Big change to make it harder for patients to get pain killers like Vicodin

[1monster]

56. We all know which roads are paved by good intentions.

In my opinion, the Drug Enforcement Agency needs to stay out of classifications of drugs period. That should belong to people who have been educated (perhaps even have degrees) in medicine and pharmacy. The DEA is an enforcement agnecy, not a regulatory agency.

Personally, I don't take anything stronger than Tylenol 3 and even then only extremely rarely, but I want to know that if I need something stronger, it is available. Pain is a terrible debilitator and the greater the pain, the greater the disability.

I am sick to death of those who make policy regarding drugs who think that the only solutions are to criminalize and restrict access to necessary drugs for those who need them.

If they were truly concerned about drug addiction, there would be better options available. Just for example, take cigarette smoking. The number of people who are addicted to tobaacco products has gone down dramatically over the years without criminalizing tobacco products. What did increace were treatment options, society's disapproval of tobacco use in social settings, and the information about the hazzards of tobacco product use information put in front of the users.

The difference between pain medications and tobacco is that pain medications are a necessary medical tool for millions of people at any given time and tobacco has no real purpose other than to ensure repeat consumers. Sooner or later, almost everyone on the planet is going to need a pain med (whether a controlled med or otherwise). No one is ever going to need a tobacco product...