Here in America we can be generally known as pill-poppers. We have a pill for everything, and I mean everything! From that pesky restless leg syndrome to that disgusting nail fungus, you name it we have an (often obscure) pill for it.
Some pills are necessary, but painkillers are now often used to allow people to get that indescribable feeling--of happiness that they can't get elsewhere in life. It's a drug that is too often abused, and can become addictive.
Yeah, yeah I know that we all know this. But painkillers are also used, hey, get this, for PAIN. Accident victims, surgery patients and anyone under agony can and are allowed to use a painkiller known as morphine, made from opium poppies.
According to the New York Times, morphine is consumed the most by six countries: US, France, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada. And get this--they use about 80%.
80% of the world's morphine goes to just six countries.
That leaves about twenty percent for the rest of the world. And parts of a whole continent, Africa, gets almost none. Not necessarily because of the cost, but because of the possibility of the drug being abused.
Leaders and doctors have every right to think that--drug trafficking and cartels can ruin countries and threaten a community's stability. But people are dying every day in torture and agony because all they are allowed to use are pills roughly equivalent in strength to a Tylenol.
Can you imagine breaking your leg and having it reset without anything stronger than ibuprofen? Can you imagine suffering from cancer and popping ibuprofen? I sure as hell can't. I think that leaders in third-world countries can think of a way to ease suffering. Drugs are a prevalent way of life even if they are abused too often.
I have been to Africa myself and witnessed the pain that people experience from not having medicine that can aid in reducing pain. Leaders do need to find ways to help those who are suffering. I also think that those six countries need to be much less stingy in hoarding 80 percent of the morphine! Thanks for letting us all know that; I had no idea!
Bekka Joy
When citing a source, please include a link to the original document and if known, the name of the author and date of publication. If you need help with this, please see the ProU FAQ on plagiarism and copyright infringement
You can also create a hyperlink directly to the document (if it's online) by enabling the Rich-Text Editor, highlighting the words in your blog that you wish to link to the other site and clicking on the chain link looking icon.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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thanks, but it was a statistic from the NY Times and I said that. I'm not sure how I would go about doing that, and the link you gave me said not everything is known as plagiarism even if it's copyrighted. How would I go about citing that?
I'm not sure what you're asking. Basically, you should provide a link to the source of the statistic at the end of the post. You gave credit to the NY TImes, which is good, but the link to the source helps a lot.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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I'm asking should I include the date the NY Times was run? the edition number of the newspaper? Is there a specific format? sorry, lol but I've never done a newspaper article. blame my high school/
Just including the date (and the page number) helps. Basically, you want to give people enough information so that they can go find the article or statistic themselves. You don't have to follow APA or MLA format, just so long as we have enough information.
If you want to follow a format, here's APA format for print article and electronic:
Print
Author’s Name. (Date of publication -- year, month date). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper, Inclusive page numbers (p. B21 for instance).
Electronic
Author’s Name. (Date of publication -- year, month date). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper. Date of retrieval, from URL
Just including the date, page number (or URL) and name of the paper would be sufficient here. Though, blogging is great practice for citing sources for college.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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wow i never knew this info. thankx for posting it
Narcotic pain killers are abused by a vast amount of the population. It's like the drug that you can get by using because in the office setting, if you take one, you can just claim it as a Tylenol or something to that effect. It's the dirty little secret that successful people can sweep under the rug and go unnoticed.
Most often time, I don't think that people know what they are getting into when they use narcotic pain killers over an extended period of time. The symptoms of withdrawal are much the same of any illegal drug that is abused, such as cocaine, heroine, or crystal meth. I have witnessed these withdrawals on a personal level. You start to think to yourself, just one more pill, just one more day and I'll stop. But the reality is, by the time you are ready to quit, your brain sends these false signals that you need the stuff to get through the next day. I have experienced anxiety before over not having another pill available. It's like my mind knows that there are no more in the bottle, so I get all anxious that I might get sick the next day. It's a crazy mess to get into I tell ya. I would have never thought that it would be me. I'm pretty well off and I have a good job and life. At first popping the pills was just for fun, but now it's a source of major panic.
I have always told myself that this wouldn't be me and that I was stronger than my mind could be. I always told myself that people who are addicted to drugs just have no will power to stop and if they really wanted to they could. I fooled no one but myself in that. Trying to get off of prescription pain killers is no joke when you have been taking them for the past 3 months every single day. Through the stress of losing family members, losing a job, and other major issues with my family, I sought out just that brief moment of relaxation...the one where you pass out for a good 15 minutes and it's the best sleep of your life.
I also have fibromyalgia, so I am in constant pain most days that hurts down to the bone. I can't take life like that, I cannot function as a normal human being. So, I sought out a way to help me function. Those 15 minutes of deep sleep help me make up for the countless nights of no sleep. In no way am I trying to justify what I admit to as an addiction. It just goes to show that people who really need to take these narcotic pain killers get addicted to. So, I'm forced with an awful choice, continue to take these stupid pills or suffer everyday with the pain in my stomach and body. Should I just lay in my bed and be non-productive, or contribute to society by educating myself and helping others around me keeping both of these issues a secret. No one around me really knows about either condition. I don't like to complain much about it. The only one that really knows about both is my boyfriend and he doesn't like either of the issues that I have to deal with.
Furthermore, he doesn't like that I have to be the one to leave the get-together early because I can't stand to walk or sit anymore. He really hates that I can't join him in every outing that he likes to go on. He wants me to be by his side for everything because he loves me, but it's just not physically possible for me. But again, I am not trying to make excuses for my addiction. It's sad that there are people that become addicted to something so readily available and there are really no signs of use, meaning it doesn't take a bowl or a spoon or a needle to use.
You should write a blog about your condition, because this is seriously effecting your life. And you're right, I haven't heard much about that condition so you should really spread the word. My question is that I read that you're in pain; but that you abuse narcotics. So your brain is still telling you that you are in pain when you're really not? I know that that is possible, but with fibramyalgia and your pain is so bad, they don't have special pills that help you to function normally? I just went to a couple of websites and the most important characterization of the joints, etc is PAIN. I almost feel that you're beating yourself up for this when all that I read about the condition is pain for your joints, muscles and tendons.
I'm praying/sending good thoughts your way.
I really should blog about it. It is entirely possible that when you take narcotic pain killers your mind will cause you to think that you are in pain when you are not. My symptoms of withdrawal or need are not like that. I get sick to my stomach, anxious, and clammy. Basically, I get sick.
There isn't really a catch all med that will help people with fibromyalgia. Most often, doctors prescribe antidepressants. Some antidepressants, such as Elavil "amyitrypitline", are older known antidepressants that in low doses can help a person with fibromyalgia sleep better and hopefully helping with the pain. Being in pain all the time and not being able to function does lead to a certain amount of depression. At the same time, neither of them are really medically linked. You can't get fibromyalgia from being depressed is what that is meant to mean. You can become depressed from being in so much pain because it is hard on the mind not to be able to participate in life like everyone else and most docs treat you like you are a faker because they can't find anything on x-rays, MRI's, blood work, etc.
I do subscribe to a fibromyalgia network newsletter that gives people like me hope that we are not alone in the world. They also try to bring more attention to this condition in the hopes that more physicians will take it more seriously and help us when we have our episodes. I usually am at my worst during the first month of summer and the first month of fall. These are times when the weather is unstable and the temperatures are unstable - meaning it may be 90 in the afternoon, but 50 at night.
But, this is really a blog about narcotic pain killer abuse, so maybe I should just go ahead and write my own blog. I hope that you will find it and read on more. That way, if you happen to come across anyone that is close to you that has this condition, you can let them know that they are not alone and to keep their chin up. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
Interesting points.
+mspin