Call for Restraints
More people are addicted to opioids than cigarettes. According to the national prescription audit in 2012, Connecticut had 72 pain prescriptions for every hundred people, the equivalent of 72% of the population. In Alabama there were 143 pain prescriptions for every hundred people, in other words, more prescriptions than people in the State. Something's wrong with these data, captain. These totals have declined because of increasing awareness of the problem. Alarmingly, however, the rate of death by overdose is increasing. There is no vaccine on the horizon for this virus. A 2017 study in the weekly report on morbidity and mortality prepared by the Centers for Disease Control finds that addiction happens in the first 5 days to one month after start of opioid treatment. While empathy is optional for those not directly affected, it is physicians who must play the role of psychologist and decide if the long-term suffering isn't worse than the pain. Therapy is only a support when it is there. Poverty, homelessness, hopelessness and despair are not caused by opioids and Heroin, but by the failure of restraints on their use.
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