The latest news on pill mills in Florida is that doctors in the habit of over prescribing OxyContin, are leaving Florida in droves.

Florida has recently introduced strict laws around the prescription and sale of OxyContin pills. In 2010, the DEA reported that 90 of the top 100 doctors who were known to be over prescribers of Oxy – lived and worked in Florida.

Now there are only 13.

The result has been relative peace and tranquility for law enforcement officers in Florida. It is now much easier for them to spot incidences of oxycodone overprescription and so keep a lid on the Oxy problem in Florida.

There has been a reduction of 97% in sales of oxycodone to doctors in Florida since 2010. There has been a similar decline – a reduction of 29% of oxycodone purchases from Florida pharmacies.

There have been two recent prosecutions of over prescribing doctors – one sentenced to 25 years in prison and another charged with alleged opioid prescription offences arising out of having prescribed for patients more than 250,000 oxycodone pills over a period of eight months.

As from September of last year, pharmacies in Florida are required to fully track the issuing of opioid pain killers on prescription, which means that people can no longer get an oversupply of painkillers by going to different pharmacies.

Although it would appear that the problem of Florida pill mills, and the human misery that they incite has largely been resolved, what is not resolved by this tightening up of the relevant legislation is the fundamental issue of continued drug addiction.

Florida law officers report, and perhaps it is no surprise – increasing numbers of over prescribing pill mill doctors have now set up shop in neighboring States, such as Tennessee and Georgia.

It is also said that some Oxy addicts in Florida, are travelling as far as Canada to get supplies of Oxy.

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The downside of this Florida success is that we are now getting reports from States such as Georgia that with the new legislation in Florida – recognized pill mills in Georgia rose from 40 to nearly 90 by the end of last year.

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Georgia will not be able to get an efficient new drug database up and running until around 2013, although the State has already put new legislation in place.

The State of Tennessee has also passed pill mill legislation early in the New Year, hopeful that it will give them the edge over the new influx of oversupplying pill mill doctors.

It might be thought that the answer is as easy as spreading the Florida model for prescription drug reporting so that the whole of America is “tight” with new legislation – effectively preventing the average person from abusing the system.

However, if the solution to drug addiction was to be found in making laws about it, no doubt we would have overcome the problem, won the war on drugs, many years ago.

The reality is that if, prescription oxycodone in illicit doses ever becomes too hard to get hold of, opioid addicts will respond by seeking alternatives, with heroin a drug of choice because of it’s relatively low price, and easy availability.

Meanwhile, people such as the Governor of Kentucky speak out in public about the scourge of oxycodone drug products, at meetings such as the recently held Kentucky Prescription Drug Abuse Summit. In Kentucky, painkiller prescription drug deaths, of around 1,000 per year, outnumber fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents.

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In the article, recovering war veteran, Dustin Gross, aged 26, says that with the help of Veteran’s Affairs, he recovered from the degradation that he suffered as a prescription drug addict, now saying that what addicts in Kentucky need most is hope. Gross is now studying bio-engineering.

It would appear that while hope is a factor in addiction recovery – help and opportunity to make something good ‘happen” play an equal part, enabling a person to become drug free –  constructive,  contented and happy.

The other side of the coin is that nearly 10% of Kentucky Grade 12 kids have illicitly used a prescription narcotic in the past month, just a few of the 7 million Americans today who regularly use prescription medication as a recreational drug.

With Kentucky setting aside a sum of $7.8 million to be spent over two years on a Medicaid program for adults and children suffering from addiction, and further money being injected into KASPER, the Kentucky drug monitoring data base, it could be time to rethink the entire medical model of drug addiction as being a cause of pain and lost opportunity in life.

Perhaps the reason why some people in a population turn to drug use and stay with it, is that they already have pain, and disillusionment, a lack of opportunity in their life. They use drugs simply because they see in drug use their only hope of feeling “better”.

Drug addiction is at the end of the day a psycho-social disorder, from which people can achieve recovery, given appropriate support.

Comprehensive alcohol and drug addiction programs understand the feelings of people who have turned to drugs – have a capacity to re-enable motivation and hope of a better life.

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Graduates of comprehensive addiction recovery program come out drug free, with no cravings. People concerned about the pain and suffering inflicted by prescription drug abuse may need to re-evaluate their attitude and approach to drug abuse and addiction.

If drug addiction seen, not as a cause of problems in life, but as a self help remedy to resolve them, then it becomes clearer – that an effective public response to widespread drug abuse is to support and enhance drug resilience in the individual.

Comprehensive recovery based addiction programs have a track record of success.

People affected by prescription drug addiction regain hope as they progress with the courses, and return to the community – drug free, productive and happy

The benefits of using natural pain relief

Natural pain relief treatments share a common purpose in that they are all interventions designed to invigorate and strengthen natural body functions, as a means to enabling the body to overcome painful disorders of both body and mind.

Although most natural methods for healing have been known about for centuries, in many ways, since the end of the two world wars, there has been a “Dark Age” for natural healing - cast into the shade by the aggressive promotion of proprietary drug medications, and as a spin off from that – a lucrative world wide drug trade, for “recreational use”.

Natural healing is now making a comeback, and is widely sought after, due to the limitations, and side effects of prescription drugs. Increasingly, practitioners of natural healing and pain relief are obtaining certification so that people can make an informed choice as between allopathic and holistic healing methods.

Doctors of Chiropractic treat pain caused by musculo-skeletal disorders both natural, and as a result of trauma. Chiropractors treat the whole person, dealing with orthopaedic and neurological irregularities, often providing instant pain relief, increased strength and flexibility to joints, that have otherwise been treated as a cause of chronic pain and medicated.

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Improvements to posture as a result of chiropractic intervention often bring improvements to digestion, breathing, a reduction of pain related tension, and tension related pain – creating an enhanced sense of well being.

Chiropractic healing is safe for both adults and children.

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The relatively new science of Trigenics combines three treatment techniques to deal with acute and chronic spinal pain. With no drugs or surgery, and using state of the art x-rays, thermography, orthopaedic and neurological testing, practitioners obtain a clinical picture of the injury site and using a manipulative technique that involves soft tissue therapy with resisted exercise, to relieve pain, restores functionality and brings healing.

Trigenics naturally reprograms the brain’s response to pain, so that what ever the cause of the injury, pain can be diminished.

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Clinical pilates is a form of structured pilates exercise, designed to bring about release of tension and pain relief with movement and exercise.

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Yoga is an ancient spiritual, meditative practice, involving body postures. Yoga has for many years become secularized, and focused upon overcoming pain and related tension in the body and mind, by using meditative mental control and extreme relaxation techniques.

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Massage of a remedial kind will often incorporate muscle, tendon and ligament massage so as to relieve acute symtoms of pain.

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Similar to remedial massage is remedial myofascial release techniques that involve manipulation of the connective tissues.

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Natural pain relief in childbirth means no risk to the child of toxic side effects, natural pain relief for children means no drug toxicity to impair growth and mental development, and the risk of death. Natural remedies are essentially “gentle” with the body.

One of the most comprehensive approaches to recovery of health and pain relief is the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture. Because acupuncture taps into sources of mental and physical energy – for most people acupuncture brings great relief.

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Effective natural treatments for pain often have some “negative” side effects that are really the beginning of healing. The effects are temporary, and will subside as the body and mind come more into balance. Understanding that pain often needs to be expressed and its causes treated before good health can be restored is a fundamental principle of natural healing.

Using drugs to maintain an appearance of health often contributes to the maintenance of “sick” conditions in the body, disturbances of the mind.

Abuse of drugs is one of the many causes of chronic pain, stress and deterioration of the body and mind. The situation is not improved by using drug maintenance programs.

Leaving people to ultimately find their own way out of drug addiction, after a short detox, means that people continue to have drug cravings, and addictive behaviors.

The approach taken by comprehensive alcohol and drug addiction recovery programs begins with a commitment to a science based, social model for addiction recovery that uses holistic principles to achieve good health and healing.

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Comprehensive programs draw on many natural, drug free principles and practices – all designed to work with synergy towards completely craving free drug addiction recovery.

Narconon promotes complete and thorough detoxification as a base for healing, removing toxins latent in the body for years, that contribute to cravings. The pain of drug withdrawal is overcome by completely natural methods – supplements and nutitious food help to restore the body, “touch therapy” helps relieve pain, both physical and emotional.

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While body detox is being completed, students of the program take part in coursework that provides education and understanding, and practical applications for life improvement, and communication enhancement, helping people to have better human relationships and to feel better about themselves.

Graduates of the Narconon program for complete addiction recovery are pain free in body and mind, with no physical craving for drugs, and no painfully destructive, addictive patterns of behavior.

We are very much conditioned to think of pain relief in terms of using an OTC drug or prescription medication. We think of natural pain relief as being a herbal remedy, to be found in packaged doses at a health store, intended to be used more or less as a medication.

Doctors tend to think in terms of surgical intervention and drug use for the treatment of pain, and both can inhibit our natural healing capacity.

Traditional healthcare has pathologized pain, seeing it as being something that we do not want, don’t want to work through, or understand. Pain is regarded as a medical condition to be treated with drugs, medicated away.

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Many feel that an absence of pain means health, or at least a capacity to soldier on.

True healing brings an absence of pain – because we have taken the time to understand the meaning of our pain – and worked to resolve its causes. In our haste to get pain relief we miss an opportunity to understand that pain is only a messenger – the delivery of a message that something, somewhere is not “well”, and is in need of healing.

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Whether our pain is physical or caused by emotional tension, there will be natural methods that we can use to help mind and body to heal.

Physical pain and emotional distress are intertwined.

Emotional distress causes physical “symptoms”, physical symptoms such as pain cause psychological distress. Pain can be intensified by our emotional response to it.

Some insight into this intricate situation is provided by an unexpected side effect of antidepressant drugs.

Whereas painkilling drugs have long been known to have antidepressant effects, doctors are now finding that some types of antidepressant drugs provide effective pain relief.

The experience of “pain” is highly subjective – and is affected by many factors.

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The main arguments in favor of using drugs for pain relief are based on extreme cases. When pain is acute and unbearable – drugs are put up as being the only humane option to provide respite, and dignity. There are many pain drugs available to ease the daily stress of living.

The main reason why we choose to use drugs of any kind, for pain relief, in preference to resolving, correcting what is causing the pain is that we feel overwhelmed and powerless to do otherwise than use drugs to overcome and deal with our pain.

At a psychological level, we don’t have the life skills, the hope and resilience to best resolve the causes of our pain - all we want is pain relief so that we can get on with living.

What we fail to understand in our dialogue with pain, is that it is our chosen way of living that defines our experience of pain.

Exploring the relationship between lifestyle, stress, and pain is a road less travelled. Some will refuse to go there. Pain is something beyond our control – and we need drugs to cure it.

An article on Spine Health is thoughtfully put together by Stephanie, with a list of pain relievers that are both natural and easy – that release your inner endorphins, for natural pain reduction.

Good food and good company – laughter is said to be the best medicine. Heat packs, cold packs have their benefits and bring symptomatic relief from muscular sprains, period pains, and headaches.

You can get movement and activity back into your life – with exercise, massage and joint mobilization techniques. Although it might be painful at first, the creaks and groans of exercise or subtle feelings of tension release brought on by a chiropractor are often the first symptom of regeneration and healing.

Getting outdoors brings the benefits of oxygenating the body, sunlight helps to bring healing, and can relieve depression. Getting out and about gives us an opportunity for new relationships and new ideas.

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Sometimes rest, more sleep, deep relaxation is appropriate for pain – enabling natural healing to happen at a physical and emotional level.

Help for emotional pain can come through guided imagery, meditation, some people use hypnosis. We can also use techniques to realign our energy – pilates or acupuncture. – and last but not least – we need to make sure that we are getting enough quality sleep, exercise and nutrition.

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Genuine natural pain relief is provided in a holistic context. Holistic healthcare methods use complementary healing techniques so as to mobilise body resources, raise awareness, and energy levels -  use methods that enhance overall “wellness” in a person.

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Dealing with pain by natural methods means giving up drug use, and usng a comprehensive approach to the complete resolution of what is causing the pain.

There are many types of natural help that people can use for pain relief in order to bring an end to physical and mental suffering.

The more we are willing to look beyond our pain and see it in perspective, the more in control we will feel.

Understanding and resolving our pain, using the comprehensive Narconon program brings total freedom from drug use and from drug addiction.

For many years, manufacturers of opioid narcotic painkillers have fostered three beliefs in the minds of the general public

Firstly, there is the widely held belief that synthetic narcotic opioids offer the only effective pain relief to both the terminally ill, and those in chronic pain. People need narcotic pain relief, and this should not be denied them.

Secondly, when opioid narcotics are used as prescribed there is no risk of physical or psychological dependence, addiction or overdose. Use your painkillers as prescribed, and everything will be fine.

Thirdly, as no one dies or suffers an adverse reaction when using narcotics as prescribed, any one who dies or suffers an adverse reaction must have, in some way, done the wrong thing, and so is the author of their own misfortune.

The DEA mounted a challenge to this stone wall position against responsibility or liability when it re-examined toxicology statistics for oxycodone, and specifically OxyContin as a cause of death. The results demonstrated, in absence of better data to work from, that OxyContin was associated with 15%, and was a most probable factor in 49% of 949 oxycodone related deaths.

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Although the DEA report specifically found that polydrug toxicologies, in many of the victims – does not minimize the significance of the role of OxyContin in these deaths, industry used the polydrug findings to support a position that the only abuse of OxyContin occured at the hand of the user.

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Since 2002,  official inquiries into deaths and adverse reactions from use of opioid drugs have tended to follow the line that they are inquiries designed to investigate illicit abuse of prescription drugs, deflecting attention from due inquiry into the possiblity of prescription drugs used as prescribed being a direct cause of many fatal and unintentional prescription narcotics overdoses.

In groundbreaking work, by both  Dr Dhalla and Dr Korff a new picture has begun to emerge.

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Dr Dhalla has been responsible for independent research that deals with clustering. He identifies a relationship between having a prescription issued by a doctor in the top bracket for numbers of prescriptions issued for opioid painkillers, and being someone who dies of opioid related causes.

Variations in prescribing, at the level of the individual doctor, appear to be related to opioid related mortality.

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The risk of overdose from prescription opioids increases with the dose prescribed according to a report cited by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. Not only are higher doses more risky, but they would appear to contribute little, if anything at all, to increased pain relief.

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Dr Korff of the Group Health Research Institute, established since 1947 for research and development of better traditional healthcare, has conducted research that takes the focus off the war on illicit drugs, bringing attention directly to the increasing problem of narcotic drugs, issued on prescription.

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Blanket statements that have been made that suggest narcotics are safe to use when issued on prescription fail to take into account that prior to 2010, doctors generally had no care plans, no specific training in pain management or addiction issues, and were widely divergent in their individual approaches to appropriate prescribing for chronic pain in their patients.

Although the incidence of illicit use occurs with opioid drug prescription, indications are that the majority of prescription users of opioid pain drugs do not use drugs other than as prescribed, and that the incidence of prescription painkillers available on the street, is proportionate to levels of prescription by authorizing doctors.

Less than 4% of prescription narcotics abusers obtain their supply from a dealer or a stranger – it is family, friends and the local doctor who facilitate supply of prescription narcotics in around 96% of cases.

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Independent alcohol and drug addiction recovery specialist, Narconon International has been contributing to the availablity of information, in this field, for the purpose of increasing public awareness of the risks of using narcotics, whether on prescription or illicitly and welcomes the further initiatives that enable progress towards better solutions in pain management for all.

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Narconon holds to a  strictly no drugs policy in the area of addiction recovery, supported by current medical opinion that not all pain is bad, nor should it be thought of being always in need of automatic medication. Using methods that enable the body to fully mobilize endogenous biochemicals for pain management and recovery of good health is ethical and causes no harm – in fact generates in the body a vast potential energy for recovery from drug abuse and addiction, and co-morbid disorders of mind and body.

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The answer for those who are seeking to find the truth about drug use is that all drugs cause harm to the body, at different levels of toxicity.

To get clean from drugs, recover good health and become free of drug addiction – people need to rethink their entire approach to drug use in healthcare today, and in addiction recovery.

Fibromyalgia is a disorder of muscle and connective tissue that produces symptomatic pain

It is noted that many people with FMS also suffer from anxiety, depression, tension headaches, jaw clenching, irritable bowel syndrome, FMS leading to feelings of fatigue and intense local and generalized “pain”.

They also take OxyContin.

Serotonin and Substance P are the neurotransmitters implicated in the onset of FMS, regardless of what event might be seen as having “triggered” FMS in any particular individual.

Lack of deep sleep is also implicated, with low levels of Somatomedin C. There is depletion of of adrenal function. The use of opioid drugs to combat pain is contraindicated as long term opioid use contributes to slow metabolic rate leading to, among other things constipation, lethargy, decreased circulation, muscle tone and strength.

Sufferers specifically have elevated levels of Substance P in the spinal cord, decreased blood flow to the Thalamus, that helps regulate general perception.

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The cause of fibromyalgia is said to be unknown, although it is often a secondary “complaint”, brought on by some form of debilitating stress, illness or injury.

Given that neurological deficits or imbalances appear to be implicated in FMS, it might be that the ongoing use of toxic, psychoactive drugs as medications is a contributory cause.

By way of example – Substance P plays a role in that universal complaint that is known as alcohol related hiccups.

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It can be seen that the role of Substance P, in the body, is benign – it is a good thing to expel toxins from the body, and help the body to heal. Substance P is a primary force in the body as an instigator of healing, a comprehensive agent of recovery.

However, due to its association with the pain response, the inflammatory response, including the activation of mast cells, Substance P has been regarded by some as creating an impediment to proper healing.

Unfortunately, modern medicine is anxious to use it’s painkillers, antibiotics, – anti this and that’s – so as to effect some “treatment”. It even tries, in error, to medicate away the healing processes of the body.

Not surprisingly, the toxic drugs we use have a detrimental effect on Substance P and, for example the glial system.

Whereas medical science will refer to other substances as being toxic, it does not see it own drugs in that way.

The body naturally tried to work around, neutralize and eliminate drugs from the body as with any other toxin.

Pain, inflammation, immobility, swelling, reduced functionality, additional sleep, a “depressed” state of equilibrium – the body knows best what conditions must be for optimal repair and recovery, yet we try to medicate against them.

Has medical science yet perfected a band aid as effective as the blister. Why on earth do we pop it and put on our own inferior material?

The moment we medicate with a toxic drug it adversely affects the capacity of the body to optimize its own synergy to restore health and balance.

Substance P, apart from its many other beneficial functions, regulates endogenous painkilling substances, resulting in optimal and effective analgesia. Although known to promote pain in the body, Substance P also acts so as to regulate it.

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As a possible factor in the generation of FMS, the chronic use of opioids diminishes Substance P availablity. This, among other causes of depletion leads to a proliferaton of substance P receptors (neoplasticity) as an attempt by the body to maintain adequate supply. When supply is regained, the proliferation of Substance P receptors can create a state of supersensivity to pain in the central nervous system, a feature of FMS.

Further stress, from continued opioid use maintains rebound, intensified feelings of pain.

The psychoactive medications we use also disrupt serotonin levels and can exercerbate anxiety, increase depression and contribute to feelings of pain. Long term pain has a strong emotional component that can inhibit recovery.

The situation is worse if we start taking narcotics as a medication. Narcotics create their own problems with our emotional feelings, and deplete the physical state of our body.

What people need with FMS is to encourage the production of Substance P and other natural healing mechanisms, not to be left at the mercy of opioid drugs, “antidepressants” and their continued pain. By taking opioid drugs long term we might be causing our chronic pain to continue due to CNS sensitization effects.

As a single, relevant stress factor, it is probable that chronic use of opioid drugs leads to the development of chronic FMS, a situation in which the purported remedy is part of  the problem.

The whole issue of prescription OxyContin addiction, opioid dependency, overdose and death – and the place of medication today as a basis for public health care is not merely a matter of controlling diversion.

We need to keep drugs out of healthcare completely – and publicly fund and support non toxic, effective alternative options for good health, and opioid addiction recovery.

Instead of taking opioids such as OxyContin for years, people with FMS need to get clean of their whole drug regime. and give their body and mind a chance to recover their natural function and begin the work of healing.

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In the process of getting clean from their Oxy addiction, it is very likely that FMS sufferers will also find the key to their suffering, an opportunity to work through and work out deep seated causes of stress in their life, that lead to disrupted physical and mental functioning.

Sort out your issues, get help with your pain using drug free alternative remedies. You can become FMS and opioid addiction free – with no further need or desire for OxyContin, no more chronic , debilitating pain.

At present, drug companies are not allowed to supply pure hydrocodone tablets as a painkiller in the USA. Painkillers that rely on hydrocodone currently have to be made up in combination with a non- opioid painkiller, such as paracetamol (acetaminophen).

Hydrocodone is a synthetic opioid drug, similar to oxycodone that is the ingredient of OxyContin. Hydrocodone is made up from thebaine and codeine, two of the synthetic drugs that can be made up out of the opium poppy.

Vicodan, sometimes described as being the most widely abused painkilling drug today comes with acetaminophen. The problem is that if drug abusers take too much Vicodan, they can inadvertently overdose on acetaminophen. The maximum safe dose of acetaminophen is no more than 4,000mg per day. Too much on a regular basis causes rapid, and fatal liver damage.

The risks of inadvertent overdose when using combination painkilling drugs has been known for some time. For example, a person using Vicodan might think that they can take a few Tylenol painkillers as well as their Vicodan. Tylenol is only a brand name for acetaminophen – therefore you could easily be taking a fatal dose of acetaminophen by using Vicodan and Tylenol drug, at one and the same time.

It needs to be remembered that acetaminophen, although not an opiate, can also be addictive as a painkiller. Many people have started on opiate abuse that began by abusing Tylenol.

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As regards the current moves to get extended release hydrocodone painkillers onto the market, two comments have been made, in the context that there is currently a $10 billion per year market for prescription narcotics in the USA.

Peter Jackson, co-founder of Advocates for the Reform of Prescription Opioids, says:

“It is like the Wild West – the whole supply- side — is set up to perpetuate this massive unloading of opioid narcotics, on the American public.

April Rovero, president of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse is concerned:

This could be the next OxyContin – we just don’t need this on the market. It seems that the proposed new hydrocodone tablets will be able to be crushed, and abused in the illicit drug market, in a similar manner to OxyContin ER tablets.

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The statistics available on prescription painkiller use and abuse indicate a considerable and increasing problem of adverse events arising out of prescription painkiller abuse.

Originally, other non-opioid drugs were mixed with hydrocodone to discourage abuse. The result has been widespread abuse and toxicity of the drugs that have been combined with hydrocodone.

Whereas the drug manufacturers are prepared to launch this new formulation of hydrocodone, government statistics show that abuse of Vicodan and other prescription painkillers is widespread, affects young children still of school age – and is a frequent cause of death.

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The justification that drug companies use to market these drugs is that no one with a legitimate need for strong pain relief should be denied a remedy – just because an unruly element of society diverts these prescription narcotics to illicit recreational use.

What has not yet been addressed by drug manufacturers to date, is the incidence of people becoming addicted when using their drugs as prescribed. There is said to be an intention to have doctors attend special training courses to administer opioid painkillers on prescription, to avoid people becoming addicted.

Probably the best that doctors who insist on using opioid painkillers can achieve, is to recognize opioid addiction when it first sets in, and stop prescribing that particular drug to their patient.

Once a person has a taste for opioid drugs, it can lead very rapidly to dependence and addiction.

Both governments and drug companies have had over 15 years to observe the tragic results in the community of widespread opioid drugs.

When there are alternative, and effective methods for pain relief available, other than opioid drugs – perhaps it is time that governments stopped exposing the general public to a real risk of addiction and death by its continued support of widespread, and indiscriminate prescription opioid drug use.

The links between chronic stress and pain need to be further explored, with a view to healing pain by use of natural stress relief methods. Drug use would appear long term, to interfere with healing, and be a contributing factor in the experience of long term chronic pain for which there appears to be no “cause”.

While governments fail to explore safe and natural avenues for the relief of chronic pain – they are only adding to the problem of widespread opioid addiction in the community.

If we have not learned from Oxy Contin, then we as a society are doomed to keep repeating the same mistake. Use opioid painkillers for pain relief – and we will have widespread opioid addiction in our communities.

A ban on OxyContin in 2012 could be the solution to the problems which have arisen out of prescription and diversion of this narcotic drug.

An article by Richard Sinnott, June 2011 in Florida’s TCPalm online magazine makes it clear that drug regulators have the power, as required, to remove pharmaceutical drugs from the market, and uses the example of methaqualone (known as Quaalude, Sopor…) that was first made in India, in 1955.

Similar to barbiturates, Quaalude became a popular party drug and was diverted to recreational use (ludes), with a high potential for addiction and overdose during the 1960′s and 70′s.

From 1982, laws were put into place, and Quaalude sales were banned in the USA. The writer cites similar outcomes for the pharmaceutical drugs Vioxx and Bextra.

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Sinnott points out that OxyContin is a much stronger drug than Quaalude, with many people dying from unintentional overdose, even when using Oxy as prescribed. With Quaalude the main risk was accidental injury while under the influence – yet while the sedative hypnotic Quaalude was banned, OxyContin remains on the market.

Vioxx was a Cox-2 inhibitor, widely prescribed for arthritis and back pain. Post market concerns about safety risks increased leading to a voluntary recall by the manufacturer in 2004.

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Bextra, a brand name for valdecoxib, was prescribed for relief of pain, arthritis, swelling and fever as from 2001, and removed from the market in 2005. Manufacturer Pfizer was fined $2.3 billion for being associated with deception and fraud in the marketing of the drug, with it’s subsidiary admitting to criminal conduct in the marketing of Bextra and being fined a whopping $1,195 billion.

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OxyContin, introduced in 1996, is not free of a similarly “tainted” past – with 3 of its promoters having been banned from dealing with government agencies for a period of 12 years, and drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma paying massive fines of around $630 million, in 2007, for mis-branding in relation to the initial promotion of OxyContin concerning its addictive potential.

In 2001, Purdue voluntarily suspended sales of a 160mg Oxy tablet – the maximum dose in opiate naive users being around 40mg.

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While none of the businessmen involved in the promotion of drug products that are recalled appear to face censure other than fines – users of the problematic drugs often pay the ultimate price, no post market action for recall being taken until there is an evidence base for drug related harm.

It is not as if we need prescription drug relief. There are many natural and effective options by which pain can be reduced, that are non-invasive, have no adverse side effects, and which are not addictive.

Since the emergence of synthesized drugs, intended for medical use, and their subsequent diversion, the issue has been limited to what are the “safest”drugs to use, and how best to deal with diversion.

There has been little or no government support for alternatives in pain management and cure – no allocated funding to enable appropriate testing and inquiry in the natural pain relief field.

Individuals who wish to promote alternative pain solutions are met with the argument that no trials have been conducted, they have no evidence base.

Part of the problem is that R&D funding would not be returned by a discovery that herbals and minerals in their unprocessed, natural form, that in many cases can be grown in a home cottage garden, provide the most effective cures for most of our present day maladies.

Natural health practitioners who offer bodywork, such as chiropractors and masseurs receive little if any official recognition of their ability to work with and manage pain – and no independent public funding. We are an increasingly drugged, and drug dependent society – whether we like it or not.

With each New Year it is a time to look forward to the future, reflect upon the past. For both individuals and nations who have a “drug problem” – New Year is a time to make changes.

People suffering from any kind of drug dependence or addiction, who want a new start in life, need first to break with the past – make a resolution to become independent of drugs.

The situation is not helped when we see authorities take a stand – and ban a drug such as Avastin, as the FDA has done, and have those invested with the power of continued production and distribution ( ie big pharma and the medical profession) simply flouting the FDA directive. You will still be able to get Avastin for breast cancer, despite FDA disapproval – simply because the healthcare profession wants to continue to use the drug, and health insurers are willing to underwrite the cost.

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It is ultimately an individual choice – whether to make drug use part of your life - to bear the cost both in financial terms and lost opportunity to be leading a more healthy, happy life.

Comprehensive alcohol and drug addiction recovery specialists can help you to see the wood for the trees, find your way through the jungle.

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Make it your New Year resolution to put Oxy and all drug use behind you.

Use a comprehensive, drug free program and start on the journey to a drug free, contented life in the year 2012.

In one study 6,300 Medicare patients were screened after having been prescribed any of five commonly used opiate painkillers during the period 1996 -2005.

People on codeine were 1.6 times more likely to suffer cardiovascular problems, people on hydrocodone were more at risk of fractures. People using oxycodone were 2.4 times more likely to die than people on hydromorphone, whereas codeine users were twice as likely to die.

The second study found that patients on opioid painkillers were more likely to suffer adverse events than nsaid or coxib patients, the study being of 13,000 patients.

Around 10% of opioid patients suffered fractures compared with nearly 2% on other painkillers. Coxibs and opioids were also associated with more cardiovascular problems.

Experts in the field of pain management urge caution, that other factors could be involved that lead to these events.

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In fact a study by Vestergaard and others in Denmark of 2006, stated as its conclusions that there is an added fracture risk in morphine and opioid use, the reason assumed to be increased risk of falls, due to dizziness associated with opiate use.

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A 2007 study from King and others of Arizona University says that sustained morphine increases pain, osteolysis, bone loss, spontaneous fracture – also with markers of neuronal damage to DRG cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines, suggesting a need for more understanding of the consequences of prolonged opioid use – for the purpose of improving continued use of opioids in pain management treatment.

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The authors of the study also say that there is no evidence that their results generalize into other forms of cancer, or for other conditions in which long term opioid treatment is used for chronic pain.

It is suggested that the results of all the surveys confirm that there is a problem – one to be expected with the long term administration of a highly toxic chemical substance into the body.

People who understand the pro-inflammatory response to be part of the natural healing process of the body, and not simply deliberate obstructionism on the part of the body to being medicated with opioids, will be concerned at the collateral neuronal damage being inflicted by opioids in the name of pain relief.

Opioid hyperalgesia is increased sensitivity to pain, caused by using opioid drugs, no doubt a component of the chronic pain that doctors see as needing to be treated with yet more opioid drug – indeed a vicious cycle, in the name of love.

It is easy to translate these medical results to the chronic deterioration that occurs in the bodies of long term opioid abusers. It is not naloxone that we need, but to eradicate completely the use of exogenous opioid drugs – and allow the body to heal itself – enhanced by holistic methods of support for the body in its efforts.

The continued use of opioid drugs in the context of health care is like a person addicted to drugs wanting good health – on his terms. He does not want to give up his drug use, for the comfort that it brings. He ignores the awful side effects, the damage that it is doing, denies any causal relationship between his drug use and the damage.

All drug use brings with it the delusion and euphoria of success and power - in illicit users, as in the medical profession. Drug use is an inherently narcissistic and toxic practice. Nature understands nothing about Medicare rebates and man made rules that apply in the case of some drug administrations. Opiates and opioids have no legitimate place in the body.

The body well supported, can produce endogenous opiates of its own – in precisely measured doses that do not cause toxicity but assist the body to heal. The long term administration of synthetic opioids is an act of aggression against the body, particularly when there are non-toxic, non-invasive natural pain treatment methods available.

People using opioid drugs illicitly, or who are tired of the pain they suffer due to injury, will do well to give up their attachment to the power of drugs to make them “well” – get into some serious detox  from drugs, and start to deal with their pain at a physical, cognitive and emotional level.

It is funny how everyone can see in the illicit drug user the futility of his denial that his drug use is harmful – when medical science is only doing the same thing. Neither want to give up their narcissistic investment in their powerful drugs.

Using opioid drugs makes people feel omnipotent and strong – it is mighty powerful stuff – why on earth would anyone ever want to give them up.

Derek Boogaard died in May 2011 of a combined alcohol and OxyContin overdose, aged 28

Fighting in hockey does not mean indiscriminate violence and condoned assault of players.

Fighting in hockey is part of a long time tradition in NHL, that is now governed by strict rules and protocols, bringing entertainment to spectators, added interest to the game.

Although spontaneous fights do break out in hockey games between rival players, as happens in any high power contact sport, fighting in hockey is more of a ritual stand off and in fact has many written and unwritten rules of etiquette and what is to be regarded as “fair play”. Victory won by unfair tactics brings no joy, and approbabation from fans.

Fighting in hockey might be compared to the fighting that goes on in the world wide wrestling alliance.

The reality is that the hockey fighters play to the crowd – and probably run less  risk of real injury when engaged in hockey fighting than when clashing in the game, and real violence is involved.

Fighters are escorted off the field  and given penalties – which will depend on the extent to which an enforcer has seriously breached the rules.

Fighting in hockey has its opponents, who see it as unnecessary to the game, putting players at risk of avoidable injury.

An autopsy on the player Boogaard did show, as have done autopsies on other long term hockey players that there was some traumatic encephaly of the brain, known as CTE.

A toxicology report showed that he had Percocet, OxyContin and oxycodone in his system. Before his death Boorgaard had been in treatment for his addiction.

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This has caused a call from some to ban the national sport of hockey completely. In fairness, although the game is rough, this is what some people like to do as a profession or recreation, whilst others like to watch the games, and play the part of spectators, cheering for their team. It seems to release some of the pressures of everyday life in a generally positive way, to play or cheer for your team.

Management in hockey today takes extreme measures to see that the game is made as safe for players as it can be.

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Hockey officials have declined to rule out further hockey games or fights on the basis alone, that some of their players get brain injuries as they age in life, and that many do drugs.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and governors of league hockey say that to discover what in a person’s life might have contributed to any particular injury that they have is the role of experts who have to date conducted very little research in that field.

The symptoms found are said to be similar to early Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia. it is well known that people who play in rough contact sports often use prescription painkillers, some become addicted to drugs such as OxyContin or hydromorphone.

One of the less disputed side effects of OxyContin and all opioids – is gradual loss of memory function. In terms of what might be specific causes of trauma to hockey team players, it is as well to bear in mind that people in their early thirties, in the general population,  are now suffering from early onset Alzheimers.

Whether we choose to play hockey or not, it would seem that life is stressful.

When opioids are used by sportsmen for acute and chronic pain relief, there are risks attached. One of the primary risks for using pain killers is to mix them with alcohol, or downers such as tranquilizers, or sleeping pills.

Although OxyContin is safe from “dose dumping” when mixed with alcohol, people still need to be aware of the risk of death if using in combination.

Interestingly, in 2005, Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin tried to market a product called Palladone – a hydromorphone slow release formula in the USA, and within weeks the FDA withdrew approval because people were dying as a result of mixing it with alcohol.

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Still sold as Palladone in Canada, or Dilauded worldwide, many people do not fully understand the risks involved in using opioids and alcohol together – that opioid effects are intensified – and can often lead to death.

Alcohol and opioids of any type don’t mix. Research articles have been written that should discourage governments from approving, and people from using drug products subject to dose dumping.

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Although a new hydrocodone drug Exalgo is now marketed with a reverse osmosis safety factor, against hydrocodone dose dumping, the fact remains that all opioid drugs are highly addictive, should not be mixed with alcohol, or used as long term painkillers by sportsmen.

In real terms, people today should have more fear of prescription OxyContin or iv hydrocodone abuse as a potential cause of physical damage and death than any amount of rough contact sport, or staged fighting in hockey.

The new buffered OxyNeo approachs a slow release formulation, but the OxyContin product marketed between 1996 and 2010 in the USA, and continuing in Canada, relies on misleading information, that OxyContin lasts for 12 hours. Users are frequently suffering opioid withdrawal within twelve hours of ingestion.

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2. OxyContin is safe, and not addictive when used as prescribed.

OxyContin is addictive when used as prescribed. OxyContin taken strictly as prescribed has caused many overdose deaths.

OxyContin is and has always been as addictive as heroin, codeine, methadone or morphine. Most OxyContin addiction deaths are due to a single drug, not polydrug use as is often claimed. For most OxyContin addiction deaths the person has received a prescription for the medication from a doctor, within the preceding month.

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3. Prescription opiates, such as OxyContin are not the same as street drugs.

OxyContin is virtually identical to heroin. In fact all opioid drugs have similar pain relieving capacity, similar side effects, and the same potential for addiction, and overdose when used by vulnerable people.

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All opioid drugs are synthetic, drugs that were developed originally by medical research teams, and diverted to the illicit drug market. If not for medical research into the use of synthetic drugs as medications, it is highly improbable that there would be the extreme toxicity and variety of illicit drugs that there is in the world today. Heroin was originally a prescription drug, used to alleviate pain.

4. Opioid drugs such as OxyContin are essential for pain relief.

What is not widely acknowledged, given public support or recognition, particularly by government funding, is the wide range of alternative pain therapies that are non- invasive and do not involve drug use.  Alternative treatments that can bring effective pain relief include herbal remedies, acupuncture, dietary modifications, mind body therapies, chiropractic healing, massage, reiki and “touch” therapies.

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Drug manufacturers today promote the illusion that drugs are all that we have, for severe pain relief. All drug use is inherently toxic, and essentially works against nature, diminishing the natural ability of the body, to reduce pain and to heal itself.

5.  I feel good on OxyContin – I don’t have problem.

It can feel good to feel emotionally free, unburdened by life’s ups and downs, however all drug use, particularly opioids, is a fugue from reality. People don’t get down to sorting their real issues out when using and getting increasingly involved with escapist drugs.

The only way to deal with life’s problems is to confront them with informed and confident intention to resolve, and get past them. Life is a choice that we make, to be active, constructive, effective. Using drugs for any purpose, both prescription or illicit is a depressive, destructive move that removes the incentive, the possibility of us leading a more healthy and happy life.

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A brief history of the saga of OxyContin addiction is set out in a recent article that appears in the National Post. The sad fact is that for all the publicity that surrounds the OxyContin issue, the drug continues to be marketed and diverted to the illicit drug market.

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When institutions such as CAMH in Canada, give  “straight talk” to the community about drug use and addiction, it becomes clear that there is fundamental difference between the viewpoint of the traditional, medical community, and the drug free holistic view.

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Although people are given authorative advice about which drugs are best, their efficacy and relevant warnings, rarely is drug information provided in the context that people would be, in every case, better off to find natural methods to achieve the same intended outcome and purpose.

Five myths about OxyContin that are commonly thought to be true, that in many ways contribute towards the widespread use and demand for Oxy and similar synthetic opioid drugs.

Drug education is based on the premise that drugs are a necessity to combat increasing levels of chronic pain, malady and malaise. If drug manufacturers had their way, we would all be taking a cocktail of drug medications, each and every day.

The most powerless individuals in our society are already in that position – the infants, young children, teens and the elderly, people with problems of mental illness, those with emotional problems, those in constant pain all go to system based healthcare centers, looking for advice, only to be medicated for their trouble, and offered no health advice.

Drug use and abuse is rampant because we want quick remedies for our distress, don’t want to deal with comprehensive solutions.

People today who don’t “have” a doctor, who are not on any kind of medication are a rare and increasingly endangered species. Surely it is worry when kids come home from school, enthusiastically inquiring of their mothers – Mum, what allergies have we got. A worry when kids are disappointed to find they have no allergies at all. A worry when children feel  disappointed that they have nothing to medicate, when all their friends are on “something”.

Doctors take the view that lifestyle issues that cause and contribute to the vast majority of present day ailments, are not something that they want or need to become involved in.

Our chosen lifestyle, or accident, makes us ill and in pain. We present our symptoms to the doctor, get our ration of drugs, without any attempt to fix the causes of the disorder - drug medication is not what health care is about.

We choose to overlook the fact that drug supply is simply a business, and that public health care means ensuring that the health concerns of individuals never get to “rock the boat” in terms of maintaining good order in society, at least possible public expense.