Don’t penalize responsible drug users

A recent article told of the dangers of opioid addiction. It’s true, thousands do become addicted. They may have other personal problems in addition to the pain. They deserve our empathy and Medicaid programs to help them fight addictions, but don’t punish those who use the medicines correctly.

The reaction of government agencies is to lower the amount a person can be prescribed and add many restrictions. This isn’t fair to those who need and use the medicines well.

When I was a health educator in clinics for farm workers, I saw patients who had terrible injuries in the fields, or fell from trees picking our fruit. They took pills until the pain subsided and then stopped them and returned to work. They know they can’t work in trees dizzy on medications.

Also, when I translated for workers’ compensation cases, workers with legs and backs broken into pieces often were started on physical therapy the same afternoon they had surgery, or the next morning. Without pain medications, they couldn’t have moved at all in therapy, so they never would have worked again. But when the therapy of weeks or even as much as two years was over, so were the pills, and they returned to work, drug free.

There are also seniors with pains from past traumas who cannot walk upright without a pill in the morning, but they have no interest in getting high.

Give treatment to those who need it, but don’t penalize responsible drug users.

This story was originally published July 23, 2017 at 7:16 AM with the headline "Don’t penalize responsible drug users."