One of the people I follow on Facebook is Jeff Cocco.  He's been suffering from chronic pain for years.  Today (September 27, 2017), Jeff posted about his current situation in trying to deal with the pain.  I've seen reports in the news about the "opiod addiction problem" in this country.  And with the same wrongness they always pursue, the establishment is attacking the problem with full force wrongness and the people that will ultimately suffer for it are those that are in definite need. 

And you know how good they will feel about it.  Yes, the people that actually need medication will struggle to get medication in this country and more than likely turn to a black market alternative.  And those people will also be blamed for it.  Here's what Jeff had to say:

EXILES ON PAIN STREET
(words from Jeff Cocco):

I have a pretty serious chronic pain condition that emanates from multiple sources and am on some heavy duty meds - a long term one and a short acting one. Because of a snafu the other day with my asshole insurance company, I was unable to get my short acting ones for a couple of days (oxycodone) and I made a disturbing discovery: The pain in my feet has always been bad, but in the last year it had deteriorated to the point where I am essential crippled without my meds - as in barely able to walk.

Uh-oh.

Because this "crack down" on pain medication has merely seemed to result in a burgeoning black market - people who are abusing these drugs still seem to get all they need without a problem, thank you very much, and meanwhile, people like me who have a legit need are left twisting in the wind by the medical establishment. I literally know people who have turned to Heroin to deal with their pain issue because it is easier to get than having to go through all the roadblocks and obstacles doctors and insurance companies put in the way of REAL chronic pain suffers - how fucking sad is THAT? As if having to deal with severe pain on a daily basis isn't bad enough, chronic pain suffers also have to deal with the facts that the medical establishment basically knows SHIT about how to treat chronic pain, you are left on your own to figure out your own best course of action, you have to deal with hostile pharmacists and doctors who automatically assume you are a pill seeking junkie if opiods are the ONLY thing that work for you, and people, without knowing ANYTHING about your medical history of injuries (in my case, a childhood fall, 5 car accidents, 40 years of tending bar, and basically defective construction in my feet (pronated ankles, etc) that have all pretty much done their handiwork) assume that you MUST "have a problem" if you have to take strong meds on a daily basis.

There is a list of things I could tell you right now to debunk that theory, but let me just give you this ONE little tid-bit - people who take pain meds for ACTUAL PAIN DO NOT GET HIGH FROM THEM. That right kids - I'm really not floating on a morphine cloud all day. And I really doubt my shrink husband would be having it if I WAS abusing my meds - as it should be. In our over 5 years together he has never ONCE seen me loopy from my pain meds. Sometimes I would even take him with me to the doctors as my "reliable witness" LOL.

So, I live in constant fear that suddenly I will be cut off from pain medication due to "politics" and I'll be spending the last 20 years of my life in a wheelchair as severely disabled person - try living with THAT hanging over your head. (speaking of things getting worse, I just got off the phone with ANOTHER doctor to have them look at my knees - I have a NEW pain, a burning one, that is actually waking me up in the middle of the night. Le sigh. )

So - time for Jeff to get involved and maybe start an advocacy group for chronic pain sufferers - as well as a Class Action Lawsuit or two - since that is the ONLY thing people seem to understand and the ONLY time they actually listen - when you are threatening to take away their money. Of course I am cognizant that there is a huge problem in this country with people abusing these drugs, but making people like me suffer because of it is hardly the way to go about fixing that. This bullshit has gone on long enough ...