We spend $15 billion dollars a year fighting illegal drugs. A lot of this money is spent abroad. Meanwhile in the US we have a death every 19 minutes from legal prescription narcotics. That's not a typo. One death every 19 minutes. This is a problem we need to address now. Shifting some of the money from the failed "war on drugs" to treatment for prescription narcotics would be a great start.
Above and below is Jaclyn Kinkade. This is the woman I talked about on the show yesterday. Read her story here.
Some thoughts on prescription narcotics:
- No such thing as a pain free life. Doesn't exist. Some aches and pains are part of everyday life. Accept it.
- If prescribed narcotics, ask yourself, do you really need them.
- If you do really need narcotics, use them for the shortest possible time.
- Look for non-narcotic ways to control your pain e.g. a combo of Tylenol and ibuprofen, physical therapy.
- if you have multiple docs prescribing you narcotics you already have a problem. Get help.
- Prescription narcotics and alcohol don't mix well and frequently leads to tragedy.
