Pubdate: Sat, 19 Mar 2016
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2016 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Joy Walker

CHRONIC-PAIN SUFFERERS IGNORED

I have suffered from chronic pain for 24 years.

I use opiates to help control the pain so I can have some quality of 
life, so that I can be married, care for my father and friends, 
volunteer and do my work. The fact that people abuse opioids has made 
it more difficult for people who need them, like me, to get them. It 
makes me angry that there is so much attention on the addicts and so 
little on others who need these meds but are shamed and denied.

You never see a chronic-pain sufferer on TV. I don't want to be on 
these meds and would be happy to use something else if there were 
something available. I don't think safe-injection sites are a good 
idea. I do think addiction should be treated like a disease, not 
something to be ashamed about.

But we need to make addicts more accountable for their care, just 
like chronic-pain sufferers are. There are medications, like 
Buprenorphine, that can help addicts get off heroin, but there aren't 
enough doctors able to prescribe them. We need more pain doctors, 
more use of the meds that would help and more money for programs that 
actually do something instead of just enabling addicts.

Joy Walker, Seattle
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom