Tipping Point? Vermont governor confronts deadly heroin crisis as public health problem

[LuvNewcastle]

17. Oxycontin is a very strong drug. I'm talking about the weaker ones, like Loritabs.

I know a lot of people who take them and who have been taking them for years, but the only effect they see is a reduction in their pain. Plenty people can handle them just fine, and I think it's ridiculous that it's becoming so hard for them to get their medication to help their pain.

Even if they're allowed to have the drug, they have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get it. Sure, they are addicted, but it's better for them to be addicted to a mild or moderate opiate drug than to be in pain all the time. Some of the milder opiates could be over-the-counter. People could OD on them, but they can also OD on Tylenol. Norco seems to be effective enough, and they're basically Loritabs with reduced Tylenol. To combat the hard drugs like Oxycontin and heroin, I think we need more access to the mild opiates, not less.