or stole, or whatever. If you didn't think you should take them because of past "experiences" then don't take them. The doctor didn't force them down your throat. I'm sick of world who projects their problems on others instead of just taking the blame and dealing with it.

Two points that need to be emphasized. First, pain relievers, when property used, are a wonderful tool of modern medicine. Second, it must be nearly impossible to be an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints and not know that abusing prescription drugs violates the Word of Wisdom.

The people profiled in this story aren't "victims" of pain killers or of LDS culture. Their suffering is self-inflicted.

These facts don't make them less worthy of our sympathy or of our assistance.

Proof- God's word of wisdom is real. I'm sad for all these people and my 4 children who have more evil and threats to face besides the obvious looming dangers of our society. But I'm not ever going to be apart of this growing problem. Thank you for pointing this out.

I doesn't appear that I read the same article as those who think this blames the pill and not the addict or doctor. Yes, these pills are a godsend to those suffering chronic pain, and yes, there is the potential for abuse among the chronic pain sufferers, as the article points out. Why does one person become addicted while another uses as directed and stops when the physical pain stops? Great question. The judgmental approach taken by the young woman's LDS neighbors will ensure that the problem will be buried, hidden from view but still very much alive. Thank you for shedding light on the extent of the problem. Next time you might point out that there are doctors who dump their patients when addiction is detected without any regard for the horrific detox that doctor has just thrown his former patient into, leaving the patient with no resources, just the hellishness of withdrawal. This isn't blaming the doctor, only exposing the ignorance of health-care providers who need to be informed. Hopefully, your article will help all involved: addict, doctor, family members, and the general community.

Where does one turn when the medication does not react in them the same as the majority of patients especially when the reaction is psychological in nature? You will be ignored and/or judged. When somebodies life starts sliding downhill, sometimes ending in suicide, you will often find a minor medical procedure or injury preceding it. I was as judgmental as anybody until it happened to me and I was left amazed for about six months while I experienced it. Medications have eliminated a lot of suffering and have made a lot of money. They should back up their customers a little better.

I have chronic pain and the only way for me to get any type of relief is using Lortab. Yet, you can't believe what a person with chronic pain has to go through just to get a prescription due to others who abuse the system.

I am glad this article was written. It helps us beter understand the potential dangers on how non-addict pain patients can unknowingly become addicts through a legitimate, first-time use of a helpful drug proscribed by a health-care professional. Since this problem seems to be able to start benignly, I am very glad that Desert News has done a lot of research to educate the general public about the possible dangers. To me, it seems this article was written to educate us, which seems to be the best weapon to fight this problem. The scary thing about these prescription pain pills is that some of the addicts mentioned in the story had not even considered themselves as addicts nor had prior chemical dependency -- only when a painful injury required them to use the pills did they get hooked while controling ain.

The State steals from us through taxation, then uses that resource to propagandize us that it is wrong to have cognitive liberty and use mind-altering substances recreationally.

Adding the criminal justice system to the mix of addiction does not help solve the problem either ... unless the problem is protecting jobs for those who don the State's costume and wear its badges.

It's probably too much to expect balanced treatment on this subject from the Deseret News, but for those who want to learn about other views on drug use, check out the Drug Policy Alliance Network.

Irresponsible of Deseret News to place the blame for the first young woman's relapse into addiction on her doctor. Did you even interview the doctor to get his side of it?

It's amazing that so much emphasis is placed on prescription drug abuse while the number of alcoholics is enormously larger. As some of the stories in this articles stated, if the prescriptions aren't available, people self medicate with alcohol. When they can't get prescriptions, they turn to heroin. Is that a better option? While the addictive powers of heroin and oxycontin are similar, the overall risk of using oxycontin or lortab is less than that of heroin. Pain pills are made to exact specifications in labs, where are tested and certified before being sent to pharmacies. Street drugs, on the other hand, are often mixed with dangerous fillers. There is no way to know what a street drug actually consists of. Cracking down on prescription drugs will only lead more people to use more dangerous street drugs and to cope with alcohol when all else fails. Addictions of all types can ruin lives, but the level of danger increases with the type of drug being abused. By legalizing and regulating opiates, we could cut down on the overdose deaths significantly, and in the process we could cut down on crime associated with street purchases.

Legalising something that is wrong results lowering the whole society standards.

It is wrong to judge whose fault this is. However we can learn that the current healthcare system needs correcting.

When Doctors get kickbacks from pharmacueticals for prescribing their drugs and pharmacueticals make drugs that have side affects to cause people to take more of their drugs, then an ethical correction needs to be made to the system.

The same things happen with alcohol, tobacco, and any other legalized drug. System needs to be fixed period.

Universal healthcare would be a great start so that their would be a vested interest by the goverment to keep costs under control and change their interest into keeping us healthy it costs more to be sick.

Maybe this article is just making a point that there is a BIG problem with many people abusing prescription drugs and the effects it has had in their lives! If anything, maybe we need to just read and learn so that we can help someone we know if the situation arises. Prescriptions are good for what they are written for, unfortunately people are imperfect and every situation is not the same! Realize, maybe, that this situation could be your son, daughter or brother, sister as I have found out to be the case.

I just need to say this for me,what about those of us that don't abuse the drugs but we get punished just as if we do. How is that fair it's not and you all with your negitive comments should think about all of us too.

You guys are freaks in Utah.Glad I moved.I need pain pills for my back and it was just ridiclus trying to get some.I don't abuse them I need them for a good quality of life.I had 9 hrs. of back surgery 15 years ago that is giving me problems now.SO LEAVE THE PEOPLE ALONE WHO NEED THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!