What is your food/drink vice and what does it cost?

[~bs]

If nothing else, it gives the honest and ethical doctors (which is most of them) a very powerful tool that they didn't previously have.

that's a good point. On the flip side, say an honest doctor makes a mistake and doesn't check closely enough for someone that is later found out they were selling the pills or abusing or died from overdose. All of a sudden, everyone is pointing fingers at them saying "you should have known better!". Then they face malpractice suits and felony charges along with losing their license.

[disneysteve]

that's a good point. On the flip side, say an honest doctor makes a mistake and doesn't check closely enough for someone that is later found out they were selling the pills or abusing or died from overdose. All of a sudden, everyone is pointing fingers at them saying "you should have known better!". Then they face malpractice suits and felony charges along with losing their license.

Exactly. And that is why so many doctors are refusing to prescribe anymore. We have always been liable for the care we provide. That's part of the job. But this takes it to a whole other level because it isn't just malpractice that we have to be concerned with but criminal charges. Sorry but no patient's pain is more important than my medical license and freedom.

[Gailete]

The pills seem to get all of the attention but at least around here, most overdoses and deaths are due to heroin, not pills. I guess it's because they feel they can do something to regulate and monitor the pill prescribing and dispensing. There's not really anything they can do about the heroin.

Yes, I hear that as well. What you never hear about is the patients that need the pills! Most folks, especially those that aren't in the health care field, think it is no big deal. 'you don't need Vicodin, an apirin will take care of your pain just as well'. Then of course there are all the 'well meaning folk' that want to tell you what fixed up uncle Bert or some weird thing they have read, or the nonsense that this would cure you but the doctors won't tell you as they would lose too much money. Believe me if you saw the roomful of other patients when I get my IV, if we were all sudenly cured, the doctors would throw us a party. Then tow of them that are over 65 would probably go and retire.

Thinking that all patients can go through a pain medicine doctor (that doesn't prescribe pain meds), but apparently a few exercises or a shot of some type will leave you in great condition. Not so for some of us. If an aspirin or Tylenol (TM) would have helped me I would have never gone to the doctors in the first place and I didn't go in asking for pain meds, but a diagnosis and a treatment plan. And I would never go to our local pain 'specialist'. One of my last run ins with him I had to do a 5 page write-up on him at my nursing supervisor's direction.

My thing is I understand the problem, but they shouldn't lose site of the real patients and the help they need.

[hamchan]

That's insane. Even if a state legalizes marijuana, it should still be tightly regulated and controlled. They shouldn't be handing it out for free like that. That's just plain stupid and puts people at unnecessary risk.

He's probably talking about hemps seeds or oils, or other compounds with no active THC in them. I live in a legal state too, and it's very tightly regulated.