Unfortunately, Rush has glamourized the drug OxyContin

[Must_B_Free]

by that I mean he is a walking billboard for the drug, and I fear his problem will lead to more abuse for society.

People will think "it's OK - it's the drug that Rush did."

I have found that %30 of drug related deaths are from OxyContin and it is highly associated with armed robbery and murder.

This is a nasty drug and Rush may actually have a defense that the drug was really just too dangerously addictive to be given to patients.

The maker is creating an abuse proof version of the drug in three years. It seems to be leading to epidemic problems. Not that Rush is not a blathering asshole and didn't deserve it, but, I would hazard to guess he would have never gotten addicted without having been prescribed the medicine for his back pain (i.e. medical context).

http://www.oxycontin-abuse-news.com/html/news.html

[rocktivity]

1. The fact that it's perscription gives it "respectability"

It's not like those REAL illegal drugs, like cocaine and heroin. Even the law puts them in a separate category. But the law also says that if you buy, sell or posess perscription drugs that haven't been perscribed to you, you are very much the equal of a drug dealer!


rocknation

[FlemingsGhost]

2. Yah... a 3rd try at rehab, a criminal investigation.

"Hillbilly Heroin" is glamourous.

Oddly though, I have no problem with Rush's fans embracing that glamour...

[Mari333]

3. You can buy Oxys anywhere you want in this town I live in

Thats how the poor make their money...I watched my youngest son take them, get addicted, and almost kill himself..
They are everywhere.
Its all over in the rural areas....believe me.

[hexola]

4. I was actually trying to find the 2-3 oxys that were...

leftover from a friends injury (she gave them away - she said they got her "too high")...so you might be right - how many people have a few in the house...

(dittohead reading perscription)
"Hmmmm...take 1 for pain every 8 hours. So this is the stuff Rush was on...? Hmmm, well one won't hurt - let's see..."

[Cat Atomic]

5. What are we supposed to tell our kids...?

They're asking all sorts of questions now! I have 5 years olds asking me about narcotics!

It's Clinton's BJ, all over again!

[bring_em_home_bush]

6. ~

I’m a junkie. I like drugs, I like the whole lifestyle, but it just didn’t pay off.
Bob Hughes, Drugstore Cowboy

[hedda_foil]

7. I'm afraid Drudge gave it a huge boost as well

On MSNBC he told Buchanan and Press that drugs like Oxycontin make people perform even better. I've never heard anybody say that about any opiate, and I'm sure it's totally untrue, but the fans of these a**holes will believe it. If Rush does it and Drudge says it, it must be true.

[hexola]

8. That's not exactly...

...what Drudge said...they were commenting on how Rush was able to contiue to work with an addiction...not to split hairs but it was more like..."he was able to seem normal and do a good job"

[OneBlueSky]

9. one more time . . .

oxycontin is the same drug (oxycodone) as percocet or percodan (which have been around for years), except it's in a time release formula . . . I see a pain specialist at a major rehab center, and he moved me from percocet to oxycontin to eliminate the up and down, up and down that comes from taking the medication every four hours . . . it's worked wonders for me, and I'm sure for many others . . . the problem comes from abuse, i.e. crushing or dissolving the pills to override the time release mechanism and get a full jolt of the entire dosage all at once . . .

[Paragon]

10. Glamorous?

So people will think, "If I take this, I'll turn into a deaf, pompous right-wing windbag?"

Ooh, where do I sign up?!?

[DemBones DemBones]

11. As far as I'm concerned, the worst part of Rush's addiction is that

it could make it more difficult for people who have legitimate needs for drugs such as OxyContin and Hydrocodone to get these drugs. In the past, publicity about OxyContin abuse has led to some physicians deciding to stop prescribing OxyContin for patients who would benefit from it. That's bad news.

It's not the fault of the manufacturer of OxyContin that some people choose to abuse this drug. It is a useful drug for pain control. Many chronic pain patients take OxyContin to control their pain so that they can function. They take the drug as instructed by their physicians, not increasing the dose on their own and certainly not crushing the pills and snorting the powder. They have an improved quality of life because of OxyContin but they don't get high on it.

You allege that OxyContin is "a nasty drug" and "too dangerously addictive to be given to patients" but that's an extreme position that doesn't relate to the reality. The overdose deaths, as well as the armed robbery, and murder related to OxyContin don't relate to normal use of OxyContin for pain relief but to abuse of OxyContin for getting high.

[tedoll78]

12. BINGO.

Pain is an epidemic in this country, and doctors are too afraid of the DEA (who tracks which doctor prescribes how much of Drug X) to relieve their patients. I love it when non-doctors practice without a license. By the way.. isn't that illegal?