Prescribed Pain Killer Lists: Make Room for Marijuana

MedijuanaMama is on a rampage about prescription drugs that addict, big PHARMA that financially benefits from these addictions and the doctors who willy-nilly prescribe these highly addictive painkillers. She won’t include in this rant anything about those MDs tightly linked to big PHARMA who also may be benefitting financially, nope, she won’t ,but she will offer this:  As a former RN who worked exclusively in psych for 20 years, Medijuanamama  is here to tell you, pain killers turn patients into addicts.

For at least the last decade, we’ve had reliable clinical research that proves medical marijuana effectively manages some levels of pain very well, including chronic pain. Yet, few patients have access, though access to highly addictive drugs – many listed below – is just a doctor’s office visit away.

When Googled most popular prescribed pain killers here’s what popped up:

The most commonly abused opioid painkillers include oxycodone, hydrocodone, meperidine, hydromorphone and propoxyphene. Oxycodone has the greatest potential for abuse and the greatest dangers. It is as powerful as heroin and affects the nervous system the same way.

Here’s what Consumer Reports report: America is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. About 45 people a day, more than 16,600 people a year, die from overdoses of the drugs, including methadone, morphine, and oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone combined with acetaminophen (Lortab and Vicodin). And for every death, more than 30 others are admitted to the emergency room.

Commonly Abused Painkillers

Painkillers are the most commonly abused prescription drugs. Below are some of the commonly used prescription pain killers that have addictive qualities. Some of them have received copious amounts of media attention due to high-profile celebrities becoming addicted to them after a medical procedure.

Stadol – The generic name for this drug is Butorphanol and it is taken as a nasal spray or in an injectable solution. It is prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain and has side effects including skin rash, anxiety, breathing problems, confusion, and ringing in the ears.

The generic name for Demerol is Meperidine. Demerol is taken orally as a pill or in an injectable solution. It helps relieve moderate to severe pain and has side effects including skin rash, wheezing, fainting, hallucinations, and seizures.

Fentanyl is prescribed for patients who have taken other pain medications for at least a week and need additional pain relief. It is taken as a lozenge, an injectable solution, or as a patch applied to the skin. It is often prescribed to treat intense cancer pain that other pain medications are not strong enough for. It has side effects such as breathing problems, confusion, hallucinations, and irregular heartbeat.

Made of Oxycodone, OxyContin is one of the most famous addictive painkillers. It is also one of the most prescribed ones for moderate to severe pain. It generally has fewer side effects than similar prescription painkillers but can include breathing difficulties, confusion, and light-headed feelings. It is taken as a tablet.

Percocet is another form of Oxycodone and Acetaminophen and is also commonly prescribed for moderate to severe pain. It has similar side effects to OxyContin and can also cause stomach pain, yellowing of the skin, and skin rash.

Vicodin is a narcotic pain reliever that is typically only prescribed for severe pain caused by an injury or disease. Some users develop a tolerance to this drug, which has the potential to develop into an addiction. Many who abuse Vicodin may even abuse anywhere from 20 to 30 pills on a given day; some consume even more.

Lorcet is a narcotic analgesic that is a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone. Abuse of this drug puts a person at great risk for developing an addiction that can form as soon as or even before a month of abuse.

These represent only a small amount of the many prescription pain killers that are often abused.

The side effects of a painkiller abuse do not end with the physical effects, but go on to affect every aspect of the person’s life. Addicts and abusers are put at risk of experiencing financial struggles due to the high cost of keeping up with an expensive habit, as well as the risk of losing their job. Another aspect of a person’s life that is affected is their relationships.

Medical Marijuana & pain management:

In 2010, articles like this were published in ‘legit’ zines like WebMD about marijuana’s palliative effects.

Research conducted in 2013 @ U of Washington School of Medicine’s  Sunil K. Aggarwal, PhD, MD

Americans For Safe Access published these findings regarding pain management in 2013

In 2014, #HighTimes Magazine reported this about pain management & cannabis.  

The above search took about 10 minutes of time and reflects only a nano % of google-able information about prescribed, abused, costly drugs that keep the beds of in-patient psychiatric units filled with addicts who in addition to their pain, now have to add ‘addiction’ to the maladies they must manage. Prescription drug addiction is epidemic and the drugs doing the most damage are easily purchased in a pharmacy just by handing the pharmacist your MD’s prescription.

Surely, we can find some room for cannabis on our pain management list, yes? 

Few in the movement claim marijuana is not without issues but we also keep this in mind: Troubled people will cling to any chemical that changes the way they feel, marijuana included.

Medi-MJ News2Know advocates for every patient who may benefit from this medicine that Mother Nature put on this planet thousands of years ago. Every cancer patient, every seizure disorder patient, every AIDS patient, every auto immune disease patient, every anxiety/panic disorder patient, every depressed patient and any other person who may benefit from this medicine’s properties. We all have a right to it.

If big PHARMA corporations claim rights, surely they don’t trump ours, do they? Besides, eventually, big PHARMA will be all over this movement. In fact, rumor has it, they’re invading the fields as we blog. There’s big money to be harvested, don’t you know.

Until my next rant,

MediJuanaMama signing off.