Pubdate: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 Source: Burlington County Times (NJ) Copyright: 2013 Calkins Newspapers. Inc. Contact: https://phillyburbs-dot-com.bloxcms-ny1.com/contact/ Website: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2128 Author: Ed Stabler LET'S TAKE SECOND LOOK AT U.S. DRUG POLICY I was reading about Dr. Randy Zeid, a Virtua family physician, being investigated by the State Commission of Investigation and the fact that he has been suspended. It occurred to me that for the commission to investigate a physician, then the commission should be composed of doctors. It was established to investigate organized crime, not doctors. Any physician who works in a pain management clinic is going to write a lot of prescriptions for painkillers. It is just logical. Painkillers are one of the most prescribed medications due to the large number of baby boomers reaching their 60s and 70s. The morphine prescribed in America in 2012 is mind-boggling. That does not mean we have an inordinate number of drug addicts. A person taking narcotic painkillers as prescribed by his physician is not a drug addict, even if he takes it for the rest of his life. I will be taking blood-pressure medications for the rest of my life, and it is dangerous to stop taking them. Does that mean I am addicted? If it does, so what? It does not interfere with my life or job. There are millions of people who take narcotics, and they do not interfere with their lives. Without years of training in narcotics and their side effects, tolerance development and in the fact that everyone responds differently, no lawmaker is qualified to make decisions on narcotic prescriptions. This nation spends billions funding whatever it is the federal Drug Enforcement Agency does with no results. According to the DEA, heroin is better today than it has ever been. Marijuana use is the same as it was years ago. Maybe it's time to take a different approach to America's drug issue. Many countries treat the drug problem as a public health issue, and several have decriminalized all drugs, with the result of less drug use and less incidence of HIV. They have saved a lot of money, something our leaders are trying to do. A physician prescribing narcotics to support a drug habit is much better for the drug addict and for the community. Dosage is known, and the prescribed drugs are not made in Afghanistan. The physician can monitor the patient properly and, if possible, slowly wean the patient off narcotics. The addict would not need to resort to dishonesty to pay for drugs. That would be far cheaper than sending the addict to prison, and far better for the person himself and far better for the community. I don't remember who said it: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Are we totally insane? Ed Stabler Medford - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom