There is a trend going on in the healthcare profession in the US that is pushing people with chronic pain towards an emerging specialty field of healthcare known as Pain Management. Traditionally in the past chronic pain was something one could get taken care of by their general or primary healthcare provider. You told your doctor of your pain, he/she maybe sent you out for some testing X-rays, MRI's, etc. and then if it turned out to be something that couldn't be fixed your doctor would prescribe you some form of pain medication, typically narcotics and muscle relaxers.
Unfortunately as is usually the case a few asshats like Rush Limbaugh ruined it for everyone else by going bat shit crazy with it and shopping around to multiple doctors in an attempt to build up a ridiculously large stash of pills to support a ridiculously large habit. Then again what would you expect from a ridiculous, large man?
Additionally you had the introduction of OxyContin, a powerful narcotic that was more or less legal heroin in pill form. That combined with an unwarranted prohibition of marijuana based on lies and propaganda denying access to people who wanted a way to self medicate from the stresses of everyday life other then the only government sanctioned (legal) form of self medication known as alcohol. You now have all the necessary ingredients to turn prescription drug abuse into the number one drug problem in America, especially among the country's youth who are denied legal access even to alcohol.
This caused lawmakers to address the issue by so complicating the treatment of chronic pain with rules and regulations aimed at preventing abuse, that general practitioners and primary care providers are turning away from treating chronic pain. Which in turn gave birth to a new specialty field known as pain management. One of the main practices of pain management is to require patients to come in monthly for their supply of medicine and before they can get it they must submit themselves to giving urine samples. The purpose of which is to determine if the patient is sticking to the regimen the doctor has prescribed or are they abusing it by taking more then they are supposed to and/or supplementing with other things. If it is found that the patient is doing that then the doctor generally cuts the patient off leaving them to suffer their pain with no legal avenue for relief.
This in effect holds the patient hostage, by forcing them to have to follow all the rules and regulations or suffer chronic pain. Now it is unclear to me at this point if marijuana use would be something they would test for at present but with medical marijuana steadily becoming more and more accepted as a real medicine for real health problems, including pain, it's just a matter of time before it will be tested for if it isn't already. That then will set the stage for recreational users of marijuana who have chronic pain to be forced to follow the laws regarding the use of marijuana or suffer their chronic pain if they don't. Also if they don't or they have a hard time complying I can see where government might use that information to strengthen their argument of how bad and addictive marijuana is by point to such people and saying "See, it's so addictive these people would rather risk suffering chronic pain then give up their marijuana use."
So watch out American Stoners or you might find your desire to treat that bad back or whatever other pain you might have will force you to have to give up on your desire to light up rather then drink up. America, the land of the not so free.
Unfortunately as is usually the case a few asshats like Rush Limbaugh ruined it for everyone else by going bat shit crazy with it and shopping around to multiple doctors in an attempt to build up a ridiculously large stash of pills to support a ridiculously large habit. Then again what would you expect from a ridiculous, large man?
Additionally you had the introduction of OxyContin, a powerful narcotic that was more or less legal heroin in pill form. That combined with an unwarranted prohibition of marijuana based on lies and propaganda denying access to people who wanted a way to self medicate from the stresses of everyday life other then the only government sanctioned (legal) form of self medication known as alcohol. You now have all the necessary ingredients to turn prescription drug abuse into the number one drug problem in America, especially among the country's youth who are denied legal access even to alcohol.
This caused lawmakers to address the issue by so complicating the treatment of chronic pain with rules and regulations aimed at preventing abuse, that general practitioners and primary care providers are turning away from treating chronic pain. Which in turn gave birth to a new specialty field known as pain management. One of the main practices of pain management is to require patients to come in monthly for their supply of medicine and before they can get it they must submit themselves to giving urine samples. The purpose of which is to determine if the patient is sticking to the regimen the doctor has prescribed or are they abusing it by taking more then they are supposed to and/or supplementing with other things. If it is found that the patient is doing that then the doctor generally cuts the patient off leaving them to suffer their pain with no legal avenue for relief.
This in effect holds the patient hostage, by forcing them to have to follow all the rules and regulations or suffer chronic pain. Now it is unclear to me at this point if marijuana use would be something they would test for at present but with medical marijuana steadily becoming more and more accepted as a real medicine for real health problems, including pain, it's just a matter of time before it will be tested for if it isn't already. That then will set the stage for recreational users of marijuana who have chronic pain to be forced to follow the laws regarding the use of marijuana or suffer their chronic pain if they don't. Also if they don't or they have a hard time complying I can see where government might use that information to strengthen their argument of how bad and addictive marijuana is by point to such people and saying "See, it's so addictive these people would rather risk suffering chronic pain then give up their marijuana use."
So watch out American Stoners or you might find your desire to treat that bad back or whatever other pain you might have will force you to have to give up on your desire to light up rather then drink up. America, the land of the not so free.
