Written by: Breezy Love, CannaTV.org,
Hydrocodone is a Deadly
Pharmaceutical Drug.
Just because
a Physician prescribes Hydrocodone does not mean that it is good for you.
I am not a
rocket scientist, or a doctor, I am a person who cares about long term
health. I love my family and want to be
around for a while to enjoy them. That
right there is the reason that when medical marijuana became a choice in
Michigan this was more than just a sigh of relief for many.
My story will sound like so many other people
living in this world. People like us
that suffer from chronic pain conditions that people cannot visually see and yet
we still manage to make it through another day.
Living in
colder weather and having chronic joint and muscle pain makes it truly a
challenge. It is physically draining
trying to function in the world of manual, physical labor when you hurt through
every inch of your body. Let’s face most
of us have to work manual labor jobs.
These jobs require lifting objects heavier than twenty pounds. It also requires a person to run, stand, and
walk on your feet for a minimum of eight to ten hours a day. It is not an easy task and doing it without
assistance can be unbearable.
Scoliosis,
Lupus, bone spurs, muscle strains, tired aching bones are all conditions that
people walk this earth with and suffer great pain with each and every day. Stretching exercises, physical therapy
lasers, muscle relaxers and pain pills.
These conditions are mostly treated with prescription drugs. One of the most popular prescriptions for
chronic pain is called hydrocodone.
Hydrocodone is defined “/hy·dro·co·done/ (-ko´dōn) a semisynthetic opioid analgesic similar to
but more active than codeine; used as the bitartrate salt or polistirex complex
as an analgesic and antitussive” (FreeDictionary.com). Semisynthetic is defined as
“/semi·syn·thet·ic/ (-sin-thet´ik) produced by chemical manipulation of
naturally occurring substances.”(FreeDictionary.com).
Describe the immediate effect of
Hydrocodone on the human body
Hydrocodone
is a drug that affects the muscles and when you take it the muscles and motor
skills are slow. It masks the pain being
felt inside the body. Hydrocodone numbs
all pain. It slows down your heart rate, blood pressure, and puts a strain on
your liver and kidneys. Using
hydrocodone for temporary relief of pain is fine. The problem occurs when people continue to
take this drug. The aches in the body do
not improve with age. It is necessary
for people to practice other healthful actions to reduce the pain we feel not
just use a prescription drug to mask the pain.
Describe the long term effects on the
body
It starts
with one pill, and then you have to take two pills to get the same effect as
you did when you were taking one. The
problem with is that it truly defines what a gateway drug is. According to Webster’s Online Dictionary the
definition of gateway drug is “a drug (as
alcohol or marijuana) whose use is thought to lead to the use of and dependence
on a harder drug (as cocaine or heroin)” (Webstersonline).
The bigger picture “Long-term effects of hydrocodone use can include
physical problems, such as hearing loss and liver damage, but the most damaging
result of being addicted to hydrocodone may be its adverse effect on your
personal life. Drug addiction can wreak havoc on family relationships, cause
difficulties with job performance and lead to mental health problems”
(Drugabuse.com).
How many people die from hydrocodone
in a year?
In the year
2002 the FDA issued dependency and damage warnings to people who used hydrocodone
for daily pain therapy. The problems arising
range from addiction, to liver disease.
According to a New York Magazine the year 2002 brought light to the
problem physicians across the globe were uncovering. In an article published on July 2, 2009 “Emergency-room
reports involving hydrocodone increase 500 percent since 1990. That same year,
the FDA recommends tighter warnings on drugs containing acetaminophen over
liver-damage fears” (NewYorkNewsandPolitics).
The most
alarming statistic of all is the massive number of people who are overdosing
from hydrocodone that do not even have a prescription for this drug. If pharmacies admit that they cannot control
what happens to hydrocodone once it leaves the pharmacy how does the government
think that pharmacies are going to do better at distributing medical
marijuana? Los Angeles Times reports
that “Prescription drug overdoses now claim more lives than heroin and cocaine
combined, fueling a doubling of drug-related deaths in the United States over
the last decade”(LATimes). The last time
I checked marijuana has claimed zero lives.
Not only has
marijuana claimed zero lives but it is a schedule I drug that is considered to
have no medical value and is considered to be deadly. The supporters of cannabis want to know who
considers marijuana to be deadly other than a very corrupt and broken
government.
The Problem:
Marijuana is considered a schedule I drug which means:” Schedule I drugs,
substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted
medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most
dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological
or physical dependence” (DEA.GOV).
Deaths: ZERO: (Drugwarfactsmarijuana.com)
Hydrocodone is considered a schedule III drug which means: “Schedule
III drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with a moderate to low
potential for physical and psychological dependence. Schedule III drugs abuse
potential is less than Schedule I and Schedule II drugs but more than Schedule
IV” (DEA.GOV).
Deaths:”
From 1999 to 2007, the number of U.S. poisoning deaths involving any
opioid analgesic (e.g., oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone) more than
tripled, from 4,041 to 14,459, or 36% of the 40,059 total poisoning deaths in
2007. In 1999, opioid analgesics were involved in 20% of the 19,741 poisoning
deaths. During 1999–2007, the number of poisoning deaths involving specified
drugs other than opioid analgesics increased from 9,262 to 12,790, and the
number involving no specified drugs increased from 3,608 to 8,947"(Drugwarfacts.com) –
What is a natural alternative that
can be used as a replacement for pain?
Cannabis,
marijuana, hemp, for pain and nothing else will ever make sense again. Our bodies are made with cannabinoid
receptors that are made to process cannabinoids. Cannabinoids should be a natural part of a
healthy diet. The government is trying
to control a cottage industry created by hard working American’s. They are using the pharmaceutical giant’s to
deliver our dose of cannabis. The
problem is that the pharmaceutical companies are not doing what they can to
prevent misuse of drugs. They simply do
not care past the sale of the drug to the patient. Now the pharmaceutical giants are setting
themselves for the takeover of marijuana distribution. They cannot take care of
the deadly prescriptions what do we think they are going to do with our
harmless plant?
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