Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`Opinion
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`Opana abuse in USA overtakes OxyContin
`
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`By Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY
`
`Updated 7/11/2012 12:13 PM
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`In many cases, robbers are asking specifically for Opana when they enter pharmacy stores. This attempted robbery
`occurred on Feb. 27 at a Kroger Pharmacy in Fort Wayne, Ind.
`Fort Wayne Police Department
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`A masked man walked into a Fort Wayne, Ind., drugstore early one Saturday morning,
`approached the pharmacy counter and, realizing it was closed, left. An hour later,
`wearing the same mask, he entered the store across the street, handed the pharmacist
`a list of drugs scrawled on a napkin and threatened to kill the pharmacist if he didn't get
`them, police say.
`
`Police were waiting, having been notified by employees
`of the first account. As the suspect dashed from the
`store, prescription painkillers clutched in his hand, a
`police officer caught him.
`
`The June 2 incident was the 11th pharmacy robbery in
`Fort Wayne this year, an unusually high number for this
`city of 250,000 people, police spokeswoman Raquel
`Foster said. In almost every case, the robbers asked
`specifically for Opana, the trade name for oxymorphone,
`a powerful prescription painkiller.
`
`"A few years ago, it was OxyContin. Now it's Opana,"
`Foster said. "These people are desperate to get it."
`
`Prescription drug abuse is the nation's fastest-growing
`
`By Michael Hayman, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal
`
`Louisville Metro Police Sgt. John McGuire holds
`Opana, a prescription painkiller similar to
`OxyContin.
`
`Sponsored Links
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`http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-10/opana-painkiller-addiction/56137086/1[1/14/2015 12:12:22 PM]
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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`drug problem, the White House Office on National Drug
`Policy says. The Centers for Disease Control and
`Prevention has classified the misuse of these powerful
`painkillers as an epidemic, with 1.3 million emergency
`room visits in 2010, a 115% increase since 2004.
`Overdose deaths on opioid pain relievers surpassed
`deaths from heroin and cocaine for the first time in 2008.
`
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`This rise of Opana abuse illustrates the adaptability of
`drug addicts and the never-ending challenge facing law
`enforcement authorities, addiction specialists and
`pharmaceutical companies. Just when they think they
`have curbed abuse and stopped trafficking of one drug, another fills the void. Opana's
`dangerous new popularity arose when OxyContin's manufacturer changed its formula to
`deter users from crushing, breaking or dissolving the pill so it could be snorted or injected
`to achieve a high.
`
`"It's almost like a game of Whac-A-Mole. You get a handle on OxyContin; they switch to
`Opana," said Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island Council on
`Alcoholism and Drug Dependence in Mineola, N.Y. "My guess is it will be something new
`tomorrow."
`
`As a new, harder-to-abuse Opana formulation replaces the old formula, police and
`addiction experts expect heroin to fill that void.
`
`"They will adapt the same way drug traffickers or criminals will adapt to a new law. They
`are going to find a way to satisfy their addiction," said DEA Special Agent Gary Boggs of
`the Office of Diversion Control. "When they either can't get those particular
`pharmaceuticals or can't afford them, they now gravitate to heroin."
`
`For years, drug abusers favored an extended-release version of OxyContin, a narcotic
`painkiller, for a powerful high. Over the past decade, its abuse was so prevalent that the
`drug became a household name.
`
`Drug abusers could crush or dissolve the pill's time-release coating to get the full punch
`of the opioid oxycodone. But Purdue Pharma, OxyContin's manufacturer, reformulated it
`in August 2010, making it nearly impossible to crush, dissolve and inject. By the
`beginning of 2011, more than 95% of prescriptions were being filled with reformulated
`OxyContin, Purdue spokesman James Heins said.
`
`Though people could still abuse the drug by taking larger quantities, some addicts
`craved the injectable high.
`
`As the supply of the old formulation dwindled, panicked drug abusers flooded Internet
`chat rooms in attempts to find ways to outsmart the new technology, from pounding it
`with hammers to soaking it in acid, said Sgt. John McGuire, head of the prescription drug
`diversion unit at the Louisville Metro Police Department.
`
`"At first, people tried to defeat it," McGuire said. "Then, Opana started to pop up like
`crazy."
`
`Opana ER, an extended-release painkiller containing
`oxymorphone, came on the market in 2006. Endo
`Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer, completed
`development of a crush-resistant pill in 2010 but did not
`get approval from the Food and Drug Administration
`(FDA) until late last year, said Endo senior vice president
`Blaine Davis.
`
`On June 14, the FDA moved the old Opana formulation
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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`By John Sommers II, for USA TODAY
`
`Kevin R. Collins, coroner of Scott County, Ind.,
`says he is disheartened by the number young
`people who are overdosing on prescription
`narcotics, particularly Opana.
`
`to its list of discontinued drugs. Davis said he doesn't
`know how much remains on the market.
`
`Meanwhile, the Opana problem grew swiftly and sharply,
`particularly in several states where prescription drug
`abuse is deeply ingrained:
`
`•Nassau County, N.Y., issued a health alert in 2011
`when the New York City suburb saw the first signs of an alarming spike in Opana use.
`Medicaid data for the county showed prescriptions for extended-release Opana had
`increased 45% in six months. Since then, Reynolds said, the problem has worsened.
`"Opana has emerged as the key drug of choice," said Reynolds, who estimates that 80%
`of the 600 people who seek help each month from the Long Island Council use Opana.
`
`•A DEA intelligence briefing noted increases in Opana uses in Pennsylvania, including
`Philadelphia, and Delaware. In New Castle, Del., the DEA said, drug users had switched
`from uncrushable OxyContin to the crushable oxymorphone "for ease of use," pushing
`the price for a 40 mg tablet to $65. A tablet costs $4 to $8 when purchased legitimately
`at a pharmacy.
`
`•In Ohio, authorities in Akron, Cincinnati and Athens noted surges in Opana as a
`replacement for OxyContin, the state's Substance Abuse Monitoring Network reported
`earlier this year. One unnamed drug abuser in Youngstown told network monitors "no
`one wants the new oxys now that (Purdue) change the makeup of them," the Ohio
`Substance Abuse Monitoring Network noted in its January surveillance report. Opana 40
`mg tablets sell for $60 to $70 each, outpacing the once-popular old formulation
`OxyContin, which now sells for at least $1 a milligram, the report said. The less popular
`new formulation of OxyContin 40 mg sells for $20 to $30, the report said.
`
`The spike is particularly pronounced in Kentucky. In 2010, toxicology tests identified
`oxymorphone, the key ingredient in Opana, in 2% of the state's overdose cases, said
`Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy. By 2011,
`oxymorphone was present in the blood of 23% of overdose victims.
`
`The numbers so alarmed Ingram that he asked the CDC to do an epidemiological study
`to pinpoint where the drug was coming from and why use had increased. Ingram is
`waiting to hear from the CDC, which did not respond to a request for comment.
`
`Ingram fears the problem will get worse this year. "I don't think we've hit the apex yet,"
`he said. "We're just now seeing how big this is."
`
`Abuse, then the overdoses
`
`A similar switch happened in Indiana, where the pill problem began a decade ago with
`hydrocodone — known by trade names Vicodin and Lortab — and then to oxycodone,
`said Sgt. Jerry Goodin of the Indiana State Police.
`
`"When OxyContin changed, the drug abusers looked for a different thing. Opana
`emerged immediately," Goodin said. "Seems like every time we get a handle on
`something, another evil pops its head up."
`
`Soon after Opana came on the scene, the overdoses began, Goodin said. "When you
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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`abuse it and manipulate it and do all the things you're not supposed to do, it turns
`deadly."
`
`Oxycodone abuse was well established in Scott County, Ind., when Sheriff Dan McClain
`took office in January 2011. He expected more of the same. Instead, the small-town
`sheriff in the sparsely populated county of 24,000 people in southeast Indiana confronted
`a rash of Opana overdoses.
`
`"We were starting to see it emerge and surpass
`OxyContin early that year," McClain said.
`
`Last year, 19 people in the tiny county died of
`overdoses, the majority on Opana in combination with
`alcohol and other drugs, Scott County Coroner Kevin
`Collins said. This year, 13 people have died from drug
`overdoses, he said.
`
`McClain said in some cases the people purchased the
`drugs from elderly people with legitimate prescriptions
`who sold the drugs to supplement their Social Security
`income. Others bought the drugs from drug dealers who
`traveled to out-of-state "pill mills" — clinics where
`doctors perform cursory examinations on people with
`dubious injuries and prescribe large quantities of the
`pills, he said.
`
`The number of overdose deaths is unusually high for the
`county and has pushed the number of coroner's cases
`from an average of 28 a year to 39 in the first six months
`of 2012. The coroner must investigate all unattended or
`suspicious deaths, he said.
`
`Collins, who has been coroner or deputy coroner for 27
`years, said he won't seek office again this year. The overdoses — mostly of people ages
`18 to 30 — weigh heavily on him.
`
`"It's depressing. It's still somebody's son or brother or dad," he said. "They got hooked
`on this crap, and it takes their lives."
`
`Lori Croasdell, coordinator for the Coalition to Eliminate Abuse of Substances in Scott
`County and a member of the Governor's Commission for a Drug-Free Indiana, said she
`sees signs of an Opana shortage that might be the result of the new formulation.
`Pharmacists report that desperate addicts call to ask whether the old formulation is in
`stock, she said.
`
`"People are going to find something else," Croasdell said.
`
`When a production snafu caused a nationwide shortage of Opana earlier this year, the
`price in Louisville soared from $65 for a 40 mg pill to $185, McGuire said. "That is a
`crazy amount of money. For a heavy abuser who will give up anything in his life to make
`sure he gets that pill, there's no way one will get them through the day."
`
`The price spike sparked a surge in heroin use, which might foreshadow what will happen
`when the supply of old Opana dries up, McGuire said.
`
`Indiana's Goodin agrees. "We're battling that uptick like we're battling everything else.
`We've got a war on our hands. We're fighting it every day."
`
`The shortages drive crime as people steal the drugs or steal other things to get money
`to buy drugs, he said.
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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`A desperate cycle
`
`The man charged with the Fort Wayne drug store robbery — 36-year-old Aaron McAtee
`— has struggled since his teens with a drug addiction that began with cocaine and
`progressed to painkillers, according to his wife, April. Court records show McAtee has
`been in and out of prison for forgery, cocaine possession and other drug convictions. His
`court-appointed public defender, Michelle Kraus, declined to comment while the case is
`underway.
`
`April McAtee said Opana and other prescription narcotics sell for high prices on the
`street. "You could snort a piece of Opana and you're high like you're on heroin. Because
`of that, the street usage went up big time," she said.
`
`McAtee, who has pleaded not guilty, was released from prison Feb. 8 after serving two
`years for forgery. His wife said he forged payroll checks to get money to buy drugs. After
`his release, he stayed drug-free for 16 weeks, but relapsed the night before the alleged
`robbery, she said.
`
`"He doesn't need to be locked in prison with a bunch of criminals," she said. "He needs
`medical help."
`
`For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards
`Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name,
`phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.
`
`Posted 7/10/2012 7:50 PM | Updated 7/11/2012 12:13 PM
`
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`269 comments
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`Comment
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`Comment
`
`Derek Clontz ·
` Top Commenter
`For God's sake, when are we going to ban vitamins and supplements and stop this madness?
`Dick "Supplements Are Killing You" Durbin - are you listening? And if you are listening, are you
`"getting" it?
`Reply · Like
`
` · July 10, 2012 at 5:23pm
`
`Like
`
`Add a Reply...
`
`Richard Andersen ·
`
` Top Commenter · California State University, Chico
`
`Reply
`
`Reply
`
`http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-10/opana-painkiller-addiction/56137086/1[1/14/2015 12:12:22 PM]
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`5
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`

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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
`
`They act as if they are powerless....Ha ..
`Dont worry they dont pay taxes either
`1
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 5:29pm
`
`Like
`
`Steve Olson · Rapper and Producer at Rapper/Producer
`Umm you realize in most anonymous' - 80% of the first step is the addict admitting that
`he/she has become "POWERLESS" in their addiction(s) don't you? So yea you almost
`wrote half of the correct word - which is ACTually being powerless for most addicts.
`Out of the 12 steps guess which single step has the highest rate of failure? Little hint
`it's not 2 through 12... <sigh> Ignorance!
`Reply · Like
` · November 9, 2013 at 1:16pm
`
`Like
`
`Add a Reply...
`
`Reply
`
`Reply
`
`Jillian Galloway ·
` Top Commenter
`Did they really expect demand to just go away when they made some drugs illegal and others
`harder to get? Of course demand didn't go away. These learned people in power - these people
`who wear suits to work and get paid so much by us to do their job - don't know a thing about what
`they're doing.
`
`They think this is a war, they think there's an enemy who must be defeated - and they're wrong.
`There's just people - American people - who enjoy getting high on something other than alcohol.
`And some of them have become addicted and some of them are desperate. But there is no
`enemy. And this is not a war.
`
`We will ALWAYS fail unless we understand the reality of what we're facing. Kicking down doors,
`jumping out of helicopters, carrying automatic rifles and wearing body armor is fun but it doesn't
`even begin to address real life. A lot of good people like getting high and a lot of them don't really
`like alcohol. And everything mentioned in this article could have been prevented by just accepting
`that.
`Reply · Like
`
`30
`
` · July 10, 2012 at 5:34pm
`
`Like
`
` ·
`
`Tony Ventana ·
` Top Commenter · Auburn, Washington
`Jillian Galloway: Desecrating your body with unnatural substances is unholy and
`subjects you to a call to join Satan's minions. Please try to get therapy for the demons.
`7
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 6:52pm
`
`Like
`
`Phil Bowman ·
` Top Commenter · University of Iowa
`Tony...THAT doesn't answer the problem. I doubt Jillian was talking about herself
`being addicted, you idiot...
`25
`Reply · Like
` ·
`
` · July 11, 2012 at 5:04am
`
`Like
`
`Coach Jim ·
` Top Commenter · Lakewood High School
`Tony are beer and wine ok? Jesus even went so far as to turn water into wine so the
`party could go on at the wedding at Cana. Was that ok?
`14
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 11, 2012 at 5:11am
`
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`View 19 more
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`Add a Reply...
`
`Reply
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`Reply
`
`Larry Waybright ·
` Top Commenter · Lewiston Senior High School
`It is easy for pharmaceutical companies to change the formulation of the stronger opiate pills to
`make them virtually useless to addicts who snort or inject these pharmaceutical opiates. Heroin
`will remain the best value for the addicts' dollars.
`We can expect a large increase in the availability, decrease in heroin prices and use of heroin in
`the coming years. Whacka Mole indeed. It would be much easier and safer for all if all drugs were
`legalized and dispensed by licensed outlets which would also collect taxes which can be used to
`address any health issues associated with drug use. Pure heroin sold in standardize dosage units
`is actually quite safe. Add the ease of availability of clean hypodermics and even safe opiate use
`centers. Moralizing about drug use and attaching severe legal consequences is ultimately
`counterproductive. Portugal has adopted this model and it has not experienced any of the dire
`consequence predicted by the anti-drug proponents.
`But I for one am not holding my breath waiting for a rational recreational drug policy to be adopted
`by the USA, one of the most puritanical regimes on earth.
`One of these days we must learn that our limited resources are wasted on the drug wars.
`45
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 5:38pm
`
`Like
`
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`
`6
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`

`
`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
`
`Tony Ventana ·
` Top Commenter · Auburn, Washington
`We could do what Chairman Mao did when he took over China in 1949.
`3
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 6:07pm
`
`Like
`
`Tracy Farthing ·
` Top Commenter · Works at Drilling Fluids Technologies
`I'm not familiar with Portugal's program but have heard a little about legalized
`recreational drugs in northern Europe. What about their addiction rates and crime
`rates? I think that possibly what we've created with our war on drugs is far worse than
`prohibition did in the '30's.
`17
`Reply · Like
` ·
`
` · July 10, 2012 at 8:51pm
`
`Like
`
`Thomas Kopystecki Jr ·
` Top Commenter · Works at Musician/Singer/Songwriter
`With all due respect, someone with your "knowledge" of drug addiction should know
`that legalizing "all drugs" as you suggest would be absolute DISASTER for addicts.
`10
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 9:22pm
`
`Like
`
`View 32 more
`
`Add a Reply...
`
`Reply
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`Reply
`
`Larry Waybright ·
` Top Commenter · Lewiston Senior High School
`I know more about this issue than most. My brother at only 51 died of an Oxycontin overdose in
`2004.
`I found his body where his ignorant friends left it. I found his lifeless body in his bedroom in my
`house. These ignorant rural addicts lack the common sense shared by most urban addicts where
`when one of their own is overdosing they at least dump their friends in OD mode off at an ER
`entrance and run.
`But what I call "hill billy addicts" tend to be pretty stupid. I tried for years to convince my brother to
`be more careful because he wasn't as resilient at his age as he was in his early twenties. He
`began injecting heroin at only about 17. I know he was also in severe pain as a result of a spinal
`injury and failed back surgery. I know better than most how needless and senseless these fatal
`overdoses are. And continued drug prohibition does not save any family the horror of losing a
`son, daughter, sister, brother or spouse from drug overdoses. Pure drugs, known doses, access
`to safe equipment and the antidote for an opiate overdose, naloxone, would save thousands of
`lives annually. Most of whom can be productive citizens if we accept that drug addiction is here to
`stay regardless of how severe the laws. Change the laws and save lives. Heroin is intrinsically
`cheap when it is not only available on a black market. Why finance drug cartels, have needless
`robber addicts and an increasingly intrusive police state?
`38
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 6:00pm
`
`Like
`
`Michael Smith ·
` Top Commenter · Works at Self-Employed/Retired
`sorry for your loss but don't blame his "friends". sadly you need to place the blame
`where it belongs.
`Reply · Like
`
`Like
`
` ·
`
`20
`
` · July 10, 2012 at 8:46pm
`
`Yonah El ·
` Top Commenter · Executive Producer at 1061 Production
`I didn't hear him blaming his brother's friends. I heard him make a statement of fact.
`"They were stupid and did not use common sense and try to save his life. That being
`said, the problem can be placed squarely on a government policy of putting profits
`before people. The drug policies do nothing more than maintain the marketing
`advantage of alcohol and tobacco, while padding the criminal justice income and
`payrolls. The intelligent thing to do is legalize drugs and monitor their quality,
`distribution, and use. It would be less expensive in lives, public expense, and would
`decrease illegal profiteering.
`34
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 11, 2012 at 3:34am
`
`Like
`
`Phil Bowman ·
` Top Commenter · University of Iowa
`Plus, the drug cartels and gangs make billions each year supplying illegal drugs to the
`addicts, which just fuels incredible street violence. Take away those profits and you
`take away much of the street violence and gang and drug wars. The problem is that
`too many white collar people are also making great amounts of money from the illegal
`drug trade...
`Reply · Like
`
`Like
`
` ·
`
`14
`
` · July 11, 2012 at 5:00am
`
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`
`Add a Reply...
`
`Donna Grier · None
`
`Reply
`
`Reply
`
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`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
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`I have a family member that is hooked and has for over 10 years
`1
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 6:14pm
`
`Like
`
`Add a Reply...
`
`Reply
`
`Reply
`
`Ellen S Wilds ·
` Top Commenter
`While the Feds play whack-a-mole with pain med abusers, folks like me -- victims of medical
`conditions that involve chronic pain -- struggle to get hold of those same medications through
`perfectly legal means. We can not go to an ER if pain becomes unbearable because hospitals no
`longer dispense appropriate pain meds for fear of feeding abusers. And yes we run the risks of
`overdose and addiction. Meanwhile, a perfectly safe non-addictive drug for which there are no
`possible overdose risks remains out of reach. Marijuana would help thousands of people like me
`but it is illegal. The legal forms such as Marinol are not covered by Medicare and at $8 per pill are
`priced out of reach for those who are disabled by pain as I am. All of this is a result of a
`puritanical government who is terrified that someone out there might use drugs to feel good.
`Legalize the lot and let us deal with the problems ourselves. That would be a smaller government I
`could back.
`Reply · Like
`
`32
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` · July 10, 2012 at 6:53pm
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`Like
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` ·
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`William D'Avanzo ·
` Top Commenter · Westchester, New York
`Some localities are getting rid of firemen, teachers, etc. without considering the
`impacts of such action on the community. In other words there should be a
`cost/benefit analysis. You can fairly easily estimate the cost of keeping an additional
`fireman for a year. You might be able to estimate the dollar of property saved due to
`the additional fireman, but you can not put a dollar value on lives saved or medical
`problems avoided. At that point you do roughly the same thing as when you buy a TV -
`e.g. is the bigger screen worth an extra $100 to you. Is saving one person's life every
`20 years worth the, e.g., extra $100K per year to keep the extra fireman on the
`payroll?
`
`Smaller is not always better. If it were, we should have no firemen or other govt.
`workers.
`Reply · Like
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`Like
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`6
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` · July 11, 2012 at 2:10am
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`James Oerichbauer ·
` Top Commenter · Apple Valley, Minnesota
`William D'Avanzo - Lives saved can be included in a cost/benefit analysis. It is done all
`the time.
`Reply · Like
`
` · July 11, 2012 at 7:41am
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`Like
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`Evan Rees ·
` Top Commenter
`William D'Avanzo : HEaven forbid they FIRE some of the WHITE SHIRTS who tell the
`fireman what to do from the comfort of their office chairs..........
`1
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 11, 2012 at 8:07am
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`Jonathan Buttall ·
` Top Commenter · Fairleigh Dickinson University
`A country of junkies, failed government and failed education. Can things get any worse? Where
`are those great leaders we once had more than half a century ago? Fly the flag upside down,
`we're sinking fast.
`Reply · Like
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`Like
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`11
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` · July 10, 2012 at 7:57pm
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`Bill Garvin ·
` Top Commenter · Works at Sr. Project Superintendent
`Maybe you should join the rest of the rats & abandon ship, Hanno. Those of us who
`happen to believe in America will get her back on course!
`6
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 11, 2012 at 4:35am
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`Jane Do ·
` Top Commenter · Works at Bilderberg Group
`Ahh most of them smoked marijuana and used opiates for pain.
`3
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 11, 2012 at 5:09am
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`Like
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`Jonathan Buttall ·
` Top Commenter · Fairleigh Dickinson University
`Bill Garvin ; Certainly not grumbling, permanently stationary Hutts like yourself. I vote,
`keep my self informed, express my views and talk to others about these subjects.
`
`http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-10/opana-painkiller-addiction/56137086/1[1/14/2015 12:12:22 PM]
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`8
`
`

`
`Painkiller abuse in the USA: Opana overtakes OxyContin – USATODAY.com
`
`Reply · Like
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`2
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` · July 11, 2012 at 10:01am
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`Sue Shobert Jorgenson ·
` Top Commenter
`It's tough. In 2008 my boss passed away in her sleep from her addiction to Oxycontin and
`Fentanyl. A decade prior I had a boyfriend who had been in two severe car accidents (t-boned by
`a semi and head on by another driver, neither his fault). This left him with neurological damage in
`the form of seizures and five-day migraines. He was on five to seven meds to control the seizures
`and migraines and another five to control the side effects of the other meds...and yet his last
`seizure had him flying through the shower door and waking up in a pool of blood. His neurologist
`said back then there was nothing more he could do for him - except to smoke some pot. So he
`did, and his weekly migraines came down to once a month, maybe one full day (unless there
`were skunks around; the smell triggered off migraines - never had before the accidents) - and the
`seizures went away. My brother in law is a substance abuse recovery doctor and he is against
`legalizing any substances - but what does one DO about cases like my old boyfriend's? He had
`no answer to that. How could he? There is no one easy answer and I still grieve for my boss four
`years later as she was a real sweetheart to be around...
`4
`Reply · Like
` ·
` · July 10, 2012 at 8:25pm
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`Like
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`Phil Bowman ·
` Top Commenter · University of Iowa
`You brother in law is against legalizing any substances? What does you brother in law
`suggest this country do about gangs and the drug cartels that deal all the illegal drugs
`in this country and the associated violence in our cities? Should he not also be
`pushing to make alchohol and cigarettes illegal and should he not be at the forefront
`to make these drugs illegal in America? If not, is he not a hypocrite allowing alcohol to
`be legal while not allowing other drugs to be not legal. Does he drink by the way? If
`so, is he not REALLY a hypocrite and a drug abuser himself?
`
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`http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-07-10/opana-painkiller-addiction/56137086/1[1/14/2015 12:12:22 PM]
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