One short letter's huge impact on the opioid epidemic

[seaglass]

37. I don't know the answer to this. I used oxycontin for weeks when I broke my shoulder 5 or so years

ago, I've also had percocet prescribed after dental surgery. Honestly though the oxycontin did get me high and I did like the feeling but I knew at that time about its addictive properties and stopped taking it after I didn't need it any more. So I am a firm believer in pain relief and cannot imagine what it is like to experience the level of pain as I did with my broken shoulder every day of my life with no suitable relief.

On the other hand - someone is making lots of money selling this stuff to young kids who easily get addicted. My son got addicted when he was 19 yo over a very short period of time. Fortunately our insurance covered rehab for him and I was able to find a doctor who had an opening for prescribing suboxone. My son was on suboxone for a year and also received MH treatment.

I can never describe what his addiction did to him and our family financially and emotionally. A lot of trust was broken and I still live in fear for him 7 years later. My son was not unique, a number of his peers became addicted and a few have since died. This is a real problem and there are unscrupulous greedy people including doctors and people getting prescriptions under false pretenses who are contributing to this issue.

I wish people on both sides could acknowledge what people are telling them - that real people suffer with pain and need pain relief and that the street availability of these drugs is causing a lot of pain in our communities.