By Catherine Olian
Rock Center
They are the youngest victims of the prescription drug epidemic, tiny babies born already addicted to the drugs their mothers were taking when they were pregnant. More than13,000 babies a year are born in America addicted to prescription painkillers like OxyContin, hydrocodone and other narcotic drugs, according to a recent study released by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Rock Center visited three hospitals and spoke to doctors at many more. These babies may seem normal at birth, but within days they start having symptoms like severe shaking, tremors and more.
“They vomit. They have diarrhea. They'll often have fever, sweating…extreme irritability,” said Dr. Mary Newport, the director of the neonatal unit at the Spring Hill Regional Hospital north of Tampa, Fla., in an interview airing Thursday at 10pm/9c on NBC.
The newborns also have trouble sleeping, feeding and they often shriek in pain, their bodies craving the medication they’re addicted to. The number of babies born this way has increased dramatically over the past five years, Dr. Newport said. This year she expects to treat nearly 20 times the number of infants going through withdrawal than she did in 2007.
“It’s terrible,” Newport said. “We sometimes feel that we have a neonatal drug rehabilitation unit.”
A baby experiencing withdrawal from painkillers
Annabella was just a few weeks old and she couldn’t stop crying. The only way the nurses could treat her symptoms was to give her morphine, a narcotic similar to the drug her mother took. As shocking as it may seem to give a baby multiple doses of morphine a day, Dr.Newport said, “if we don’t treat the baby…the baby will develop seizures and the baby can die.” Death can result from violent seizures, Dr. Newport said, that cause the baby to stop breathing, cutting off oxygen to the baby’s heart and other vital organs.
Many women become addicted to painkillers after they’ve been prescribed them by their doctors. Others, like Annabella’s mother, 20-year-old Katelynn Yost, start taking painkillers recreationally, never thinking they’ll become addicts.
“I thought I was going to stay in school and go to college,” Yost said. “I didn’t think I would end up doing drugs and being addicted to them.”
When she unexpectedly got pregnant, Yost decided to get drug treatment for the sake of her child.
“I want to be there for my baby now and help her have a good life,” she said. But first, Annabella had to go through the painful stages of withdrawal. “I know it’s all my fault,” Yost said. ”I’m the one that did it to her. It really hurts.”
There are no easy answers for pregnant addicts. Even if they want to get off the drugs quickly, doctors advise them not to. Going cold turkey could cause them to miscarry. Instead, the women are switched from the painkillers they are on to methadone or buprenorphine, drugs that keep them stable and help curb their cravings. Unfortunately, these drugs can also cause severe withdrawal symptoms in newborns.
Treating pregnant women addicted to prescription meds
“You’re told either you can take the methadone and your child could be born addicted, or you detox, stop taking everything and your baby could die,” one pregnant addict told us. Either way, “I’m deathly scared.”
The sheer volume of babies born addicted is putting a strain on the healthcare system. Healthy newborns typically stay in the hospital for a few days, but these babies stay weeks and sometimes months, at an average cost of more than $50,000 per child, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Doctors at the Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia told us that sometimes the neonatal unit is so full of babies going through withdrawal that newborns with other problems like prematurity have to be turned away due to lack of space.
Dr. David Chaffin, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Marshall University Medical Center participated in a multi-hospital study that had a stunning result: at least 10 percent of all babies in West Virginia are born with prescription narcotics in their systems. He calls painkiller addiction among pregnant women “a monstrous tidal wave” with no end in sight.
As for little Annabella Yost, she finished going through withdrawal. She’s off all drugs and her mother says she’s doing well. The outlook for these babies is guardedly optimistic, but until large scale, long-term studies of these kids have been completed, no one really knows if they’ll have problems later in life.
All that the doctors can say for sure is that as long as women keep abusing prescription pain pills and doctors keep overprescribing them, expect to see more and more babies suffer the consequences.
“They are the innocent victims,” Dr. Newport told us. “They had no control over it and yet they suffer tremendously for it.”
Click here to watch Kate Snow's report, 'Born That Way,' from NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Leave a Comment:
The only "choice" any of these pregnant - and addicted - women need be given is to detox - and stop taking everything.......if the fetus then dies, or aborts - that's their guilt. Perhaps they should even be charged with the crime of murder.....because taking these drugs was a deliberate CHOICE.
If the fetus, however, lives, immediate treatment should be given and the mother forced to give up the child. Place the baby for adoption - to another, loving home - where it will never be abused - ever - again.
Drug program and jail for the abuser bio-mom........with longer programs, or sentences, for addicted births caused in the future.
why not just shoot them.....that would be way easier for you,wouldnt it?
So we are reminded just how santimonius and vicious people can be. Sickening.
Wow, this world is so lucky to have perfect people living in it. Thank God for people like you.
Umm you do realize that most of these women get pregnant after they're already addicted and are then faced with the choice of how to quit. It's not like they get pregnant then decide to start popping pills. Take that holier-than-thou attitude somewhere else.
It's a good thing you've never made a bad choice in your life...that way you are super qualified to dispense advice in cases like this.
Sorry, I agree with COASTGUARD. If you make bad choice in life, be prepared to pay and even be punished for them. We should stop continually making excuses for people and their bad behavior. Throw the book at these poor excuse for mothers!!!!
These mothers prove you can't fix stupid.
Got some addiction issues in your family, LadyCoastGuard? If so, it might be healthy for you to address them. Addicts need to take responsibility for their addiction, but I don't agree that addiction is a "choice." I hope you're able to resolve the rage that drove your post.
NO-BAMA12
"We should stop continually making excuses for people and their bad behavior."
NO, this is part of the professional left's agenda. There is always someone else to blame. They can never be at fault.
wow coastguard you must be a qualified dr. or something. I mean if you are so sure of your answer and all. I cant believe how blind some people are to the real world. you act as if you never made a bad choice? If you did make a bad choice, would be ok with your kids being takin away? And Bama you are just as bad. What if that baby that should be thrown in the system, was your grandchild? Would you still have the lock 'em up addittude? I bet not!
Personal responsibility is a thing of the past with all this PC garbage! Did a doctor prescribe the drugs? Where did she, and others get them? The tear jerker is always about the plight of a child, and not the women without any morals or sense that put those children in the situation.
http://hailtoyou.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/share-of-births-to-unmarried-mothers-by-race-1990-2010/
Check out the site link, then compare the crime/drug addiction statistics in the area's where each group makes up the majority of the population. You'll see a connection! Too many women think their right to reproduce supersedes the child's right for a halfway decent life! That's child abuse before, and after birth.
During the 80's there was all the hysteria about crack babies and fears that society would collapse due to their long-term impairment. Didn't happen. BUT that doesn't mean there aren't problems with opiate addicted mothers (who likely started with illicitly obtained painkillers, NOT prescribed ones). I just saw all this with a friend's daughter (you know, the white, bright, suburban kid who starts with oxy's thru her friends and then becomes a needle junkie). A pregnant addicted woman will be reported to CPS and will be required to enter treatment (otherwise can be looking at legal commitment orders from CPS). This woman's baby was born 7 lb 2 oz with the mom getting buphrenorphine but also relapsing on pills a few times during treatment. Took 18 days on morphine in the hospital. Kid is now 8 weeks and weighs 12 pounds (kid is with a non-drug-using relative while mom gets further treatment, whether she will get the child back remains to be seen ) and is doing well. The mom was homeless thru most of her pregnancy and only 4 prenatal visits. There have been small long-term studies of opiate-addicted babies with no glaring findings, probably birthweight is going to be the main factor.
You attack the mothers of these babies. It is the DOCTORS who prescribe these medications to all people (no thought to their ages or history). There are more deaths from prescription drugs than illegal drugs. Remember it is the DOCTORS who prescribes these drugs not the patient.
if we legalize pot, the babies would just be born with the munchies.
One thing to add to you comment coastguard lets tie there tubes up and yes i know that gives them a free pass to do what ever but it will keep tax payers from paying anymore.
Maybe just maybe someone should be looking into the DOCTORS who are prescribing these narcotics to these young adults. There are more prescription drug related deaths in the USA than illegal drug users.
Taking illegal drugs is ILLEGAL and not the type of illegal that's hoping for a better life, but the type of illegal that is hurting self and other for the purpose of getting high. Seriously disturbing to hear what those babies are going through. The mothers should be jailed, no if, ends, or buts about it. They are braking actual laws and hurting inocent people in the process. As for the first post, it would be a hard choice but I do think quitting all together might be better for the baby, I would hope for no death but sometimes that's better than so much suffering...
Perhaps you didn't read the part that explains that they're taking 'prescription' meds - perfectly legal - although equally harmful.
I did read that and I'm sure they do that at first, but eventually they turn to the illegal form because either they can't get another prescription or it's too expensive so they do heroin instead. I've read my share of information on prescription drugs, perhaps you should too instead of forming opinion on just one article.
personal accountability seems to have taken a vacation along with common sense and basic coping skills.
of course we all make mistakes, some of them really bad, but so many people are making these enormous mistakes younger and younger. This lady is a drug addict (lifetime commitment) with a new drug addicted baby (lifetime commitment) probably living with parents with no education and she TWENTY.
i hate to be hard on her (and coastguard maybe went a little far), but good grief lady, you used up all mistake tokens. get it together!
OlderMom, you keep screaming doctors. I bet many are getting them off the streets or steeling them from family and friends. There are other ways to get these drugs other than seeing a doctor. Just sayin'.
OlderMom, I hate to say it, in very few cases is the Dr to blame for these addictions, especially in young adults. The reality of the matter is that it is easy to find a street dealer for these pills. Just like the young woman in the story, I doubt a doctor was giving her the pills, she sought them out an bought them from a drug dealer.
On a side note, when are they just going to legalize pot already, less addictive, less detrimental (except to your grocery bill), and has been proven to lead to no other addictions. Where Oxys that are completely legal get abused, then get too expensive, then lead to heroin. That is a fact, so lets be a grown up society, take Oxys off the market and replace with legalized and taxed marijuana.
Prescription drug abusers know exactly how to get their meds, from doctors. There are hundreds of docs to choose from in this state that mindlessly dispense prescriptions.
Stop making excuses for these women and wake up!!!!
Most of them are not getting their prescription drugs from their doctors after they become addicts- if they ever had a prescription in the first place. Their doctors won't prescribe it for them anymore and they are buying it off the street. That is a fact. I started handling drug cases in 2006 and I would see a handful of description drug cases- a few buyer cases and an even smaller number of seller cases. 6 years later I handle far more prescription drug cases than heroin cases. Oxys, Percocet, hell I tried a Fentanyl patch case a few months ago. People are buying these drugs on the street and they are available in the street due to the increasing number of pharmacy robberies. They are buying the drugs from the same people who sell Special K, crack and heroin.
People want to make excuses for these people because the majority of prescription-users/abusers are white, middle class people from "good families." However, these golden children are taking them because they are "fun" and make them feel good, not because of some injury that they were legally prescribed these drugs for. Wake up! They are drug addicts and are no better than your average crackhead. In fact when they can't get their Oxys they often become heroin users.
Blaming the doctors? I have heard it all now. Personal responsibility does come in to place here, you know. And by the way, are these babies being taken from their parents when they are born addicted? Because if a mom or her newborn test positive for weed when the baby is born, CPS will take the baby away immediately.
I feel so terrible for these poor babies who did not ask to come in to the world addicted. I don't really agree that the mothers should be jailed but certainly they should be sent to rehab. In my city we are fortunate that we have rehab facilities where new mothers can be with their children. I wish the program was more widespread.
To those flaming up coastguard - I wish you could accompany me on a transport of just one of these babies. Maybe if you saw with your own eyes what these children are experiencing, the pain, the suffering, all the life support equipment, you would see why people feel strongly about it.
The mother who made the choice to use drugs - legal or illegal - has bounced her reality check and the child is stuck paying it. And the bill is way to high in pain and suffering. My empathy is with that child.
OlderMom - the doctors wouldn't be prescribing the drugs if the mothers weren't seeking them. The doctors often get conned by these people.
I know someone who goes to 5 different doctors at 5 different hospitals in 2 different states (she lives on the border between MN & WI). She gets the same oxycontin and hydrocodone and adderall prescriptions from all of them. She knows exactly what to say to keep the prescriptions coming, she knows how to work the system. Of course none of the doctors know about the others, so they write the prescriptions. If someone starts catching on, she switches to a different doctor and a different hospital.
The "best" part? We, the taxpayers, are paying for it - because she supposedly is disabled with a back problem - yet I know for a fact that she does odd jobs for cash on the side. I've seen her tearing shingles off a roof, and then picking up her government disability payment so she's got money to go out drinking.
The mom was causing willful harm to her unborn baby. No one elses fault in this matter,it's on her. I don't want to even hear about her horrible up bringing or cronick back pain BS. The fact is she got pregnant and should have come clean in pre-natal care. That baby is suffering,she was abused,and people who abuse children have their kids removed and are put in jail. If that's what it takes for her to get off these pills and not get knocked up,then that's what she needs. My taxes are p!ssed away on all kinds of frivolous BS in my state anyway,might as well be for her incarceration for Child Abuse.
If the baby is going to be born addicted anyway, how is taking methadone, etc any better for the baby than the mom continuing to take whatever drugs she was taking in the first place?
My wife delivers babies such as these. Too many of the women are repeat offenders and Medicaid pays the bills which in many cases are 100's of thousands of dollars. Any woman that births an addicted baby should be given a forced choice of a norplant type birth control or tubaligation. The norplant type birth control should be implanted in the abodmen to prevent the women from removing it without professional medical assistance. When/if she's ever proven clean and sober the norplant type birth control can then be removed, at her expense.
Too those that believe this is cruel or taking the rights of the woman away, think about the kids and their rights to a mother that's not an addict.
First of all, these women become addicted to prescription drugs because they are ridiculously over prescribed, and people are not weaned and removed from them in an appropriate manner. This absolute EPIDEMIC in our country NEEDS to be seen for what it is. Once you are addicted to opiates, your body is not longer functioning correctly. Opiates alter your brain - please, anyone, look it up. See what this garbage does to you and how it's not just a simple matter of "stop taking them". You can die from Opiate withdrawal. The term "dope sick" is beyond anything you can imagine, and if it can kill babies to withdraw, it can kill adults as well. This is when people turn to heroin, because they are SO dopesick they cannot function - and heroin is far cheaper with the same effects.
Yes, I expect mothers to be responsible and to get clean - but don't kid yourselves that an opiate addicted person can just walk away. They cannot. It needs to be done properly. and if we don't address this, there will be hundreds of thousands of heroin addicts roaming the streets, robbing people and their cars and homes just to get a fix, and all of their children will be in foster care. If you think THAT'S a solution, You're kidding yourselves
@OlderMom-6315052, It is the Doctors JOB to relieve their patients pain. If a human being says they are in pain, doctors should help. There is no way to measure pain. It is better for a couple of addicts to score than for a person in legitimate pain to suffer. You are going to make it where when
YOU become in pain, no doctor will help you. I applaud the physicians who treat their patients. Do no Harm. God Bless America!
for every one on here being all pro life anti woman, i find it funny you fail to see how your attitude causes abortions. i know if i was a drug addict with everyone having this attitude i would just go get an abortion and avoid the whole problem. so if you dont want women in these situations getting abortions youll have to make having the baby as easy as getting an abortion
Well, I'm pro-life, and I disagree with the anti-woman posts on here. It's a terrible situation for both the mother and the baby. I really can't think of a good solution, except for the women who are addicted to be able to get help without turning the situation into a legal nightmare for the woman. In other words, if she is able to get off the stuff and stay off, she should not have her baby taken away from her, and she shouldn't be prosecuted. I'm sure none of the women intended for their babies to suffer.
I'm pushing 60. I have been preached to about the evils drug abuse since I was in the single digits of age. Ignorance is no excuse. Prescription drugs are not necessarily dispensed by physicians. I believe the article said some were given by doctors, others were obtained illegally for "recreational" use.
My cousin (in Huntington, WV, as a matter of fact, where this article was cited) has literally burned out her brain by using illegal drugs. She had every opportunity NOT to partake, and she did NOT come from a monetarily poor household. She did it because everything was always all about "her." Spoiled, selfish, vain, and entitled describe her very well. Her attorney husband is now in jail for embezzlement, she is in a mental ward. Their children are in protective custody.
Too many people enabled, turned a blind eye, denied the problem, etc., until it was too late. Now the chips are falling where they may. I have no sympathy, whatsoever, for her or her husband. The children may eventually recover. For them, I hope the best.
Responsibility for one's actions should be owned. We all make mistakes. The problem is that too many never take responsibility or the consequences of their actions. It's always, "poor me, I didn't know." I call BS on it. I've known the consequences for half a century. So have my children, and my children's children.
These drug abusing addicts deserve no opportunity to further harm or corrupt their children. It's time to draw the line and say no more. The infants are unable to do this. We adults are. It's time for the adults to step up the plate and quit whining. Life, leisure and living isn't "easy." It's earned through hardwork, dedication, perseverance, fortitude, and steadfastness. Anyone existing in/for a drug-induced haze without regard to anyone or anything except the next high should be treated as what they are--worthless.
Wow, there are kids born with various food, seasonal and other allergies everyday. What about that? What about all the toxins, growth hormones and such that they add to our food that are causing these allergies as well as cancers? As someone else stated, these mothers are trying to get treatment. Surely they love their children just as much as someone else. Even if the mother hadn't been taking scripts beforehand, the child still could have been born with a variety of things. If you live in a glass house, you should NOT cast stones at others. I am sure the "judging" folks here have faults and imperfections just as well as anyone else. So get off of your soap box and pipe down a bit.
People can get these legal drugs from any doctor, as long as they are willing to travel. You can walk into just about any urgent care, or pain management facility and get it. Go down the street to yet another facility, get some more. And yes, the staff CAN be conned. After all, business is business. On the good side, there are more and more clinics being raided by DEA or other local LEA's, putting them out of business.
And this is just my own opinion...I believe everyone should be held accountable for their actions. If it means sterilization for drug-addicted moms, then so be it. Maybe we could do the same for people who abuse their children, yet keep popping out one after another.
My heart breaks for these babies.
LadyCoastGuard And what happens to the doctors and drug companies that push all these man made @!$%#ty drugs on these people????? Doctors are a joke nowadays. Your kid acts a little bit hyper ,then he / she must have this made up disorder called ADHD. Lets pump the kids full of drugs to make them into zombies. Any slight pain what so ever what does the doctor give you, these addicting pain killers. You can't go one hour watching t.v. without some drug company pushing some drug to take care of something like say heartburn with side effects like kidney failure, vomiting , heart problems , this and that, so they can push more and more drugs on you for those problems. Look how fast some of these drugs get pulled after a few years due to law suits. So lady, you can be all high and mighty thinking your @!$%# don't stink, but if you really want to fix the problems the drug companies and doctors need to be held responsible. Our water supply is poisoned with flouride (nazi's used this tactic to pacify the jews, look it up) and most likey soon be laced with lithium for its mood-stabilizing effects to so called curb suicides. Funny how people in power want to keep the rest of us in check isn't it. I know ladycoastgaurd this is to much for you to wrap your head around so maybe you should go back to your Kardashian show and leave the boards to educated people.
losing...thank you, well said. I actually have severe chronic back pain resulting from an accident, had surgery in 1982, disc at L5-S1 removed without fusion of the vertebrae. Last year had surgery on my neck, 3 discs removed from C4-C7, bone spacers and titanium plates to fuse the vertebrae. Yet, I returned to work less than 3 weeks post surgery. I am gainfully employed with my boss for over 5 years.
I totally agree. Some of us truly do need the relief that pain meds give us. It helps us stay on our feet and continue to be a productive citizens. And before any of you begin trashing me, let me just say, yes, I am a productive citizen even though I take pain meds. The medications are designed to work on pain. When you have no pain and take the meds you get high. I have seen too many people who doctor shop to get the meds and then sell them and live on the profit. Nobody who does that needs the meds they are just too lazy to work. The doctor shoppers need to step up and take responsibility for their actions, it is called "Personal Accountability."
I am fortunate to have a doc who watches very closely the meds that are prescribed. It is a pain in the rear-end to have to call in for refills twice a month but at least I know my doc is on the up and up.
I bet when these people who are yelling about this issue being the fault of the docs need the relief and can't get it they will be switching sides of the fence pretty quickly.
It is just a sad state of affairs. These children being born addicted are the true victims.
This is coming from a recovering opiate addict. I am a guy, thus no addicted children, BUT...
I made the first choice to take Percoset. I continued to do this through Perks, Vicodin, and Oxy's fro 12 years. I stop counting how much I spent on these when I hit $540,000.00 or so.
There is nothing worse than withdrawls, and I can only imagine the hell and horror these babies are going through, and they should be taken from the mothers.
To those who suggest "forced sterility?" Yeah, the Nazi's tried that for the mentaly ill, and such. History shows that the Nazi's were wrong on MOST of their ideas, and this is one of them. In fact the only Good idea I can come up with that the Nazi's came up with was the "rocket" thing the developed.
Did people just write this should be done to these women?? What the hell is wrong with you?? Help is what is needed, BUT if these women dont want it, they want get or or take it..
God bless these babies, and can we find a way for Suboxone to help these poor kids.
For those of you defending these so called mothers, shame on you. When did life become a game of 'the devil made me do it, so I'm not responsible'? Stupid enough to get themselves addicted, and then then pregnant? All I can say is OMG, two time loser. Yes, I am a mother, had two, and the thought of ingesting addictive drugs while pregnant horrifies me. Hell, I didn't even drink when I was pregnant. What is the matter with these women? Self centered, stupid bitches.
You can't blame it on the doctors. Addicts are smart and manipulative, and they know what to tell the docs. They go to several doctors and several pharmacies, and will even cross state lines if that is what it takes. Unless they start a national centralized prescription database that all doctors, hospitals, insurance providers, and pharmacies are required to use, they will continue to doc and pharmacy shop. But that costs and no one will be paying for it anytime soon.
Its sad but I have to say it...what a pitty that I have to spend my hard-earned money on these drug-addicted children because their mother's don't give a flying f*ck! The mothers and her family should be forced into poverty till the public debt of having to care for their crack babies is paid off in full!!!
these babies are permanently damaged, another result of a dying decaying society. Only fitting the liar obozo presides over it
Well who's fault was it before Obama became president you idiot? This problem has been going on for decades.
A monstrous tidal wave? Sounds like hyperbole to me. You might be able to fool those who refuse to actually THINK and just blame Obama for everything, but you can't fool those of us who have been watching.
This is a big problem for FLORIDA because FLORIDA had the loosest prescription pill laws in the country for YEARS. Look at all the "Pain Clinics" that opened in FLORIDA - under the Republican governor's watch (how can you blame Obama for what is CLEARLY 1 single state's legislative failings?)
Yes... Florida tightened up it's ultra-loose laws to keep non-Floridians from driving in from out of state. But for pill addicts with a Florida address, the Sunshine State is still the easiest place in America to feed that jones.
And it was REPUBLICANS who loosened the laws, all so their rich friends in Big Pharma could continue to sell more product. Now close your eyes and blame Obama.
In November, close your eyes and vote away your Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. When the repubs decimate those programs and give the money to the ultra-rich, make sure to blame Obama and Hillary Clinton - just like Hannity taught you.
And now that Florida is cracking down on the "pain clinics" expect to see these people go from pills to heroin. It is happening in states like Kentucky and Indiana. Read any newspaper from these states and they will tell you there wasn't much they could do about the Florida connection because Florida wasn't doing anything. And now that Florida is ( somewhat - there are still many clinics here in the Tampa Bay area) the addicted are turning to heroin. Many families have been devastated and it is going to get worse before it gets better. It's time to leave the pot fields alone and go after the real killers. I have never taken care of anyone who wrecked their body with pot but I have watched many die from alcohol and other drugs.
This problem is far worse for mothers on illegal drugs. The progressives don't like to talk about that.
And Rush is threatening to move to Costa Rica where a lot of the drugs are OTC
dead decaying society made up of welfared up teabagger reichwingers complaining about their taxpayer paid insurance
Granted, network news is all about being "shocking" . . . . but geez. . . would it be "shocking" to give a baby morphine for some other medical condition?
BTW, pregnant addicts may not realize they can test the baby's meconium now, so they can be clean when they go into delivery but the meconium will show drug use going back to the 20th week or earlier
harold, the great thing about obama is that he's not responsible for anything. I'm trying that on my job, not working so far...
How responsible is Rick Scott, the governor do you think?
SRMcMahon
And Rush is threatening to move to Costa Rica where a lot of the drugs are OTC
________________________________________________________
future headline:
VIAGRA SHORTAGE IN COSTA RICA,
Riiiight... only progressives do drugs. /s/
@SRMcMahon...that was too funny!!! Still laughing.
Someone explain to me again why we should legalize drugs.
Oxycontin and Hydrocodone ARE legal.
I could explain why the policies of prohibition just don't work and actually drive many of our social and financial woes, but I think it would be lost on you.
Because we learned during Prohibition that criminalization doesn't work; it just creates ancillary problems. It should be obvious by now that putting addicts in jail/prison isn't the answer; it doesn't treat the addiction and the financial cost is unsustainable. There are no simplistic solutions to complicated issues.
Al Capone.
If we outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns.
We don't need no "Big Guvment"!
Personal Responsibility
Why are drugs illegal? Because the vast majority of Americans, whilst shouting platitudes about Freedom & 'Merica, collectively posses an ignorance so vast that it precludes their understanding of where the "Drug War" originally sprang from - and why.
Legalize marijuana, etc.? Are you kidding? It's bad enough with drunk drivers killing others via automobile. I don't want people high driving and killing too. Like the man in my area who was high on marijuana, who drove into the path of a truck. The man's son, who was a passenger, was killed. The man was/is in jail. I don't remember how long his sentence was. That's just ONE example.
The above paragraph is not referring to painkillers-however, I believe painkillers impair driving ability, too, and people using them are not supposed to be driving.
And tell me how keeping Marijuana illegal prevents this situation from happening?
Stupid people will do stupid things regardless of the legality, we know this to be plainly true.
The sucking waste of money that is the failed drug war is the issue.
This particular article is indicative of the overall disease rampant in America, that is that healthcare is devoid of any sort of "care". It's all profit driven and writing prescriptions are the same thing as writing a check to yourself if you are a doctor.
Got a problem? Here have some pills! Oh that pill I just wrote a prescription for has X Y and Z side effects, well I have a pill for those side effects too!
It's so easy to just take a pill instead of doing things that human beings have done for thousands of years. You have depression? Go to the park with your dog or volunteer to give of yourself to find yourself, it's proven to work. Overweight? Change your diet and do 30 minutes of ANY exercise a day and the weight will come off slowly but surely.
Just take a pill is the answer to all of your problems in this country. Now tell me again who the real "pusher men" are.
Lou7777777 - The criminalization of drug users and the act of making drugs illegal does NOT prevent people from engaging in the activity. I don't think it makes them more "tempting" to most people either- people do drugs for many reasons, one of which being to numb something such emotional or physical pain. Drunk drivers kill people everyday, which is why the act of drinking and driving is illegal. Do you think if they legalize certain drugs they will be allowed to drive while under the influence?
First of all the problem starts deep within our culture with it's immediate instant gratification masses i.e. fast food, jiffy lube, quick pick, ez pass, high speed etc. etc. If we can recognize that suffering does indeed exist throughout our lives and in the world and that quick fixes are not the answer many of our societal and social issues will subside. I hate to say this but I only see things getting work as capitalism while pushing innovation leads to materialism and little tolerance to anxiety, pain etc. It's a cyclical problem as the threshold for coping with these feeling/emotions deceases further science creates more potent solutions (i.e drugs/medications). I'm a former addict myself BTW- and have worked with many suffering addicts. Yes Dr's over-prescribe but would they if there wasn't such an incredible appetite for people to get these meds. Very difficult issue and not as simple as people want to make (blaming Dr's, greed, needy people, society, government, etc.) It's a complex problem like most things in life. I have to say though that debating whether or not operating a vehicle while on pain medication (prescribed or not) is like focusing on the issue of obesity in our country (same reason BTW as problem with drugs) and debating whether or not soft drinks should be allowed in schools. Either way Obesity will continue to be a huge issue for the US regardless of the single-minded focus of soft drinks in schools.
Note that these drugs ARE legal, controlled substances, and users still find ways to abuse them. So to think that legalizing (and controlling) recreational drugs is a good idea is just absurd. If we have this kind of problem with drugs that are already legal and have controls in place, how can one think we'll be better off to legalize still MORE drugs? Yes, we may have less crowded prisons. But to have neonatal care units overcrowded by newborn addicts is an unthinkable tradeoff.
I understand that the only way to stop the drug problem is for users to stop using. If no one is buying, no one will be dealing. So, how do you get users to stop using? I taught in the Texas prison system for 10 years. From the mouths of users and sellers, a person only stops when he or she wants to stop. No amount of prison time or rehab stints have an impact.
All that being said, how can a society legalize that which kills people? Alcohol can kill you, too yadda yadda yadda. But crack cocaine, heroin, meth and the newer synthetic stuff are instantly addictive and cause people to do things like chew off someones face or eat his dog. It causes them to sell their children and themselves. Alcohol does not have that emcompassing an effect.
Even if all drugs are legalized (I know oxycontin is legal - but it's not legal to abuse it), people will still have to buy it. All the same things will still happen. Making it illegal is the warning that it does bad things to you. Alcohol does not make you chew off a man's face or eat your own dog.
I smoked pot in junior high, and I pretty much don't remember it. I had roomate users in college for one semester, and so I smoked with them. Nearly flunked out that semester and I blew my 3.8 GPA. Drugs damage your brain and body quickly. I cannot say to the younger generation, "Have at it until you die or kill someone else. No problem."
I used marijuana my entire pregnancy even during labor in our home. I never took narcotic pain medicine not even during labor. My daughter was full term, completely healthy and very alert when she was born...Narcotics are routinely given to women in the hospital during labor...Before you all place a drug addict label on me... I have a college degree and a full-time job and my child is in the best daycare in our town that I fully pay for without government assistance. What do you all have to say about that?
We could stop treating addicted eople like they are sick. I don't care if it is drugs or alcohol. They are dangerous to everything and everyone around them. And don't think I don't have a right to say something. My family were all a bunch of drunks. they couldn't feel they had a good time unless they were throwing up. Child abuse was just another day. Neglect and domestic violence were common. I quit when I was 20 - because I got pregnant. My kids are in their 40,s. The second from the oldest is a drunk and a pill freak. She has been in and out of jail, can't keep a job. She hs had her kids removed and their dads - different ones - are raising them. I'm stuck with her now and will have to file an eviction notice to get her out of here. She has threatened to burn my house down with me in it because I scfrewed her windows shut to keep her from sneaking drugs and liquor into the bedroom window and poured out her stash. I have only me Socail security and shde steals that if she can. she contributes nothing to the household bills and doesn't care about anything but where and how she will get her next pill or beer! Her oldest son snuck grass in here for her yesterday. I'm done. I would just as soon see her dead as to have her here anymore. Drug and alcohol use isn't something you can play with. I can just see what the world would be like if they were all like her!!!!!! God help us all if they legalize it!!!
As horrible as these cases are the most important part is this statement:
Herein lies the problem. These "immaculate conceptions" are the problem. As long as the family unit and education of our youth is discounted, all the political posturing is nonsense. Allowing prescription drugs, or any drugs for that matter, to be so easily available decreases the possibility of finding solutions to these problems.
For the sake of an illegal high and irresponsibility of unprotected sex this problem will escalate. Drugs reduce inhibitions and create dangerous scenarios for abuse and unwanted pregnancies. Societal and peer pressures allow behavior that leads to innocent children being born to unprepared women. This leads to economic, social and moral problems for families and communities.
This is a multifactorial problem that has been going on for decades. Our resistance to address it on multiple levels, especially the nonsense of political correctness, is why we are losing the battles. We have spent tens of trillions of dollars on the wars on poverty, drugs and illiteracy and they have accomplished nothing.
Until we wake up and understand that legislating morality and responsibility is impossible, we'll be having this same convoluted discussion in 10 years.
OP - we should legalize drugs so that we can spend less time, effort, and tax dollars on incarceration and more on treatment and rehabilitation.
End the drug war, put the money we were spending on inmates into a program to help addicts, and then lastly, give out free contraception -- the kind that lasts years, like an implant. (yes, I would HAPPILY have my tax money go towards these things)
There is no policy or program that we can spend our taxes on that will help this situation. The "They're going to do it anyway, so make it legal." mentality hasn't helped. Giving out condoms and 'sex education' hasn't helped. If we 'cure' all the inmates and drug addicts (and children) then some other problem will pop up that is equal to or worse than the problem we have now. People are like that.
Doing marijuana or Oxycontin or any other drug while pregnant affects the baby. The article commented on the un-known long term affects. Look at any public classroom from Kindergarten through 12 grade. These are the long term affects. Our drug use has created the "Lord of the Flies" epidemic in our kids. Our drug use has also masked our own perception and clouded our vision toward the symptoms. ..."my kid was perfectly healthy"- hmm, really?
"Unexpectedly pregnant"? Is she kidding? After over 50 years of reliable birth control women are still getting unexpectedly pregnant?
The addicted mothers should be charged with child abuse, made to pay for the infants treatment, and be banned from future pregnancies.
Well of course "unexpectedly". After all sex without personal responsibility or consequences is the new way of life.
Well what about the father, we just let him walk. Drugs need to be taken away from law enforcement and turned over to the healthcare specialists. It is not like they went looking for these drugs to have fun, they started because they were prescribed them by a doctor.
In case you didn't know this, birth control is not 100% effective, and you CAN unexpectedly get pregnant, even while on it. Once she was pregnant, she had to figure out how to detox without losing her baby, because she actually cared enough to think about it. Judge not, lest ye be judged. People shouldn't be so judgemental of others. NO ONE IS PERFECT.
no no one is perfect, but you gotta know that there is always a chance of pregnancy if you have sex.
and honestly, a 19 year-old whose main focus was her next pill, probably wasn't terribly careful in the birth control department?? Just a guess...
"Banned from future pregnancies"? What exactly is your plan? Forced sterilization? You creep me out.....
Birth control does not always work both of my sons attest to that and I was on the shot and never missed one or was even a day off of it and got pregnant. Nothing is 100 percent effective. These women while yes they were absolutely wrong for taking narcotics while pregnant should not be unable to parent the children they created due to a mistake. I dont think anyone out there can say that they havent done something wrong. Pain meds are over prescribed under informed on and need stricter regulations.
yes women are still getting unexpectedly pregnant- over 80% of pregnancies are unplanned ie unexpected. if we as a species could perfectly avoid pregnancy we would go extinct- why do you think humans do not have a "heat" cycle like all other mammals?
AMEN!!
I have to say that no matter what the subject matter, there is ALWAYS someone who brings up the "judge not lest you be judged." I would like for these so-called Bible experts to actually look up that verse and read the context of why it was written. There are plenty of MORE places in the Bible where it is extremely correct to judge ... such as crime, factual wrongs, etc. So before these people (who probably judge all the time anyway) tell people not to judge, they need to understand the reason that particular passage was written in the Bible. And no, I am not going to tell you because how will you do your own Bible study if someone else does it for you? That what a lot of these posts are about, right? Personal responsibility? Be personally responsible and learn this passage for yourself.
I'm pushing 60. I have been preached to about the evils drug abuse since I was in the single digits of age. Ignorance is no excuse. Prescription drugs are not necessarily dispensed by physicians. I believe the article said some were given by doctors, others were obtained illegally for "recreational" use.
My cousin (in Huntington, WV, as a matter of fact, where this article was cited) has literally burned out her brain by using illegal drugs. She had every opportunity NOT to partake, and she did NOT come from a monetarily poor household. She did it because everything was always all about "her." Spoiled, selfish, vain, and entitled describe her very well. Her attorney husband is now in jail for embezzlement, she is in a mental ward. Their children are in protective custody.
Too many people enabled, turned a blind eye, denied the problem, etc., until it was too late. Now the chips are falling where they may. I have no sympathy, whatsoever, for her or her husband. The children may eventually recover. For them, I hope the best.
Responsibility for one's actions should be owned. We all make mistakes. The problem is that too many never take responsibility or the consequences of their actions. It's always, "poor me, I didn't know." I call BS on it. I've known the consequences for half a century. So have my children, and my children's children.
These drug abusing addicts deserve no opportunity to further harm or corrupt their children. It's time to draw the line and say no more. The infants are unable to do this. We adults are. It's time for the adults to step up the plate and quit whining. Life, leisure and living isn't "easy." It's earned through hardwork, dedication, perseverance, fortitude, and steadfastness. Anyone existing in/for a drug-induced haze without regard to anyone or anything except the next high should be treated as what they are--worthless.
the "buybull" is just a fairy tale anyway samantha.
PS--Yes, I'm a hard ass about it. I've taken the brunt of the backlash for all my efforts (of finding help for those in need of recovery), and I'm fed up with enabling whiners and the druggies with the monkeys on their backs.
Although I agree with you, that approach has been attempted and failed in multiple states. It seems a crack whore has more rights than the unborn and innocent child who cannot make the choice to take drugs or not.
I think addicts should not be allowed to parent and recovering addicts need to be monitored. If they continued taking drugs the children should be taken from them.... sound harsh? Tell that to the children who are being raised by junkies... I have seen cases where the police, hospitals, doctors and social services all look the other way!! These children grow up being neglected and sometimes abused, it is inhumane to let the willingly impaired to raise children. EVERY child deserves to have parents that will love, nurture them, provide for their needs and actually parent them.
Yeah Nazi Germany here we come with these attitudes. Child is already addicted to drugs and your solution is impoverishing the mother and then sending her to jail.
I can tell that child is going to do well in life knowing they were first screwed over by mom and then doubly screwed by the system.
We can follow doctors advice and addict them to drugs while in the womb. We can even kill them while in the womb. We have virtually made all children a non-real entities. Some are even killing toddlers now because they can't "deal" with them.
You tell me.... what IS the next step in our childrens existence. I personally don't see it being any good for anyone. Ours is a diseased society and it will not heal as long as the unborn are not protected.
Businessguy--my husband of four years and I got pregnant last August while using 2 forms of this "highly reliable" birth control.
Tell me more about how reliable our birth control is...
Just because someone is on birth control doesn't mean they can't get pregnant.
Our son was born a year earlier than we had planned because my dr failed to let me know that the migraine meds he had me try are known to interfere with the pill. After 14 years, I had no reason to suspect they would not continue to work, and only learned how that happened when I was talking with a pharmacist friend after my son turned 2. I was in my 30's, 2 college degrees and felt like an idiot, but I'd only heard of antibiotics interfering and had had no idea! So yes, it is entirely possible to be acting responsibly and have your birth control fail unexpectedly.
For these drug addicts who become pregnant then the real alternative is to abort the pregnancy. I know you pro-lifers are grinding your teeth right now. But the truth remains that many of these children who are brought into the world are going to be kept by the mother and the child will suffer. Many do not want to adopt a child who will have medical problems, may be too financially expensive and there are a ton of things that can and will go wrong. How many of these children will follow in the parents steps? And the children will grow into older kids by the time someone knows or cares to do something about it then those kids are virtually unadoptable. The kind thing would be to end it before all this happens.
There are programs that pay drug addicts to get sterilized. This is the only method that prevents stories like the one above from happening over and over and over again.
I was thinking the same thing. The wierd side of paying people to become steralized is that some of them have filed lawsuits claiming that because they were drug addicts, they we taken advantage of. At this point children have no rights, Mom can do what ever she wants and if she doesn't want her child she walks away.
It is NOT the doctor's fault. It is the addicts' fault just like wife beating is the spouses fault. (abuse is abuse)
Having said that the ONLY reason this is so shocking to doctors now is they are too young to remember the same thing happening in the Viet Nam era.--->time reference only here folks.
NO, not vets but narcotic use and addicted newborns. Ask an old doc or neonatal nurse. I remember news paper articles and TV news about the same issues in the mid 1970's.
Stop disenfranchising people who have already ruined their own lives by making them felons and get them help.
ASK YOURSELF WHY WE ARE SO COMPELLED TO ESCAPE OUR LIVES-----fear maybe?
People can blame the mothers, and of course it is their fault too, but it also DOCTOR'S, HOSPITALS', AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, DRUG COMPANIES' fault. Many of these addicted women were prescribed these drugs legally and became addicted. I'm sure they were unaware that they could become addicted. Some people are born addicts- they have those receptors in their brain, and it only takes ONE TIME to become addicted. When that ONE TIME is legal and on doctor's orders, it's hard to place the blame on them. Painkillers are the most overprescribed drug in the United States. Whose fault is that?
Always someone else's fault isn't it? I can't pay my bills because I owe 30,000 to credit cards, or I can't pay my mortgage because I bought a house I couldn't afford, now these pregnant women are drug addicts because of someone else and had no idea those heavy duty painkillers were addictive? What a stupid comment. Whiney, irresponsible idiots, plus people like you who always want to blame someone else, I'd bet you don't take much responsibility for your life and choices either.
Meg... this happened in Florida. Don't forget to blame the Florida lawmakers who allowed the LOOSEST prescription drug laws anywhere in the US. This is why the story came out of Tampa.
The entire state is loaded with pill addicts, mostly because the loose laws allow for the easiest availability of Oxycontin anywhere in the US. Oxycontin is the drug all these addicts are after.
JC,
Normally I would agree but I've seen what Meg is talking about first hand. A growing number of doctors are more concerned with prescribing a pill than curing an issue. They're more concerned with their kick-backs from Big Pharma than the actual health of the patient.
Big Pharma is more concerned with peddling their pills than what the pills actually help or treat. Stop and talk a look at some of those commercials. Half the time the pill gives you worse symptoms (read: side-effects) than what it's supposed to be treating.
Hospitals are becoming more and more worried about their profit margins and not the people coming to them for aid. I have a friend who became addicted to pills due to prescription over treatment. She was in a car accident, and suffered spinal trauma. They put a plate in her neck then prescribed her some pain killers and sent her on her way. When she asked about the pain in her back the doctor said there was nothing he could do and prescribed her more painkillers. He didn't try to send her to a specialist, or do anything past keep her drugged.
When she ran out of refills, the pain drove her to seek the pills she needed other ways. Which led to an obvious downward spiral of addiction. So Meg's point is very valid. Now that's not to say every addict is a victim but the victims are definitely out there.
I had dental surgery and was prescribed Darvocet, a drug so dangerous and addictive it's since been taken off the market. I took it for all of a day and a half before the pain was manageable with Advil. That was maybe three or four pills, but the dentist wrote me a prescription for SIXTY of them. What was I supposed to do with the other fifty-six? I threw them out, but somebody whose brain is hard-wired to be addicted to various substances wouldn't be able to do that. They'd just keep taking them until they were gone, and then what? That's how addictions get started.
Women are human beings, not incubators. Locking them up because they are pregnant and drug-addicted will not "help" them. Do you want to prompt women to have abortions, rather than face imprisonment because they have an addiction they can't shake? At what point in a woman's pregnancy, exactly, do you think she gives up her civil rights?
Good point Jennifer. Maybe they'll also suggest that the fathers be locked up as accessories? Probably not.
Don't think so, MegP. Most teens these days don't get their drugs from doctors, hospitals, etc. They get them from those "parties" where they just throw everything into a big bowl. That's where most of the "new mothers" get hooked. Not doctors, etc. So, it is the "mothers fault" who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant. Having sex while bombed out on drugs is irresponsible whether they are on the "pill" or some other birth control or not. We all know that men/young men also on drugs aren't going to think of using a condom nor are they asking the girl if she's on protection. They should be put through a detox program, and like was mentioned above, if they lose that fetus, so be it. It takes an incredible young person to realize that the fetus she is carrying is most likely damaged for life, and most of today's youth are not that incredible.
I have rheumatoid arthritis. My previous rheumatologist put me on pain killers (vicodin) along with disease modifying drugs (sulafsalazene and hydroxychloroquine). When I told him that the pain killers were not working for me, he told me to take more. He actually wanted me to take 5 or 6 1000mg pills in a sitting. After he told me that, I found a new rheumatologist who explained to me that pain killers won't work for me because when there is pain, it's disease activity. Pain Killers affect the brain and not the immune system which is what causes RA. He knew that but didn't tell me and would rather keep me taking the pain killers that did nothing for my pain.
Now, with increased medicines and a little marijuana when I have a nasty flare up, my RA is managed. I generally do not have any pain like I did before.
The fault is the Dr. who overprescribes and not telling the patient to try over the counter pain relievers and the patient for taking too many of these prescription pain killers and not limiting them to a few at first when the pain is more severe.Patients have to get educated on these drugs and then have self control.
All of you with the "this is the doctor's fault" mentality do not really know what you are talking about. Doctors here try not to prescribe pain medicine because the drug addiction rates are so high. Trying to get pain pills for a real condition in this area is a challenge because of this. My dad has a spinal defect causing severe back pain that has caused him to be hospitalized several times. His first primary care doctor told him he did not prescribe pain pills on the first visit, he would need to come back in 2 weeks.
Some doctors can be blamed, but certainly not all.
darvocet dangerous? ha, thats one of the only painkillers i can take without violent vomiting and sleeping 16 hours a day. it is very easy period to get addicted to pain pills legitimately , i broke every vertebra in my back and was on fentanyl (?) and percosets- i could have easily gotten addicted but i was terrified of that so i babied my pills taking no more than was vital and quit after 6 weeks pain be damned. if i was a weaker willed person i would have begged for more, the pain was still terrible and i craved them like crazy but i knew i had to stop and had the will power to tough it out and this was with surgeons and md's constantly offering more to me.
Yeah, let's blame the doctors & hospitals who pass out drugs like candy, that's the gist, right?
Get real. 99% of doctors (guessing) want to HELP their patients. One cannot heal properly if one is in pain. I just had a minor surgery and the doctor gave me Tylenol 3, which is sufficient. In fact, I'd rather NOT take it, but dang it, it hurts sometimes.
They (the doctors & hospitals) cannot help if these patients then go and sell their drugs on the streets. Or if they're somehow fudging the bp tests that are a good indicator of pain (higher elevation obviously means pain).
Don't do drugs in the first place and you'll find no babies to have to wean down.
I had a 3 level fusion in my lumbar spine 10 years ago.. the pain is incredible still. I was on oxycodone and Oxycontin and numerous other pain killers. I didn't like the way they fogged my mind. I have stopped taking all but over the counter pain meds... unfortunately the normal dosage doesn't help so I started taking 4 times the normal dose. I now have bowel and stomach problems from the over the counter stuff (advil) Most of you here do not know what chronic pain is. You want the drug abuse to stop yet you do not realise that heavier regulation will most probably end up denying those that truly need the medicines access to it. There are many sides to this problem. Some will become addicted, some will get it by illegal means and some well, some will find alternatives. There is no black and white in these situations.
Don't think so Patricia, these parties you speak of, do not magically make pills appear. These pills more than likely, unless stolen from their parents, came from a drug pushing Dr. who sees hundreds of patients a day, and writes the same prescription for all of them. Then 9 times out of 10, that person will keep what they need to last them and sell off the rest. And for those of you that say that to blame the Dr. is putting the blame on someone else, why don't you take a look at how many doctors have been raided and arrested by the DEA, and other law enforcement agencies for setting up these "pill mills". And lastly, let's not forget that Oxycontin came into the market under a crap ton of lies, that the FDA knew about, and was paid to cover up. So that covers the Drug companies as well. Purdue Pharma paid off people in the FDA to get the drug into the market under the guise that they were a non addictive, non tolerence building, super pain med that could be vastly prescribed. And to show you how awesome our government is, once the truth about the forged tests came out, they did nothing to take it off the market, or stop other massive drug companies from producing a generic. Don't get me wrong, the actual person that continues to abuse these medicines is equally at fault, but to say that no one else in the line is just as responsible, is just ignorant. And as for you Amye, you are right, there are a lot of doctors out there that do care about their patients, but where this story is from, that is not the case, and there are just as many doctors trying to get richer off of others addictions.
This is really a big issue our society really is going to hell in a hand basket ,compared to the first people who started this country we're a bunch of wossies worried about other people's problems , we've come a long way ...down .Drugs were legal until 1935 when I'm sure they were being abused then also .
It's up to the doctors to discriminate against young women who go out , get drunk and get....taken home by a sly ...Dog .I never planned on getting pregnant !!!
I agree buisness guy 51 , I just wasn't feeling as agressive as you today
Ah yes birth control pills have been available for a LONG time... But we must remember that they are cancelled by simple over the counter cold meds.. Thets how " I wasn't planning to get pregnant " often happens.. and not just to drug addicts..
Anti-biotics will also diminish efficacy.
There IS a 100% absolutely always-effective method of birth control that is not affected by anitbiotics, cold medications or any other chemical.
It's very simple to do, and doesn't cost a single penny.
DON'T HAVE SEX.
The effectiveness of oral contraceptives is not negated as easily as people think, and definitely not by everyday OTC drugs. However, it has been known to happen with strong antibiotics such as those used to treat tuberculosis (rifampin) as well as certain anti-seizure medications. Several commonly-used antibiotics come with a warning that birth control pill efficacy may be reduced.
Yyyyeah. Because that bit of advice has worked so well before...
ill be sure to tell your wife that, no sex ever unless your planning top conceive and no whores for you either. welcome to the victorian age again sir
So... whats the point of being married if you can't even have sex with your spouse?
Since when is crack a prescription drug?
Oh wait, I forgot we have obamma in the "white"?house.
I think those wide open spaces have screwed up your thinking. This problem has been around for decades. You need to refrain from such outbursts, your ignorance is showing.
Since when is Pluto no longer a planet?
The article never mentioned crack, or Pluto. I figured since you were going to ask a question that had nothing to do with the article, I'd follow suit.
Since when did crack become a prescription drug on Pluto?
This is getting fun.
Tony... I realize not much news gets to Wyoming, but Obama is the President of the United States, not the governor of Florida. Meanwhile, repubs in Florida have worked tirelessly to loosen the prescription laws to keep their friends in Big Pharma flowing with cash.
Don't worry yourself about silly things like the truth or the legislative specifics of how Florida became the prescription pill capitol of the USA. Just close your eyes and blame Obama the way Hannity taught you.
Tony, we've also got Rick Scott in office here as governor of Florida - a known criminal. Please be sure to include him in your rant.
The drugs are not the problem. The problem is the people prescribing the drugs, and the people seeking them. Taking these drugs off the market will hurt more than it will help. Junkies will just move to something else and continue useing. Instead of slaps on the wrist, and probation for doctors knowingly handing out these drugs to users, try mandatory jail sentences like 10 years first time, 20 years second time, etc., and users are ban from ever getting a script again, unless they are IN a hospital under supervision, and nothing after they get out.
And who pays for the jail accomodations? We do. Thanks but no thanks. I don't need to be paying for someone else's mistakes any more than I currently am. Next suggestion.
most doctors don't just hand out a prescription for med.. addicts will go to different doctors and then to different pharmacies.. they will go to the ER and clinics anything to get a fix. Just who do you think aught to be jailed?
In our area, part of the drug addiction problems starts in the emergency room. The local hospital hires out-of-town physician groups who come in, see patients in the emergency room and then go back to who-knows-where to their own lives, and they don't give a wit about what's happening here in a town where they have no ties. We had a patient, just last week, who went to the emergency room for pelvic pain. She was diagnosed as having a urinary tract infection. The rent-a-doc gave her antibiotics and Vicodin. Vicodin for a UTI?!?!?! Are you kidding me? This guy should have his medical license revolked.
Alot of the times,Ibuprofen or aspirin or other over the counter pain relievers work just as well.The drs. need to not given Vicodin to every person,always start with the over the counter drugs first,then call dr. if you need stronger meds,but most of the time these will help.They do need to be more careful who they give these prescription drugs to.
Karen, my mother is 69 years old with fibromyalgia and rheumatiod arthritis. OTC painkillers do NOT work for her. What do you suggest she that she do? Suffer? Put yourself in her shoes and think about what you are saying.
Why don't these doctors stop prescribing these stupid drugs to so many people. People don't need morphine or oxy contin for their pain. That stuff should be a last resort reserved for the terminally ill and dying soldiers; not teeagers and young adults! Stupid Doctors! All they seem to care about is getting the money! It's criminal, just criminal!
What is sad is to see the same wormen come in for multiple births fo addicted babies, not feeling guilty because they "had" to take their pain med because of an injury 10 years ago. And now wormen get narcotics just for having a normal child birth. Didn't happen when I had my babies years ago. Was told to take motrin or such. Narcotics are too freely availalbe. These moms should be made to come in and really take care of these babies, not just spend an hour or maybe two a day, or come in once or twice a week due to multiple excuses. They do not really see the hell these babies go through, but the nurses do. They scream for hours sometimes. It wears on the nurses who take care of these poor children. I've had them say they DO feel guilty, but then they limit the time they come in to be at the bedside. They "can't stand" to see their child suffer so.....If they were made to witness what these poor children go through, maybe then they might really think about preventing having another child to endure such hell after birth. Instead, they come to take them home [if DFS isn't placing them somewhere else] after the worse part of withdrawal is over.
It is easier to get these drugs off the street than a doctor. I had chronic pain issues and NEVER got any painkillers... therefore I have chronic stomach problems from NSAIDs (thankfully I've improved pain wise, but I will always have stomach problems and GI visits for the rest of my life).
Fetal alcohol syndrome is actually WORSE; it's permanent genetic mutations with permanent mental and physical disabilities. Why do we never see any articles on clamping down on drinking?
There's a saying in recovery circles: "Once an addict, always an addict." In a few years, these "baby addicts" may be added to the roles of active addicts if they start experimenting with substances or behaviors that trigger their dormant dependence. I guess many of you will blame them for their choices.
They will always have the choice to say "no". No one will be repeatedly forcing substances down their throats or into their veins, so yes - if they become active abusers of any sort of substance, I will blame them.
And you are perfect, huh justsara? Try living in constant pain like my mom does and then just say no to that pill that actually lets you live and not just suffer.
We need to treat these addicts just like we do crack users...send them to prison for a long time...of course I'm not looking for many white politicians to propose treating white people drug crimes like they treat black people drug crimes...
Yeah, right, blah blah blah, another racist I see.
Where in the hell did you make that racist leap? From pain killers to white & black? I would say that at least the whites pay for their own drugs, blacks get theirs from some type of Government program. (translates to me paying for theirs)
Actually, Kevin, statistically there are more whites on welfare than blacks, but this is NOT a race issue.
It's a problem with multiple sources....sometimes it's doctors who prescribe narcotics too easily, but I work in a hospital and sometimes it's patients coming in demanding total obliteration of pain or demanding narcotics.
The saddest part is watching these babies suffer- I have seen it. I don't have a huge problem with drug addicts in general, they live in their own hell, whatever that is, but gd-it....don't get pregnant. Birth control isn't 100% effective but it's 99% if you use it properly!!!
"They are not responsible." But we are responsible for Mom and Baby, forever. Keep making it easy for people and their "poor choices".........
I agree accountability can not be dismissed in anyway whatsoever.
It is incredible how many defend or try to justify in some way the actions of
selfish women whose lifestyle jeopardize or destroy a child’s life. If you are
an ADDICT of any kind either drugs, alcohol or a cigarette smoker… do humanity a favor have protective sex. If prevention is too much trouble when the mentality
is… it's all about "ME" I suggest wholeheartedly sterilization since selfishness is obviously their proven life style. Actions have consequences they do NOT have the RIGHT to inflict such pain upon a defenseless life. Wow this takes the “ME GENERATION” to another reprehensible uncaring level. This is not a "Holier than Thou" attitude and some are claiming. This is preventing a child from a lifetime carrying the burden of health issue's because of someone's inexcusable cruel indifferent s self-centeredness. Period. Maybe these defenders I am reading about are just defending the same past or present lifestyle to feel better about themselves ....Sorry but no child deserves YOU as their lifelong victimizer.
Common sense. Personal responsibility. Discipline. Honor. Respect.
What an unlimited supply of this we have available to us, yet so many choose, yes, choose,
Self-sabotage. laziness. willfulness. numbness, instant gratification. Then why the big suprise when the negative cycle continues...those people must really like the lot they've chosen or wouldn't be doing it to themselves. BigPharm cultivating doctors cultivating addicts. A system that works for millions. My gripe is that my children and I will have to foot the bill for those who chose wrong...we are not holier than anyone...but we do have common sense and self-respect and have a right to live well. Who out there will insist it is our duty to support addicts or their system? These are not unfortunates facing circumstances beyond their control...they are facing the personal choice of whether they are going to take control or just keep letting those prescriptions refill.....
Isn't it great, and make abortion illegal. Give me a break, how stupid are we. And while they are at it, how about making those clowns unable to concieve. But I am sure that would be a violation of their "Civil rights", again, how stupid are we.
I think that many of these posts are focusing on the women who have chosen to abuse drugs, but do not address the thousands of mothers out there that manage chronic pain with the use of these drugs that allow them to lead lives that approach normal. Many women, and men, use drugs to manage pain that is attributed to events out of their control, like car accidents, back pain - like chronic degenerative disk disease, and other issues that cause them to be riddled with debilitating pain. Examine the entire issue before casting stones.
There is still a matter of choice. Many people choose not to have children becasue of genetic diseases that could be passed on. It is seen as which is worse, that we don't have children or we have children who will suffer pain and disease just so we could be parents.
Sometimes the suffering of the third party - the child should come before someones wants. Willingly bringing a child into the world while requiring so much medication - and causing the child to be born addicted is doing the child wrong.
Ok, SEIU, what about the woman who is 7 months pregnant, in a car accident or whatever, and given pain meds at that time for a real and legitimate issue - which results in the child being born addicted as well? Of course that's not the typical situation, but there are always exceptions.
Pat...thanks. So very true. That is exactly the point of my post above.
Absolutely despicable on the parts of the mothers. And as far as women who use copious amounts of narcotics to manage pain, perhaps they should not be getting pregnant in the first place, considering the consequences they and their unborn children might inevitably face.
It's probably safe to say that someone taking copious amounts of narcotics isn't really capable of making educated and informed decisions. And where does the responsibility of the father fit in? Why is he impregnating a drug-addicted woman?
I think for sometime, the charge of the light brigade has been a woman is responsible for their own body. These women who do this should be charges with a felony.
How the hell does he know what medications she is taking. Is that one of the questions you know have to ask your date. Come on get real.
Well, I should hope that a man engaging in unprotected sex with an "assumed" unknown woman would check to see if she's stoned. In addition, if you know the woman well enough to engage in sex, then you should know if she's a pill-popper. No?
Goodforgoodnesssake - Not all men are that virtuous. Often the only time they can get sex is if the woman is stoned... But the guy would be well-advised to use protection for his own well-being at any rate, not only to avoid knocking up some addict.
I think you need to define stoned goodness. Typically it means under the influence of cannabis. If that was all this woman was guilty of, this story wouldn't exist. This is the way I interpret it since you refer to "pill-popping".
Perhaps if we knew the personal histories of the mothers whom are having the drug-addicted babies the arguments would be better made; unfortunately, that is, for the most part, impossible. There are a number of arguments that can be vied for, taking into consideration the vast possibilities in regards to circumstances. The fact of the matter is that women whom are taking/have taken/may take narcotics known to result in birth defects and/or infant drug-addiction should not be procreating. It's that simple. Most of you are arguing points that are immaterial; whether or not the man with whom she slept with knew she took the pills, whether or not the woman was 'high' (or low) during conception, etc. There is no way for us to know, nor can we intervene. We can only hope that future would-be mothers have copious amounts of common sense, as opposed to copious amounts of drugs.
Jaydub- stoned refers to anyone under the influence of narcotics.
Anyone paying attention to the fact this is worse in poor, rural communities? The massive money we dump on the war on drugs isn't working. The best option is to take that money and use it for education and healthcare, and balancing the budget. Young women in high school and college who are busy with swimming, track, and getting good grades because they actually have a chance at a good degree from a good college will be less likely to get in this trouble. They can't all go to Smith, but they can all at least go to state college and become a nurse or junior high math teacher - and we need more good teachers and good nurses!
Are you kidding, georgiawoman? Look at the amount of money being spent/having been spent since birth control took over the airwaves of TV. People are still getting pregnant at taxpayers' expense. I find it completely disgusting that people are still using the "I am ignorant" attitude as to how they "got pregnant" in the first place. I don't think the last 40 years of "educating the public" is working!
Minus that teen pregnancy is down significantly, as are overall births in the US...
Georgiawoman:
Are you insane? Do you have ANY idea how many jobs rely on the Drug War? Police, DEA, intelligence operations, companies that manufacture the items used by policing / intelligence agencies, judicial workers (to process complaints, warrants, etc.), the bail bonding business, lawyers, judges, administrators...... and then there is the Prison Industry.
Corrections Corporation of America, (Ticker: CXW) is just one example.
To take it further... think of the builders who are contracted by the for-profit prison corporations.. the restaurants that feed the employees / construction workers... the equipment makers who sell / lease the construction equipment..
It's an ENTIRE ECO SYSTEM.
As a CXW shareholder, I am not amused in the least when people like yourself prattle on about ending the war on drugs.
Look, some people are going to abuse drugs and suffer the consequences. May as well make a little profit off that misery.
The Bottom Line:
Where you see people's lives ended, families torn apart, and human misery compounded by a War On Drugs -- We, at CXW, see customers & profit.
Each free person, walking around unfettered, represents lost opportunity and revenue. It's why we, in the private for-profit prison industry, heavily support mandatory sentencing, longer sentences and expanding the criminal code offenses which require incarceration.
It's just good business. And really, at the end of the day, wasn't that what America was founded on?
This is quite a good satire, but I feel some thick person will jump all over you for it.
In the slim chance that you are indeed being serious. I'm sure anyone that actually thinks this way are for "small government" and "against welfare" whilst living high off the government hog.
Best response today, Johnathan Ivan! Brilliant sarcasm. Just don't expect anybody to get it.
Thank you =)
And I can assure the both of you, I am very much Anti-Big Guvment (except for the DEA) and Pro-Personal Responsibility (except for drugs).
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to meet with a Congressmen regarding higher profits, I mean stiffer sentences, for drug abusers.
Cheers,
J.
Great Post Johnathan. I just hope you don't get bashed by some nit-wit who doesn't get sarcasm. LOL!!!
As an adult that has gone thru the painful withdrawal of painkiller addiction, I can't imagine a newborn baby having to feel that pain. Dreadful!
As someone who is old enough to remember the beginnings of the "Crack baby" so called epidemic of the 80's in which the mothers were predominately African American or Latina, I find it very interesting how our society seems to use very different approaches to similar problems based upon seemingly the race of the child and mother. During the 80's I remember mothers being vilified arrested and imprisoned while crack addicted children were place in foster care. There was no wide spread calls for drug treatment for the addicted mother or efforts to keep an intact family.
Now we have essentially the same problem with prescription drug abuse and drug addicted babies who are predominately White and yet we hear no blame but real solutions which takes treatment into consideration while trying to keep both mother and child together. It saddens me that even now we see two very different approaches to similar problems yet one receives punishment and vilification and condemnation while the other receives the full weight of our money and resources to help them.
What a difference race seems to make in our approaches to our societal issues.
When I was told my Birth Mother Lived on prescription cough syrup and cough drops, everything fell into place. I'm 61 now and there isn't a cough drop "OR" cough syrup I don't Love. As for "JAGGER", that's a no brainer...
Hahahaha!
If a mom was using drugs while pregnant,CPS will investigate and take the baby under their custody,drug tests can be done on the baby and the Mom,then the state takes control.the baby is under CPS.Their are other ways to control pain if someone is pregnant unless the Dr. thinks it is medically necessary.Alot of the presrption drugs are bought on the street and not prescribed by a dr.,this is an epidemic that needs to be stopped,whether you are pregnant or not.The babies are the ones that suffer,please pray for all babies to be born healthy,they deserve every chance.The babies are completely innocent.
No, while I wish that was the case, it very very rarely happens. The mother would have to have a long history of drug abuse and likely already have children in the system for CPS to get involved. Usually there is absolutely no consequence for the mother that caused such pain and hardship for their infant. They don't even have to pay the bill. Taxpayers pay for it.
There has to be consequences in life or people won't give a rats. It really is that simple. Make the mother face harsh consequences. In the case of drug addicted babies, the mother should lose all rights to custody of the child immediately. They've already proven to be an unfit mother. Additionally, the majority of these women will go back to their drug addiction within the first year. They should have no right to parent. Place the child for adoption so that the tens of thousands of couples wanting to adopt but can't afford the $40,000 it currently costs can have a chance to raise a family that they actually really want.
The welfare systems gives primary/ob/gyn care to all these addicted baby machines. Probably will provide WIC, EBT, daycare and housing after the fact also. It gets really tiring to see all the help available to single mothers and then they can't even stay straight. We also get to pay for the detox of both also. Bunch of nonsense if this article is true. She knew she was pregnant and continues to use --- incredible. It should also be mandatory that a father be identified to get any assistance. The father must pay support or go to jail!! It's a two way street --- I completely agree.
Discipline. Self respect. Gratitude. Patience. Personal Responsibility. Honor.
Common Sense.
Were these to come in a pill, do you think they would be snapped up greedily and consumed with abandon? Do you think the self-contained system of BigPharma-AMAHealth"care givers" and addicted patients would be happy? Doubt it!
This system seems to work for millions, apparently willing to take the consequences for their actions, though I do have a gripe about having to contribute to footing the bill for the result of their follies...I am not holier than anyone, but I do rather wish to be able to live well and not have to support those who would rather chose instant gratification, self-sabotage, laziness, and ignorance. Life is hard, living happily is hard-work and every day is full of decisions that will determine more than your own destiny.
You know what I wish came in pill-form without any side effects? The ability to shorten required sleep time by at least 5 hours. That's about it. Or maybe the ability NOT to eat anything except for once a week.
As far as discipline, self respect, gratitude, patience and all the rest - that's up to each individual's conscience and not for a chemical influence to decide. It's part of what makes us human beings not robots. Unfortunately?
1. Pluto is not a planet- Originally, Pluto was classified as the ninth planet from the Sun. However, Pluto was recategorized as a dwarf planet and plutoid due to the discovery that it is only one of several large bodies within the Kuiper belt.
2. Docs ARE the biggest pill pushing, drug dealers in the US today- presribing drugs that, in most cases, are far more toxic and addictive than other, naturally occuring drugs like marijuana.
FACTS on Marijuana- Speaking on the subject of marijuana use...
"You know what, I don't want no hangover. I can't get no hangover."
reply- "It doesn't give you a hangover!"
"Wha-I get addicted to it or something?"
reply- "It's not habit-forming!"
"Oh, okay...well I don't know...I don't want to overdose on it."
reply- "You can't OD on it!"
"It's not gonna make me wanna have sex, is it?"
reply- "It makes sex even better!"
"Sounds kind of expensive."
reply- "It's the cheapest drug there is."
Remember- It's better to puff, puff, pass than to pop, pop, pills!
It is even better not to pop or puff in the first place. Just because MJ is the lesser of evils does not stop it from being evil.
Evil?? Haha Neal, that's cute, is that an actual quote from "Reefer Madness"? Was it before or after they try to convince you that it makes you kill your mother with a frying pan? I gotta ask you buddy, if you think marijuana is so "evil", what are you doing in Denver???
Marijuana can make parents kill their children via automobile. I'm sure there are examples of others ways children have been killed while their parent(s) were high on marijuana.
Lou... caffeine can make parents kill their children via automobile. As can sleep deprivation, cell phones, distractions, rain, snow, oh... and driving a car.
Awe, Lou - Gimme a break. MMJ is not pharmaceuticals. Duh.
i am from huntington, wv.. and as a recovering addict of almost 2 years. and being a mother.. you people need to understand that it is not just our fault. although, i can say that my daughter was NOT born addicted to anything, and was perfectly healthy. there are sooo many doctors in my surrounding area where you can go in, have an MRI done, without even having any problems, and get these pills. it's wayyy to easy to be done, and personally, i think the doctors should be held responsible on their part, as well as the patient.
all of these narcotics should be taken away, period. but because of greed and money, the government would rather let it be, and complain about the problem and how out of control it is, than fix the problem.
these people shouldn't be judged because "they are addicted to drugs". yes, they do a lot of stupid things, and choose not to help themselves, and they should be held accountable for their actions. but, most of these people, once they become addicted, don't want it. it's a horrible feeling, mentally and physically. being addicted to oxycontin is basically like being addicted to heroin. it's an extremely hard addiction to overcome. and i'm sorry, but a 28 day program, where you are given pills, to get off pills, isn't going to cut it. like i said, i've been there, know allllll too well what goes on. no one person in the world is perfect, nor ever will be perfect. people make mistakes.
i also think people, and kids (schools) need to be far more educated on this problem than what they are today.
I too wonder if doctors giving these pill should be held accountable as well. People are prescribed these meds and never told about the potential for addiction. (I'm not talking about people with legitimate medical issues/cancers etc). I went to the ER for an ankle sprain and was offered Morphine. Hospitals are afraid of being sued for not providing adequate pain control so the pendulum has swung the other way. Everyone seems to be running to these pain clinics. Its a huge epidemic. It will be interesting to see how this works out because there are not enough treatment places and not enough money to fund them. In the meantime more and more people are dying from overdoses.