August 18, 2011
Prescription for Death 8
These days there is a lot of talk about the legalization of Marijuana; it seems everyone wants to jump on board with letting it go. I’ve heard all sorts of reasoning from, “it’s all natural,” to, ”it’s not harmful,” or the good old, ”it’s just pot.” The list goes on and on, just as the excuses do for why pot smokers aren’t addicts or don’t have a problem! Don’t get me wrong, I am actually a supporter of legalization of drugs, but done in a proper way under proper conditions!
To me, the drug itself isn’t the problem, the problem lies within. However, then you start to get people in recovery saying: “Oh well, I’m just using a prescription, and I am using it as prescribed.” To people who believe that, I just want to ask a question: Is that a real doctor from whoom you’re getting that prescription? Is that a real doctor’s office that you go to to get this prescription? Do you really feel OK with this?
Here in California, medical marijuana “pot dispensaries” are the hottest business around. They’re popping up everywhere! Let’s just go back in time a little and look at the history of drugs in America. In the early 1900s, you could order pre-loaded syringes with heroin from Sears and Roebuck. (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Did_sears_and_roebuck_sell_heroin_in_the_early_1900s; Retrieved 08/18/2011 2:27 PM) You could walk into any pharmacy and buy cocaine or heroin for every ailment under the sun. They were the magic medicine!
If you really look into the history, the reason why these drugs were made illegal in the first place had nothing to do with the abuse of it. It was always racially motivated! That’s right, there was propaganda put out for the criminalization of cocaine literally stating that any black man who ingested even the smallest amount of cocaine would rape and kill white women. Heroin was known as the Asian drug and was giving the Chinese migrant workers too much power and influence. And good old marijuana was pushed in the south as turning all Mexicans into raging killer criminals.
The history of alcohol and it’s criminalization and legalization is again well known in our history books. Legalize it all and tax the hell out of it and use the extra money to fix this national debt crisis; there would still be money left over to promote recovery homes and addiction treatment. I’m sure costs a lot less then housing all these inmates overcrowding our prisons and forcing harder criminals back out on the streets because there is no more room.
All of this aside, the real issue is people using the excuse to abuse drugs under the label of a prescription! But really it’s no different than alcohol. You can walk into any convenience store and buy all the liquid drugs you need! Oh, but then you wouldn’t be practicing recovery! Well these pot dispensaries are no different then the drug dealer’s houses I used to cop from. In recovery we practice abstinence. Yes we have compassion and recognize the need for medication at times, with a real doctor’s prescription and evaluation. And the help of our sponsor and recovery support circle.
For me they can legalize all drugs right down the line, but that would not give me the excuse to just go use them. Even if my doctor tried to prescribe them I still have to talk to my sponsor and decide if I really need it, and not permanently. It still comes down to choice and responsibility, and I am responsible for my recovery and my choices today. I choose to live my life clean!
If I chose to go to one of those pot dispensaries and get a “prescription” for pot and used it, to me that would be no different then walking into 7-11 and buying a case of beer. It just wouldn’t feel right, and that is what recovery is about to me: feeling right with my life today. My clean life, and it never felt clean using any sort of drug to me!
Aug 18, 2011 @ 19:24:05
It is shameful that you are recommending people stop medication. I have witnessed, in the AA faith, people being authoritatively counseled to stop all forms of medication including high blood pressure meds, birth control pills, and insulin, as counseled by persons with NO medical training whatsoever.
This misinformation again is very harmful to people.
Please try to think a little before posting rather than bobbleheading the misleading and deceptive propaganda of the AA faith. Marijuana is not addictive nor is it a so called ‘gateway’ drug.
Factual information should be be promoted rather than the superstition, folklore, and research through prophecy so popular in the AA faith.
Aug 18, 2011 @ 21:06:15
Well, I like AA well enough, but nowhere have I encountered any rule that says prescription medication, if taken under the care of a physician, is wrong to take. Hardly. There are some individuals in AA who seem to have the impression that even legal prescriptions are bad, but many (if not most) of the people in AA I encounter don’t feel this way at all. My own sponsor takes an antidepressant. I take anti-anxiety medication and a beta blocker.
I’ve blogged here about the distinction between drug & alcohol abuse and legitmately taking prescribed medication. Addiction simply means you need MORE OF your substance to get the desired effect (in the case of an addict or alcoholic, to get “high.”) In the case of prescribed medication taken for a medical condition, you don’t exceed the prescribed dosage and you don’t get high from it; over time, you also don’t need more and more of your medication for it to have the desired effect. If you’re taking your medication in any other way, though, than it was prescribed for you, I’d suggest have an honest conversation with your doctor about it.
I would NEVER tell a person in AA or NA that they are wrong to take medication their doctor prescribes for them. Nor would I judge another person for taking it. It is between them and their doctor, and it is not my business.
This is my opinion on the matter.
Aug 20, 2011 @ 00:08:04
Wow. I got something totally different from this post.
I liked it. Speaking in the first person what you stated at the end was profound… “If I chose to go to one of those pot dispensaries and get a “prescription” for pot and used it, to me that would be no different then walking into 7-11 and buying a case of beer.”
Absofreakinlutely. I heard nothing about telling someone not to take medication … nothing about anti-depressants (which are NOT categorized as mind altering btw) I heard/read that people abuse marijuana dispensaries. AND THEY DO. I have NO idea how a discussion about a normally illegal drug (legal by prescription in some states) turned into attacking all prescribed medications.
Another excellent quote from the above article …
For me they can legalize all drugs right down the line, but that would not give me the excuse to just go use them. Even if my doctor tried to prescribe them I still have to talk to my sponsor and decide if I really need it, and not permanently. It still comes down to choice and responsibility, and I am responsible for my recovery and my choices today. I choose to live my life clean!
Umm if my doctor wanted to prescribe me OXY’s and I KNOW I’M AN ADDICT? That’s using. Period. I mean really people did we read the same article? We KNOW what is mood and mind altering. Ask anyone with chronic pain who does anything they can to NOT use narcotics and then come talk to me about it. Sheesh.
Weird.
But I’m not here to argue. What do I know … I’m just one of the yokels running this here magazine. Posts here are to inspire discussion… to make you think … to challenge you. This one did all three.
That being said… thanks for posting Chad. Hope to hear more of the real and the raw from you.
Aug 20, 2011 @ 00:44:35
Well, I think the post was a bit ambiguous about prescription meds. I know that I have been told by some members of AA that yes, even taking antidepressants means you’re not clean and sober. I’ve heard nightmare stories of people being told by a sponsor to NOT take pain medication, even after oral surgery. Some AAs do take the “don’t use ANYTHING” method quite literally, 100% of the time, no matter what. I obviously disagree with that. And I didn’t get from Chad’s article that he belongs to that camp.
On the other hand, I am perfectly aware that medical marijuana is easily obtained in my state (California) if you can find a friendly doctor who doesn’t mind writing ‘scripts for it for stress. When he’s writing that ‘script for the twenty year-old college students who live below me so they can legally fire up their bong every night to get high, I’m not crazy about that. But it’s legal. Is it abusing a substance? Absolutely.
On the other hand still, if it’s a cancer patient who is using marijuana to ease her pain and stimulate her appetite, I don’t see that as an abuse of the drug.
So…. I don’t disagree with Chad, but I’m not sure I 100% agree either because of think of plenty of cases in which legal prescriptions and taking painkillers or other drugs for a medical condition is completely appropriate. It was this last point I personally felt him a little unclear about, or maybe I just wasn’t reading carefully enough.
The other thing complicating the whole issue is that, of course, many people do abuse legal prescriptions for which they have a genuine medical issue. Usually these folks get addicted, need increasing dosages to get the same high feeling, so wind up “doctor shopping” and getting the four different prescriptions from four different doctors for the same medical condition. That would qualify as abuse.
So here’s what I think: if the patient is taking a drug that was legally prescribed for a medical condition, the patient’s doctor knows about the patient’s history with abusing medications or alcohol, and the doctor is keeping an eye on the patient’s use of that drug, then it’s not my business and I’m not going to judge that as a relapse. If Chad thinks this as well, then he and I don’t disagree at all. I was just kinda trying to clarify.
Aug 20, 2011 @ 03:09:03
JoyceL states:
‘ I’ve heard nightmare stories of people being told by a sponsor to NOT take pain medication, even after oral surgery.’
This is clear evidence that at the beginning of every AA meeting a disclaimer should be read stating that ‘sponsors’ are not licensed or rarely have any appropriate training, and may be sexual, violent, or financial predators.
It is time for the AA faith to be honest about some very real disasters that have occurred by encouranging criminals to network in the rooms, giving them concocted and unaccoutable credibility, and encouraging very vulneralbe newcomers to strictly follow everything they command/suggest.
People are hurt very badly by this very poor idea.
Aug 08, 2012 @ 05:33:09
I have been in recovery for 15 years. I have a terminal illness that is very painful and the doctor that I had was blissfully stupid when It came to prescribing meds. when I tried to get off of them i found out I was addicted. unfortunatlly since I was a nurse and stupid enough to admit that i had a problem they assigned a watchdog to persecute me for the next 3 years a year later I was in an accident and crushed my foot and needed emergency surgery to save it. this watch dog from the nurse association came in to the ER and told the doctor that I was an addict. they decided that the surgery would be done without any pain meds. after a 5 bone ORIF I had tylenol… I was sure that this was the only way that I could stay sober and spent the next 6 months in the most painful time of my life. all because a 12 stepper decided that was how he could save me. i am in recovery now, I use pain meds when they are appropriate and to hell with what they think. when my wife pointed out that I was terminal what did it matter if I had pain meds. thge 12 stepper said that at least I would die sober. what happened to being at peace.
Aug 20, 2011 @ 04:53:58
Well, let me hasten to add that other people then usually chime in when someone says, “All meds are bad!” and say “In my own experience, I….” etc., and that I’ve never personally known any sponsor to claim that they have all the answers or are licensed professionals. Sponsors aren’t gods; they merely share what they know from their own experience in working the steps. I’ve known many people who have changed sponsors when there was too much conflict or disagreement…ultimately, when it comes to a medical issue such as medication, I would hope people have sense enough to know that they should consult their doctor and not rely on the advice of a roomful of people, all of whom have opinions on every topic under the sun–and sometimes their opinions are well considered and thoughtful, and sometimes not so much.
Me, I have never heard anyone in an AA meeting tell a newcomer to strictly follow everything that is commanded/suggested. If that were to happen, I’d probably say “ok, don’t like the people at that meeting…. let me find another meeting that’s a better fit for me….” Even within the same fellowship, a meeting in the afternoon can be vastly different from one that’s held at, say, 8pm at night. That’s certainly what I was told when I left rehab: to do some shopping around to find a group I’m comfortable in.
Jan 04, 2012 @ 15:55:54
I just remember how long it took me to stay sober even 2 weeks when I was actively using pot. For me, I can not use the drug and stay sober. For me, pot is a gateway drug to alcohol.