Oxy abuse and other random ramblings

So I have been surfing the web looking for information on what exactly is oxycontin and how it works. I am one of those science freaks who loves to know how things work. I never did well in math or science but I am a whiz at both. I dealt craps and cards in a casino for several years where understanding odds is important as well as multiplication of payouts can bury you in craps and then I thought myself biology and chemistry so I could run the brewery.

Anyway, I have come across some of the sites that are informative but many of the sites out there like this one are very anti oxy. I understand that with narcotics there is going to be someone who abuses it but many if these sites are blaming the manufacturers rather then those who abuse the drug.

I have a big problem with that and it is a problem that permeates our society in many areas. It seems many people have forgotten that they are the ones responsible for themselves. It is like people who have sued the gun industry when a firearm is used to kill. Hell, we might as well start in on the automobile industry, God knows how many people cars kill each year but I bet it is more then guns.

It makes you wonder what is really going on in some peoples minds. Where is the line drawn between personal responsibility and culpability of the pharmaceutical industry? While the industry should monitor the drugs they make and educate the public as the to the nature of the drug, that is where I would draw the line. They are not the ones who make it easy to get the drugs or force people to abuse them. Casinos are not held liable if someone loses their life savings.

What about the pharmacies who dispense these drugs? What about the doctor who wrote the prescription? If we blame the drug company what about these people? After all aren't they the ones who really put the drugs in to the hands of the abusers? What about the person who got the prescription legally and then sold or gave it to their friends? How come they are not being blamed.

Pharmacies are probably the biggest problem in this equation. I have been on some form of narcotics for almost 2 years. I have never abused them and have had no problems with taking them for extended periods and stopping without the psychological addiction, which is the biggest problem with abusers. In my time having to take these pain meds I have switched pharmacies twice because of problems with my meds.

One pharmacy claimed I called in a refill and then picked it up. They claim that I did this 4 days after my last refill, which is not something I would have done because I had a 2 week supply and called them in on day 10. They also had instructions from me to check ID and only release them to myself or my wife. My wife was home with me all day on the day in question. I filed a police report and switched my meds. Turns out someone I know worked for that company and later informed me that they had to fire someone for doing this to several patients like myself who were being prescribed strong narcotics. This also happened at another pharmacy a year or so later. This time I spoke with the head pharmacist who admitted that it is a problem with their industry and try as they might to prevent it from happening it is difficult to do. Security cameras are a great tool, but they cannot see everything that goes on and nothing stops the person working the counter from grabbing a bag of meds and giving it to someone posing as a customer. I was shocked when he said this. Having worked in the casinos I know they have high speed state of the art equipment for this but the pharmacies are to tight fisted to spend the money on it. It is cheaper to either ignore the problem or just pay the lawsuits that come along.

Sorry for the rambling but across this country too many people no longer are responsible for themselves. They bring lawsuits for everything that happens to them even if a little common sense could have prevented it. Think back to the lawsuit some women won against McDonalds for spilling coffee on herself and causing a burn. Please, give me a break. Even sadder is that courts and juries are agreeing with the lawsuits and awarding monstrous cash settlements. Sometimes the companies don't even let it go to court as it is cheaper to fork over a few hundred thousand then it is to go to court.

In the end this all costs us that much more. When people stop owning up to their own mistakes or stupidity we all pay for it. Drug abuse is never the persons fault, it is the giant drug companies who make the products. It is the DEA and INS's fault for allowing illicit drugs to make it across our borders, not the people who voted down the funding for the war on drugs.

Ok, I am done ranting. I am not even sure I was able to stay focused on this one. I tend to go off on tangents but I think you get my point here. It is up to the person to be responsible for themselves.