A devastating “Opieoid” epidemic is sweeping the country, killing upwards of 150 a day, hitting America across the board, including in middle, small-town America, which many, in their continued denial, have ignorantly and blindly believed were somehow immune from it all.

I did a cartoon on the topic that has stirred up a few folks, pro and con:

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/dfd05203cf6e193cb081b0edc512b97ec5e2baad/c=0-61-3591-2761&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/2017/07/28/Phoenix/Phoenix/636368324794324079-Benson-COLOR-AA-Opieoids-07-16.jpg]


Below's a sampling of reader response:.

-A Confused But Curious Reader wrote as follows:

“I didn't get your cartoon today. Can you explain it? Does it reference even the most straight laced parents are doing drugs with their kids and how serious the opioid epidemic is. “


-My reply:

“Yup. small-town, middle-class, rural Mayberry America--the land of Opie and Sheriff Andy, is being devastated by an opioid epidemic.”


-The Reader replied back:

“Thanks Bro. I get it. I grew up in a small town of 3500 people in Illinois so I know.”


-My reply:

“I spent time as a teenager in Indiana. My condolences.”


-The Reader's response:

"Lmao:)"
_____


-A Complainer:

“That was really really disgusting and not funny!!”


-My reply:

“Of course it’s not funny. Welcome to reality.

“Thanks for writing.”
_____


-Another Reader Who Got the Point:

“Steve-
 
“Thank you for your cartoon on opioids.  It seems we are in a constant race to become a pain free society.  And the drug companies are willing to oblige, no matter what the cost.  What did we do for pain before opioids?  We dealt with it and we survived.  It used to be “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning”, now it’s ‘Take two Fentanyl and call me in the morning – if you’re still alive.’ I submit the only significant answer is to make the drugs illegal.  Let the patients scream.  At least they could not shop doctors or pharmacies.  The only other I could think of is to limit the monthly amounts doctors could prescribe and the pharmacies could fill. 

“To police it, every prescription written would  have to contain the patient’s name and last four digits of his Social.  When it is filled, the pharmacy enters the info into a national data base that also confirms the Social.  To get the pharmacies to consistently do this it would have to be written into the Standards of Practice.  Maximum prescription amounts per 30 days would have to be set, probably by the AMA. 

“’Till next time.”


-My reply:

“Thanks.  The cartoon has stirred some to respond, both pro and con.  Hopefully more Americans  will be stirred to recognize and then take action against this rising scourge.” 
_____


 -Another Complainer:

“Dear [expletive deleted]”,

“I have put up with your ignorant, liberal biased and insane stupidity for many years. Your cartoon on today . . . has hit an all time low. 

“By using one of the few tv shows that showed viewers how to be responsible and respectful of one another, you turned it into a sick scenario that proves how sick you really are.

“To use the Mayberry show as an example of drug overuse is unforgivable.

“We have been insulted and disgusted by you for way too long. You need to find a new job, a real job that contributes to the good in our society.”


-My reply:

“Thanks for writing. Your profane emailing has now been blocked.”
_____


-Another Complainer (original spelling retained):

“Saw the drawing in [your newspaper] today, regarding andy and ope.  How dare you, dishonor a Icon, to get your point across. You are the South end of a North bound Mule. DISCUSTING.”


-My reply:

“Mayberry America’s fictional world of  drug-free bliss has been shattered by insidious reality. It’s time to wake up and smell (but please not take) the opioids. Thanks for writing.”
_____


--Another Complainer:

“Dear Mr. Benson,
 
"As a child of the 60’s who watched and still watches the Andy Griffith Show I really found your cartoon this morning depicting Opie and Andy as drug users in poor taste!

“The strongest thing Andy every drank might have been the coffee Barney made but that was about it and Opie really? . . .

“Please leave my childhood alone it was simple and innocent time and I’d like to remember it that way.”


-My reply:

“I also grew up watching the same show.     I will not leave reality alone. The opioid epidemic rocking and wracking our national reality is also destroying America.   Thanks for writing.”
_____


-Another Complainer:

"I don't understand why you would have a picture of Andy and Opie Taylor for the drug epidemic. That was one of the most family oriented shows ever!! Why ?"


-My reply:

“Cartoons use iconic images as metaphors to make their points. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be cartoons, so may I recommend that you not take them literally, given that cartoons employ hyperbole to drive home their core message.

“The ‘Opieoid’ epidemic presently ravaging this country is destroying families.

“Thanks for writing.”


-The Complainer's reply:

"Thanks for responding, I just had to say something about it, most innocent time. I understand that the epidemic is hitting everywhere. Thanks for all your great work."


-My reply:

"Yerwelcome."
____


-And Another Complainer:

“That's just sick.”


-My reply:

“Thanks for your interested input.”


-The Complainer's response:

"Thanks for the stupid auto-response."


-My reply:
 
"It was not an auto response. But your initial email sure sounded like one."
_____



Now, for a dose of opioid reality,

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

"Drug overdose deaths and opioid-involved deaths continue to increase in the United States. The majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid.1  Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) quadrupled.2 From 2000 to 2015 more than half a million people died from drug overdoses. 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

"We now know that overdoses from prescription opioids are a driving factor in the 15-year increase in opioid overdose deaths. Since 1999, the amount of prescription opioids sold in the U.S. nearly quadrupled,2 yet there has not been an overall change in the amount of pain that Americans report.Deaths from prescription opioids—drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and methadone—have more than quadrupled since 1999."

(“Drug Overdose Deaths in the United States Continue to Increase in 2015,” subheadlined, “Understanding the Epidemic,”
https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html)


At least in some quarters, awareness of this national epidemic has been increasing since the 1990s. as reported in this pharmaceudical journal articl, “Increasing Deaths from Opioid Analgesics in the United States":

“Since 1990, numerous jurisdictions in the United States (US) have reported increases in drug poisoning mortality. During the same time period, the use of opioid analgesics has increased markedly as part of more aggressive pain management. This study documented a dramatic increase in poisoning mortality rates and compared it to sales of opioid analgesics nationwide. . . .

“Unintentional drug poisoning mortality rates increased on average 5.3% per year from 1979 to 1990 and 18.1% per year from 1990 to 2002. The rapid increase during the 1990s reflects the rising number of deaths attributed to narcotics and unspecified drugs. Between 1999 and 2002, the number of opioid analgesic poisonings on death certificates increased 91.2%, while heroin and cocaine poisonings increased 12.4% and 22.8%, respectively. By 2002, opioid analgesic poisoning was listed in 5528 deaths—more than either heroin or cocaine. The increase in deaths generally matched the increase in sales for each type of opioid. The increase in deaths involving methadone tracked the increase in methadone used as an analgesic rather than methadone used in narcotics treatment programs. . . .

“[The] national epidemic of drug poisoning deaths [that] began in the 1990s . . . [and the] [p]rescriptions for opioid analgesics [that] also increased in this time frame . . . may have inadvertently contributed to the increases in drug poisoning deaths. "

(“Increasing Deaths from Opioid Analgesics in the United States,” by Leonard J. Paulozzi MD, MPH; Daniel S. Budnitz MD; MPH; and Yongli Xi MS, abstract from original report, published in “Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety," 24 July 2006, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pds.1276/full#fn1)


This “Opieoid” plague has also struck deep in the heart of Utah, where there continue to be unfortunate indicators of denial and inaction by (ya wanna venture a guess?) the Mormon Church.

From an article in the UK "Guardian," headlined, “'It’s Beyond Pain'--How Mormons are Left Vulnerable in Utah’s Opiode Crisis”:

“Maline Hairup was a devout Mormon. No alcohol, no coffee. She didn’t smoke. Until the day she died, she had never used illegal drugs. Yet she was an addict for most of her adult life.

“’Maline never thought she had a problem,’ said her sister, Mindy Vincent, a recovering addict. 'She was a firm believer that because the doctor prescribed the pills it was OK. She didn’t see any shame in it. She didn’t think she was an addict. It wasn’t like taking drugs. But she was on the painkillers for 15 years until they wouldn’t give her any more. She eventually ended up getting some heroin because she couldn’t get any more pills. My sister used heroin one time and she died.’

“In 2014, the year Hairup died at age 38, one-third of adults in Utah had a prescription for opioid painkillers, most notably a powerful opiate at the heart of the crisis, OxyContin.”

[*Speaking of Oxycontin, here's a cartoon of mine on Rush Limbaugh and his OxyContin addiction: http://www.cagle.com/working/031218/benson.gif?x44858]


“Many of them were among the 65% of state residents who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons. Sometimes, opioids take hold of several members of the same family. Hairup’s father is dependent on prescription painkillers and her brother’s addiction to prescription opioids set him on the path to heroin.

“One person dies each day in the state from a prescription drug overdose, a 400% increase since 2000, according to the Utah health department. The toll rises by half again when deaths from heroin are included. The US attorney in Salt Lake City, John Huber, last month warned of 'an insatiable appetite in Utah for pain pills and for heroin.'

“Many of the recorded deaths are of people who became hooked on prescriptions for sports or work injuries, or to cope with chronic conditions such as back pain. But there has also been widespread use among Mormons who some LDS Church members say fall back on opioid painkillers as a crutch to cope with pressure to live a devout life.

“’We have a catastrophe now in Utah with opiate overdoses,’ said Dan Snarr, a member of the high priest group leadership within the LDS Church whose son, Denver, died of a prescription drug overdose at the age of 25 after becoming hooked on painkillers following a rugby injury.

“’The LDS Church is a big part of it. I go to church every week and I see where the challenge is. They make people feel that they should be perfect and they feel inferior, like they can’t live up to the standards of what they expect them to live up to. So they start using prescription painkillers not to address pain, physical pain, but the mental issues that go along with feeling inferior. That you just cannot cope with all the things you’re expected to be and to do.’

“Snarr, who is also a former mayor of the small town of Murray in Salt Lake County, said he realized the scale of the problem when other Mormons came to him after Denver’s death to speak about their own families and addiction. ‘A lot of people recognize that it’s beyond anything to do with pain. It alleviates the stress and pain of this life and the challenges that you face,’ he said.

“Snarr has spoken openly in his church about the crisis, to the frustration of some LDS leaders who, he said, prefer to keep hidden what they regard as moral failings.

“Vincent, who works as a counselor at a treatment center, First Step House, said her sister was initially prescribed opioids for pancreatitis and migraines. The drug swiftly became a mental and emotional dependency that Hairup regarded as legitimate because it was prescribed by doctors and did not conflict with her religion.

“’I think my sister found the medication helped with the physical pain but it also eased emotional pain,' said Vincent. 'In Utah we have a phenomenon known as toxic perfectionism. There’s a belief amongst members of the LDS Church that you need to be perfect. It’s keeping up with the Joneses times 10.’

“Vincent said that the more her sister became dependent, the more the doctors increased the doses. ‘Doctors prescribed Maline lots of pain medications in conjunction with Valium and antidepressants. She really believed that he was taking it for a good medical reason,’ she said.

“In recent years both Vincent’s ageing father, who she describes as ‘a super active member of the LDS Church,’ and her brother, Stan Hairup, were prescribed opioid painkillers too – her father to deal with multiple surgeries and Stan to cope with a basketball injury.

“’Before you knew it, my brother, my dad and my sister were all sharing pills. They look at that like that’s normal and OK because it was prescribed but the prescriptions weren’t for each other,’ she said.

“Carol Moss, a Mormon and Democratic state legislator, also said religion is a factor in the spread of opioid addiction. ‘What’s unique about Utah is that the LDS Church forbids alcohol and tobacco. People around the world have a drink to relax or drink socially,’ she said. ‘When those things are not part of the cultural acceptance for people, they look for an acceptable palliative for aches and pains and depression and that’s become pills.’


“‘You’d Better Not Neglect Pain’

“In struggling to fathom how this epidemic swept into Utah’s middle-class homes, a far cry from the popular image of drug users as down-and-outs, families grappling with the crisis first blame pharmaceutical companies and then doctors. When OxyContin came on to the market in the mid-1990s, its manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, aggressively marketed it as a powerful painkiller with little risk of addiction. Within five years, the company sold more than $1bn worth of the pills. But some patients quickly became hooked, and the pills could be ground down to create an even stronger high. Purdue was penalised $634m by a federal court in 2007 for misrepresenting the drug’s addictiveness.

“The company reached a $24m settlement with Kentucky in December after the state sued Purdue, claiming to have “lost an entire generation” to OxyContin. Dr Jennifer Plumb, an emergency room doctor in Salt Lake City and pediatrician who specialises in opioid addiction, said the arrival of OxyContin coincided with a federal government requirement for doctors to focus on pain as an important test of health.

“’If we didn’t respond to it appropriately, funding got cut,” said Plumb, who lost a brother to an overdose and leads a campaign for changes to the distribution of opioid painkillers. ‘From the top down, physicians got told: “You’d better not neglect pain.’”At that very same time, OxyContin turned up. Pain companies said: “We’ve got this miracle substance and they’re not going to get addicted.” It just went absolutely nuts.’ Plumb said patients rarely understood the dangers.

“Plumb wants to see doctors cut back on opioid prescriptions but recognizes that people who are already addicted may then look to illegal drugs.

“Sandra Kresser thinks she put too much trust in doctors before she lost her 25-year-old son, Josh, to opioids. A doctor prescribed methadone and OxyContin after Josh injured his back at work. ‘That drug just grabbed hold of him. For the next two and a half years he overdosed five different times,’ she said. Two of those overdoses were on OxyContin.

“In time, Josh also fed his addiction with heroin and cocaine, and overdosed on them too. In the end, though, it was a prescription cocktail of painkillers, an anti-anxiety drug and a muscle relaxant that killed him. ‘He took them exactly as prescribed,’ said Kresser. ‘Those layers on top of each other just took him down.’ Kresser took legal action against two of the doctors who treated her son. One lost his license to practice medicine because he was also held responsible for five other deaths. The second doctor, who wrote Josh’s final prescription, was cleared by medical authorities.
Snarr said that his son obtained numerous prescriptions from several doctors at once.

“’Denver was doctor shopping. He was going to three at one time,’ he said. ‘We worked with him. He said: “Dad, I think I’ve figured out a way to lick it.” What he was doing was buying methadone on the street.’ Snarr choked up as he described the day his son died hours after telling his father how he was finally shaking his habit.

“’We think it was a combination of the methadone and sleeping pills that killed him. I found him,’ said Snarr before falling silent.

“Vincent, who said her sister was also doctor shopping, hears similar stories from the addicts she counsels. ‘If you talk to somebody who’s addicted to pain medication or heroin, they’ll tell you they can always find a doctor to get whatever they want,’ she said. ‘Some doctors just don’t care. Then there’s some who, when they have patients hounding them – saying who is the doctor to say they’re not experiencing pain? – I think sometimes doctors feel trapped. They don’t really have an alternative.’

“Maline Hairup’s doctor reduced her prescriptions and moved her on to Suboxone, which is used to treat addiction. Hospital emergency rooms clocked her as a drug user and she was increasingly turned away. By then, her brother, Stan, was using heroin and shared his supply. Maline’s first fix killed her. “After my sister died I totally blamed myself and I started doing more heroin I was so torn up inside,” he said. But it didn’t take long for Stan to see that Maline’s death foretold his own.

“’My sister died and then two more people very close to me died. I was just like, I can’t do this any more. I was so addicted that’s all I ever thought about. It was just like, I’m going to end up dead. So I checked myself into a methadone clinic,’ he said.

“Stan still attends the clinic and has managed to stay clean. Vincent was able to shake her own addiction to methamphetamine because she was committing a crime. Two arrests cost her custody of her son and left her homeless for a time. She says addiction is a public health issue and should be dealt with as such. But her arrests also offered a path out. 'Treating drug addiction as a criminal justice issue is how I was able to get into drug court and how I was able to go to treatment,' she said.


“Growing up Non-Mormon

“The dominance of the LDS Church in Utah has an impact even on those families that are not Mormon. Erin Finkbiner, who is not a member of the LDS Church, was 25 when she first started experimenting with drugs. Because she has an autoimmune disease she was also able to obtain prescriptions for OxyContin by falsely telling doctors she was in pain.

“Her family intervened and sent her to detox, where she met the man who introduced her to heroin and methamphetamine. ‘I started using pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I was in and out of jail,’ she said. Her mother, Jan Lovett, blames that in part on the difficulties of growing up as a non-Mormon in Utah.

“’When she was little, Erin had people tell her: “My parents won’t let me play with you because you’re not LDS,”’ she said. “Erin and my son too, both of them have lost friends to overdoses.”

"Finkbiner said that after she was sent to jail, and her arrest picture appeared online, she found herself shunned by friends.

“’The stigma’s less for pain pills because it’s not heroin. People don’t look on pain pills like you’re a junkie. In my opinion it’s worse. I had a harder time with the pain pills than heroin. It was horrible,’ she said.

“Snarr sees attitudes within the Church as not only contributing to the addiction crisis but as an obstacle to confronting it. ‘Sometimes it’s difficult for the LDS Church to admit there’s a problem because they have this personification of worth,’ he said. ‘If we’re the true church, we’re perfect. But they need to recognize there’s something they need to do.’

“Although Moss, the Democratic member of the Utah legislature, said LDS Church leadership has long been out of touch she has seen ordinary members become more open about the crisis in the past few years.

“’In church, I’ve heard people talk about a son or daughter struggling with drug abuse. Those things used to be totally secret,’ she said. ‘I do think there’s a shift. People are less judgmental of the families involved. It’s like the whole acceptance of gay individuals and marriage in that everybody knows somebody. I can’t tell you how many obituaries you read – and this is really tragic – that say he struggled with his addiction.’

“Moss’s own family is among those touched. Her stepson died four years ago at the age of 47 after years of drug and alcohol abuse.

"Attitudes are changing within Utah’s Republican-dominated legislature, too. It endorsed a resolution sponsored by Moss declaring an opioid epidemic in the state. Legislators have passed a handful of laws to confront a crisis they previously regarded principally as a criminal issue. ‘One of my Republican colleagues passed a needle-exchange law,’ said Moss. ‘This would never have happened five years ago. People standing up on the floor of the house to speak in favor of the bill were some of the most conservative legislators. They all had a story like a neighbour or someone they knew of.’ Moss sponsored a bill which passed in 2014 to allow ordinary people to buy and carry a drug which can save the life of someone who overdoses. She wanted to get Naloxone into the hands of the relatives of those at risk and police officers who are often the first on the scene in an emergency.

“Naloxone saved Finkbiner’s life, and that of the child she didn’t even know she was carrying. She was just out of jail when she overdosed on heroin. An ambulance crew administered the life-saving drug. ‘A couple of days later I got arrested again and I went to jail for more possession charges. Back in jail I found out I was pregnant,’ said Finkbiner, pausing as she wipes away tears. ‘That was what changed my mind about wanting to use drugs. I have a reason to be here. Naloxone didn’t change my mind. It gave me the chance to find out I was pregnant. It gave me the chance to go to treatment. To love my son. To get my life back.’

“So far, only one Utah police department--Cottonwood Heights, a small town in Salt Lake County--has equipped officers with Naloxone. The drug was distributed last month and five days later Casey Davies became the first police officer in the state to use it. He saved the life of a 30-year-old father of two young children who overdosed on heroin. ‘He was dying. When I got there he wasn’t breathing at all. He was blue and he had a very faint pulse,’ said Davies. After two doses of Naloxone, the man was on his feet.

“’He was sat up and walked over to the gurney when six minutes earlier he was pretty much dead,’ said Davies. Plumb carries Naloxone as a matter of routine and administered it to a homeless woman she spotted who had overdosed on a Salt Lake City street. But the doctor warned that while the drug saves lives, it will not end the crisis.

“’We can put Naloxone in every family’s hands, in every heroin user’s hands, but if we continue to prescribe opioids to people at the rate we’re going this will continue to grow,' said Plumb. 'I don’t know how we’re going to undo this need for a pill for every ill from America’s thinking. We have to try though.’”

(“It’s Beyond Pain’: How Mormons are Left Vulnerable in Utah’s Opiode Crisis,” by Chris McGreal in Salt Lake City, “The Guardian [UK],” first published 26 May 2016, last modified 14 July 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/26/utah-mormons-prescription-painkiller-addiction)



Edited 13 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 10:23AM by steve benson.

Andy Griffith lost his only son from alcoholism related causes.

Kind of hitting close to home there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2017 08:17PM by Amyjo.

So, I guess you didn't enjoy your time in Ft Wayne..

How do these folks not get the kid's name was OPIE for chrissake!

The cartoon was clever on a few levels- all of which some of your little anti-fan base missed apparently.

Nice.

I know, I thought that was cute. Opie-oids.

"A pun is only two-thirds of a joke: P-U."

Toon suggestion: Replace temple Moroni with a white horse.

Opioids ARE a huge problem, because they can easily kill you. What are people doing self-administering things that can kill them while they might not be in a frame of mind to get the dosage right? Only compassionate legislation can solve the problem, so Utah might just be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

Opioid deaths in neighboring Colorado immediately dropped 25% starting in 2014. What did they do that Utah didn't?

The complainers sound like the woman who though "Happy Valley" was an inaccurate depiction of Provo County- by all means, bury your head in the sand and miss the point entirely.

I have to say, though, the person who suggested a database for opiod Rx users sounds a off base with that suggestion.

Funny how many seem to think "Mayberry" was real...

For what? Defamation of fictional character?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 12:01AM by steve benson.

I may have known one of the people one of those articles referenced, when I was in Utah in treatment. Of course, there are countless thousands who have died in Utah as a result of the opioid epidemic....

A recent visit to Utah and seeing the downtown Rio Grande homeless area was enough to convince me that the opioid epidemic and general drug epidemic that exists in Utah has not improved, and has gotten worse since I live there. I even saw a couple of homeless people who I knew in treatment.

It's a vicious cycle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2017 10:15PM by midwestanon.

I'm always taken aback by the sheer beauty of your drawings first, and then I notice the message is right on!

What a stunning dose of reality by using these fictional characters in your message!

Couldn't be better!

It takes guts to stand up to someone who calls you the south end of a northbound mule.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 10:10AM by steve benson.

I love the cartoon. Someone I know has trouble with opiates. It's really sad what it's doing to that person's family. I applaud you for bringing the problem home, because that's where the threat is, Steve. I know.

One of my cousins grew up in Murray. She's dead now from an overdose. She fought addiction nearly her whole life and lost. She made it into her 40s.

Her brother is in jail. Drugs were involved with that, too.

I've heard that things are pretty bad in Utah.

. . . an old grade school in Murray. Didn't find any opioids in the rubble, but Murray was a tough little town.

I was shocked when I realized the extent of opioid abuse in my area. There are overdoses every single day, sometime multiple times a day, not infrequently resulting in death.

I'm not a huge fan of opioids, even after surgery. I recently had outpatient surgery. My doctor advocated for prescription strength Motrin, which was fine by me. It worked about as well as anything could be expected to. I wonder if doctors are feeling pressure to cut back on opioid prescriptions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 12:12AM by summer.

Many years ago, I slipped on black ice, landing squarely on the base of my spine. It ached for a few days, and then I forgot all about it. Then, several months ago, I began noticing increasingly nasty pain that would either radiate across my low back, or light up anyplace down my right leg.

I use an opiate painkiller, but only as a last resort. We bought a hot tub, which often helps. Heat is my first choice, either in the hot tub, or lying on my heated mattress pad. The hot tub is on our covered patio, and soaking in the warmth while snow is falling outside is definitely fun!

Muscle relaxant medication helps sometimes. Medical marijuana is legal here, and while I don't choose to smoke it (I think it tastes vile), I used a topical cream that helped. Then I tried OTC Tiger Balm, and discovered that it worked just as well as the weed cream, and is a lot cheaper. I let my medical marijuana card expire.

If neither the heat nor Tiger Balm works, I use the opiate painkiller. However, to be sure not to OD, I keep a log of every dose. It's a good day if I don't need any. There have been stretches of two and three days when I didn't need any.

I can't walk too far any more, because my back and leg will light up like the proverbial Christmas tree if I do. If I only need one or two things from the grocery store or the pharmacy, I can handle that. But walking up one aisle and down the next is out of the question. I have to resort to using one of those motorized carts.

The other day, I was trying to do a neat job of parking one as I wrapped up a shopping trip. I have a permit for handicapped parking, which is a blessing, so my car was parked near the entrance to the store. One of the store employees, a very nice young man, told me, "Go ahead, take the cart out to your car, and let me drive it back. That's the most fun thing I can do on the job!"

That totally made my day. I could probably have made it out to the car without provoking pain, but again, maybe not. I never know until I've overdone it. Trying to calculate just what I can accomplish without causing pain is a major part of every day, now.

I have tried physical therapy and acupuncture. The PT made the pain worse, and the acupuncture didn't do anything.

I don't think I'm addicted. It's not like I get a "rush" from the medicine. It makes me feel kind of addled, and I don't dare drive. I'm just grateful that reliable pain relief is available.

catnip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> I use an opiate painkiller, but only as a last
> resort.
>
> I don't think I'm addicted. It's not like I get a
> "rush" from the medicine. It makes me feel kind of
> addled, and I don't dare drive. I'm just grateful
> that reliable pain relief is available.

I'm with you, Catnip. I recognize the seriousness of its epidemic overuse, but there are also people who really need the stuff and who use it responsibly. It bothers me that it's being made practically unavailable for those who really need it and use it responsibly because others haven't been able to use it appropriately. Should people with legitimate pain have to suffer because others overuse prescription meds?

Their anger is the result of their denial mechanisms being "stripped of their survival value."

Let them eat truth...

Right now I'm getting ready to tell a very old--and very Mormon--friend she needs to get some support for herself and her husband because of her daughter's heroin addiction.

I dropped that daughter off in the "homeless shelter" area of Salt Lake the other night... The experience left me numb, so thanks for this thread Steve; I need to vent, too...

I know the "song" an addict sings when someone they know discovers their secret... Yes, it has elements of Neil Young's classic ("a little part of it in everyone), but what I find is the real horror is having to deal with the pain of watching someone one cares about self-destruct...

I have a "small gift" that sometimes helps, my own story of my own recovery, and I try to share it honestly. I can, unfortunately, only carry the message and not the mess...

I, too, have become horrified at how the epidemic has hit Salt Lake--and doubtless the rest of the country, including Mayberry--just in the last decade.

For those who couldn't make the link work. I acccessed it via "Go Comics" and back tracked a few days...

And I loved the McCain cartoon, Steve...

#Nit-Twitter 'n Chief



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/2017 08:47PM by SL Cabbie.

He won't go down without a fight.

This was a problem covered on TV FOX news a day or two ago, which discussed how to prevent it's being brought from Mexico, into America. (One reason why President Trump says why he wants 'the wall' built.)

Seems like the bad guys always have a hand in dealing with dangerous drugs that can ruin a person--or even kill him/her, and who often have to pay plenty to get it. (And how to get the money to buy it? For many, it is by becoming thieves.)

Sadly, money can be used to buy more than just good stuff.

The more I think about this cartoon the better it gets, and it was already great the first time.

I lost my oldest 3 years ago to opioid overdose. This is way close to close home. He had everything going for him. College grad with honors. Great prospects. And then suddenly gone. No family is immune. This needs way more attention than it is getting it at least better than three years ago.

I remember about 12 or so years ago people started pill-popping and mixing it with alcohol recreationally. Well a good friend of mine got into that and he ultimately didn't survive his addiction. Chris was only 34 when he died. More attention does need to be brought to this. The person (an acquaintance) who got my friend into it was seated next to me at Chris's wedding. One minute he was fine...the next thing I know he is so stoned he couldn't speak and passed out while trying to bring a fork up to his mouth. It was disturbing. This guy has been in and out of rehab and he thinks it's all a big joke. I don't associate with him anymore, but I hope he has learned from our mutual friend who didn't make it.

DH and I watched the Breaking Bad series last year. It was a well-done show, but some things in it were so hard to watch. What comes to mind is the scene where the Jane character ODs on heroin...that was really disturbing...I cried because I am a mother of young children and that would be my worst nightmare.

The nay-sayers to the cartoon can't see past their knee-jerk reactions to a disturbing image. They can't seem to put that aside and look at the message. It's an important message that nobody (class, race, gender, age, religion, etc.) is immune to this awful epidemic that is ravaging our country.

So sorry to hear that, Mannaz. (((hugs)))



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2017 12:59PM by bluebutterfly.

The role of Big Pharma's culpability is well known but the elephant in the room is the Afghanistan opium industry.

Personally, I think having Goober or Gomer offering Opie a hit behind the garage would have gotten the message over better.

In other words, they're doing drugs together. Besides, the adult figure of Sheriff Andy in the cartoon suggests he's supervising the activity and, in the process, directly contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Sometimes using a scalpel for a brush is better than going for the hammer.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2017 03:56PM by steve benson.

This is a great thread and wish more people were talking. USA consumes over 80% of the worlds supply. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/27/americans-consume-almost-all-of-the-global-opioid-supply.html

@shummy,
And we can't destroy the crop or tell them to plant cotton.

It is not a rationalization.

I live, daily, with disabling pain. I can't take NSAIDS because they are devastating to my kidneys. (Pre-existing hereditary condition. I don't want to wind up on dialysis.)

Less powerful painkillers don't generally help. Tiger Balm, as I mentioned, helps sometimes. And so does the hot tub.

But when they don't work, I bring in the big guns. Before doing so, I consult my log to see when I last took them, and in what quantity. The pill bottle says I can take them every 8 hours, but I prefer to wait for 10 to 12 hours, at the very least.

I used to be able to hike for miles and miles. Now, I can't even walk all the way through a grocery store. That is my reality.

I am grateful for the relief that the opiates bring. I am VERY careful to log every dose, to be sure that I don't take too much, too often. I'm not interested in becoming a statistic. But I am very much interested in remaining a functional member of society, and pain relief empowers me to do this.

RESPONSIBLE USE is the key, I think, to preventing disaster. So far, it has worked for me. I checked with the police to see if it was safe to drive (even though I don't feel "buzzed" after taking a pill.) They said I could definitely be charged with DWI. So if I need to drive, I do it before ingesting medicine, or else DH drives.

Yes, I admit, I use opiates. And I am grateful to have them when I need pain relief. But I am as responsible as I know how to be. Maintaining the log is, I think, the best part. It prevents muddling of memory.

I respect you immensely (have done, for years). I wanted to emphasize that when you have tried every option you can think of, and you still have pain that leaves you unable to walk, or even sleep, it's a marvelous thing, to know that relief is available.

There have been many nights when I went to bed, aching a bit, but not taking anything, only to find that a good night's rest has loosened things up, and I don't hurt any more. But it is reassuring to know that relief is THERE, just in case.

Unfortunately, one of the things that triggers pain for me is to spend too much time on the internet, so after fewer than 10 minutes, I'm signing off.

I also have serious chronic pain. Without the opioids, I'd likely be facing suicide. It's not easy living with this kind of pain, but my doctor who prescribes is both compassionate and responsible. I am responsible too, and have not become addicted.

We just want to be functional, not history.

Imagine how up in arms and demanding that government "do
something!" Americans would be if 100 American citizens were
being killed every day by radical Islamic terrorists.

-Reader's question:

"Don't understand cartoon, is law enforcement person cookn. meth? Opieoids. Appears small kid doing drugs with help of law enforcement!"


-My reply:

"They’re both cookin’ up opioids or heroin or a mixture of prescription and non-prescription drugs, all of which are used by opioid addicts in some form or fashion, leading to them killing themselves at a rate of over 100 a day in a scourge that is sweeping the country and only getting worse.

"The cartoon was a take-off of the Andy Griffith show, which was a popular TV series in the 1960s about small town, rural America, where everything was dreamy and pleasant and perfect. The name of the fictional kid in that series was Opie (hence, “Opieoides”), and the fictional sheriff was played by Griffiths.

"The cartoon shows them both doing opioids because more and more middle-class folks are now getting sucked into this hideous addiction, which is destroying what used to be Main Street American hamlets and small towns.

"Thanks for writing."
*****

-Sidenote: Some people take cartoons quite literally, which leads them to make false assumptions and to accuse the doodler of all kinds of nefarious intentions. Cartoon art should be viewed as a visual tool for conveying a message by unconventional means. Getting folks to step outside their comfortable-zone box and look at things through a different kind of lens can be challenging at times. But, hey, that's why were here. :)



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2017 04:12PM by steve benson.

Steve, you've given whole new meaning to this:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/aunt-bees-mayberry-cookbook-ken-beck/1100323880/2675291420172?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_Marketplace+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP2246&k_clickid=3x2246

It's because of the breakup of the family.

NOBODY in Mayberry was married. Andy, Aunt Bee, Barney, Thelma
Lou, Gomer, Helen Crump, Floyd the barber, Ernest T. Bass . . .
all single.

The only married person was Otis, the town drunk.

You must have missed that episode when a gay family moved to Mayberry and all the marriages were destroyed.

Too many people judge something with too much bias about its source. Job well done on this one Steve Benson. Most of Benson's cartoons are designed to piss off some segment of society, if not everyone. But this one makes a worthy point, as do some of the others. Opiods are a big problem in our society. I lost my brother to an overdose of illegal opiod use.

. . because of their own experiences, which result in a personal reaction to the cartoons.

I'm not sure what your personal issue is, but I am sure that it is personal--otherwise you wouldn't have responded as you did.

May I recommend you read "The Four Agreements," so that you can recognize where you're coming from in allowing your personal backstory-based sensors to play a role in prompting your inner-driven response to my doodle.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2017 11:05AM by steve benson.

Over seventeen years a recovering addict, I see the irony and humor in your cartoon. In 2000, had a brain surgery go terribly wrong at the hands of a surgeon who sent me to a pain clinic in order to remedy me of his mistake. America needs to wake up and get a better picture of what's fueling this epidemic.

I guess I can understand the initial confusion about the cartoon. The Andy Griffith show went off the air in 1968 (nearly 50 years ago). While initially, there were several years of rerun episodes, it's slowly lost it's well known status. I did have to take a second look and realize the dad and son portrayed from the show and did feel kind of stupid for not remembering it better.

I understand why people use opiods. Good luck finding a competent doctor and if you do, prepare to wait to get into him/her as a new patient, if you even can. Alternatives such as a chiropractor or acupuncture? Out of pocket for most people. Most likely, there are few or none in the area. Physical therapy, if prescribed is a big time commitment. There are generally not well paying jobs in rural areas. The alternative? A relatively cheap prescription compared to being able to pay bills and have a job.

The hoops you have to go through to get surgery with insurance companies is ridiculous. You have to try different avenues before that is allowed including being referred to a pain management doctor.

It's the same thing for people with mental health issues. Yes, therapy is the preferred method. You'll probably be better after a series of visits to a psychologist, meeting a psychiatrist every 6 months (again, you will not find one of those in rural areas). OR you take a prescription instead so at least you aren't killing yourself.

You're only seeing what your previous personal experiences have predisposed you to selectively see. You're not unique in this; we all do it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/2017 11:14AM by steve benson.

They asked us if we (we being DH and I living in the suburbs of a major East Coast city)knew anyone who had died using drugs. Then went on to tell us about all the drug tragedies in their small town.

Ok, being honest, DH and I looked at each other and felt as though we must have crawled out from under a rock because we didn't know anyone in those circumstances.

Burn the Afghan poppy fields. Since 2001 the crops have only increased each year.

Well I was sent home from recurring surgeries with oxy or hydro to replace the sweet sister morphine they gave me every 4 hours in the hospital.

I hated the oral shit. It killed most of the pain but afforded no sleep like the morphine did. I got off the stuff as soon as I could.

I dunno how anyone gets hooked on synthetics but I will say I'm glad I don't have a steady supply of opiated hash lest I become hopelessly addicted.

I have explored every therapeutic approach to treatment of the spinal condition that I can think of. I have been told that surgery is not feasible. Chiropractic did not help. Physical therapy was agonizing, and after a while, I decided it was not worth the effort. I tried regular acupuncture and even acupuncture needles connected to electrical current. Massage.I have tried any number of OTC painkillers - no luck there, either.

Sometimes, topical application of either Tiger Balm ointment or marijuana cream (legal in my State) has brought some relief, but not reliably.

The pain is too severe to just grit my teeth and keep going, most of the time. If I could find a way to make the pain stop, then, without question, the opiate use would stop, as well.