Pubdate: Thu, 05 Aug 2010
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2010 St. Petersburg Times
Contact: http://www.sptimes.com/letters/
Website: http://www.tampabay.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Kathleen Purdy

STOP ADDICTIVE DRUGS

Oxycodone

When is someone going to figure out that the drug companies have us in
their grasp?

Are individuals in more pain now than they were 30 years ago? Is pain
more difficult to deal with now than it was 30 years ago? The drug
companies are ruling our lives and destroying our lives at the same
time. We don't need their addictive drugs. It's time that taxpayers
speak out against the drug companies and tell them to stop
manufacturing highly addictive drugs.

I am a mother of a just-turned-20-year-old son who has been addicted
to oxycodone off and on for the last several years. I know I'm not
alone. I read about others who have the same problems every day in my
daily newspaper. I read about parents who absolutely forget they even
have kids - babies - because they're so high on the drugs. I read
about people abusing and murdering others because they're so high on
drugs. And the drug of choice, these days, is oxycodone.

Oxycodone is a painkiller and a people killer. Oxycodone is also a
highly addictive drug. People who receive the drug for pain relief
soon become addicted and are not able to wean themselves off of the
medication during a natural course of treatment. Drug manufacturers
are aware of this, as are doctors. They depend on your addiction to
keep the money rolling in.

If taxpayers would just sit back and realize what this drug problem is
costing us in terms of courts, jail time, rehab - oh my God!

The answer is to stop the manufacture of these highly addictive
drugs.

Kathleen Purdy, Clearwater
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