States are pondering with the idea of charging drug dealers with murder if a buyer dies as a result of use. This is primarily focused around the opioid crisis. No one can deny that the United States has a drug problem. Opioids are a dangerous part of the problem as these drugs cause the most deaths. What should be noted is that a good percentage of opioid users started taking the drug because a doctor prescribed it for severe pain.
If you have ever been in extreme pain before and were given opioids then you can attest that they work wonders. The pain just goes away as you enter a state of bliss. Yet the bliss is short lived as it is reported you can become physically dependent on these wonderful pills in just 5 days. With the DEA becoming more active in monitoring a doctor’s prescription pad, many newly minted addicts are cut off. This in my opinion is not fair and leads to their death.
We see once good productive citizens become criminals in the eyes of the law because they are in pain and need to somehow maintain a functional life. They purchase unregulated often tainted opioids or move into using heroin increasing their chances of imprisonment or death. A wall at the border will not solve the problem; an internal examination and making the proper adjustments in treating patents in extreme pain will do more than any wall. Many states allow for the use of medical cannabis for pain yet most states are still stuck in the 1920’s. We have bars on every corner yet somehow being high on anything other than alcohol is immoral.
So what common sense approaches can the citizenry take to curb the opioid crisis without spending a dime? First we allow doctors to prescribe alternative pain relief by federally legalizing cannabis. Cannabis is a proven to reduce pain and the great thing is no one has ever died from it. Second we need to allow people who suffer from chronic pain to be on opioids long term. Doctors should be able to give medication that will allow the patient to have a functioning life even if it comes in the form of a pill. So many people turn to street drugs which are not regulated by the FDA leading to fatal overdose of people who just needed pain relief. Finally I want to say that life is hard and it sucks sometimes. I do not look down upon the drug user I look down upon those that lock people up and deny them maybe the only happiness they will ever have.
