Chronic pain sufferers, switch to marijuana as opioid prescriptions become harder to get

[Elderberry]

American Military News by Max Filby 12/17/2019

Chronic pain sufferers, including veterans, switch to marijuana as opioid prescriptions become harder to get

It’s been easier for veteran Kelvin Nichols to get marijuana from an Ohio dispensary than an opioid prescription to treat his chronic pain.

Nichols, 56, of Columbus, has suffered from chronic back pain ever since he served as an active duty soldier in the Army from 1981 to 1985. While in the service, he lifted and loaded artillery at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.

“It was a quick way to back pain,” Nichols said. “Then every job after the military was always physical for the longest time … so I was always doing physical labor of some type.”

For years, Nichols treated his back pain by taking hydrocodone. Yet as the opioid epidemic drew widespread attention, Nichols said his doctors became hesitant to prescribe him the painkiller.

It got to the point that Nichols said he could only get a prescription for a week’s worth of painkillers per visit to a doctor or specialist. That was down from the three-month supply he was previously able to get.

Going to the doctor on a weekly basis can be difficult for someone like him who doesn’t leave the house much because of chronic pain. He was asked to have MRI scans and was at times required to take a urine test to prove he was taking the pills himself and not selling them, he said.

To get medical marijuana there were no weekly trips to the doctor and no tests. But, marijuana costs Nichols hundreds of dollars a month whereas hydrocodone cost him a few dollars.

“Does it help like pain medication? No,” Nichols said. “Does it make you forget for a little bit that you’ve got pain? Yes.”

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/12/chronic-pain-sufferers-including-veterans-switch-to-marijuana-as-opioid-prescriptions-become-harder-to-get/

[libertybele]

I still think cutting back on opioid prescriptions was absurd.  I would love to know the stats on how many chronic pain patients are now obtaining illegal opioids in order to combat their pan because their 'legal' prescribed opioids have been limited.

I would also like to see the stats if this government cutback has indeed curbed opioid dependency and abuse.  Has this in anyway curbed illegal opioid abuse? 

My hunch is that things have gotten worse and not better. 

I did a quick google search and couldn't find current stats.

[bigheadfred]

I still think cutting back on opioid prescriptions was absurd.  I would love to know the stats on how many chronic pain patients are now obtaining illegal opioids in order to combat their pan because their 'legal' prescribed opioids have been limited.

I would also like to see the stats if this government cutback has indeed curbed opioid dependency and abuse.  Has this in anyway curbed illegal opioid abuse? 

My hunch is that things have gotten worse and not better. 

I did a quick google search and couldn't find current stats.

The problem merely shifted over to pople using street heroin and fentanyl.

Current stats may be available in a local sense, but when it comes to big government (national) stats they are always a coupls of years behind.