UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

If it can happen to Rush, it can happen to anyone. The scenario could have
happened like this: His doctor prescribed it after back surgery. Anyone who
has ever had back surgery can understand how he would need a powerful pain
manager. This kind of pain doesn't form quickly. It took time for doctors to
figure out what was causing it. So, for years before the surgery, he
suffered with intense radiating pain down the leg. He couldn't sleep because
the pain gets worse at night in bed. He suffered and with the promise of
surgery to correct the source of the pain, all he could think about was
getting a good night's sleep.

After the surgery, he slept like a baby, but it wasn't because the surgery
worked miracles. He still had pain from tissue mending, but the Oxycontin
helped him subdue it. When nighttime came, he slept because the "Oxy," as it
is known, numbed the pain.

In the following months after the surgery had healed, and after the
prescription ran out, his insomnia returned. His sleep pattern had been
disrupted for so long that it just didn't work anymore. As he lay there
flipping and flopping trying to sleep, he thought he still had back pain. So
he called his doctor and said he still needed his pain pills for awhile
longer.

Once again, he was able to get to sleep blissfully. And so, the stage was
set for future abuse. To him, it was easier to go the Oxy route than to deal
with sleepless nights.

Keep in mind, this is what could have happened. Like most people, I'm sure
he never started out thinking he was going to end up being a drug abuser.
But, it happened and is happening to others.

The reason I say "if it could happened to Rush, it could happen to anyone"is
because of who he is and for what he stands. When I lived in Washington, I
used to tune in to his AM radio show at noon just to hear what he had to
say. I listen to a variety of news/talk programs even if I don't agree with
them. How can you be a well-rounded individual if you don't? So, I got to
know how he thinks. He wants to be portrayed as the know-all, see-all
authority on all things conservative. In his world, using drugs is the
lowest of the low. So for him to fall victim to the clutches of abuse is
truly alarming. It should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. It could
happen to us too.

If Oxycontin is so addictive, it should be yanked from the market - now.
There are other pain medications that can do the job, but Oxy is
timed-release. Prescribing physicians say that it manages pain for a 12-hour
period and that is the big benefit. The patient can get on with his day.

Okay. So, does this mean that a ditch-digger can get through his day without
stopping to re-dose? If his pain warrants an opiate-derivative like Oxy,
then shouldn't he be changing jobs to one that is less physically demanding?
This patient does not need Oxycontin. He needs a different job and a new
doctor.

If a person is crushing, then snorting or injecting Oxy, he is a drug
addict, and if he doesn't use Oxy, he will find something else. Here, I am
not talking about addicts. I'm taking about abusers - pill poppers who start
out taking it for a legitimate use.

No one can agree on a period of time it takes for abuse to begin. Some say
years, others say months. Once thing is for certain. The addictive qualities
far outweigh the usefulness of this drug and it should be pulled from
distribution.