Limbaugh admits to drug addiction (merged)

[spartacus2002]

There is a BIG difference between someone whose body becomes physically addicted to a legally prescribed painkiller, and someone who wants to randomly get high by smoking a joint. He wasn't taking the pills for fun, but for pain management -- and then his body physiologically became addicted. If you don't agree with me that it can happen, then may I check you into a 30 day rehab program to get you to kick the oxygen habit?

The bigger picture is this: the War on Drugs is ridiculous. Rush has been fully functional for months/years despite being addicted to a strong painkiller. His supporters are coming out of the woodwork, saying he needs help and treatment, not punishment. How many of them have said the same for poor Willy the crack addict? Few; instead many of them advocate mandatory minimums, three-strikes-you're-out, and civil asset forfeitures assisted by men in masks with submachineguns.

I don't give a damn if anyone wants to get high, stoned, etc., just so long as they don't get behind the wheel of a car -- and if the fear of that is anyone's justification for the War on Drugs, then let's either ban cars or ban alcohol too.

 

[Keith]

Why would YOU want your name to be on a list of "Drug Addicts" in the government's database after going to a doctor? Few people would.

I used to buy morphine from government supply when I was in the Coast Guard. It cost $1.25 for a syrette, and was much cheaper if bought in a vial.

If I were to buy it on the street it would cost $50 or a $100...

The average drug addict is going to buy the $1.25 drug instead of the $50 drug. The average drug addict is already well known to the government - he/she has a record as long as your arm for theft, burglary, prostitution or possession... all because he/she needed money to buy that $50 street drug every day.

Keith

 

[rock jock]

It was his public exposure that changed his tune. It's been illegal since he started doing it!

It may have been illegal, but his scrutiny by LE only recently began, directly leading him to confront the problem. As for public exposure, he would never have received any if it weren't for the LE investigation, thus proving my point.

 

[JohnBT]

For example, most of the newer formulations like oxycodone (as Rush was "taking) do not depress the Central Nervous System as heroin or morphine do. In other words, you can take quite a bit of it and not be drowsy or nodding off - you just feel "good" and energetic, powerful, etc."

Well, now that's a line of nonsense based on my current experience. I've been taking it for the past 11 days and I sure don't feel good, energetic or powerful. All I feel is this G-D hip and leg pain. I can walk about 20 feet a few times a day and stand up straight every few hours. Can't sit at all.

My first MRI is tommorow at 3. That G-D hurricane messed with the orthopaedist's schedule and knocked out the power to the MRI facility for 11 days.

John

 

[Keith]

As for public exposure, he would never have received any if it weren't for the LE investigation, thus proving my point.

You mean his supplier wouldn't have sold the story to the National Enquirer? You may want to think about that...

Keith

 

[rock jock]

You mean his supplier wouldn't have sold the story to the National Enquirer? You may want to think about that...

So, the fact that a perpetrator of a crime isn't caught immediately invalidates the law making it a crime? You realize how ludicrous this sounds, don't you? Besides, you comment once again doesn't address the point - that Rush only confronted this in a manner that (hopefully) will lead to the end of his addiction after faced with the consequences of public exposure and legal punishment. If legal, he most likely would blissfully continue in his addiction.

 

[atek3]

But I'm saying the only reason it is 50 dollars on the street is drug prohibition. Repeal prohibition. Walk up to the pharmacy counter at walgreens, ask for a morphine syrette, walk out $2 poorer. And actually NONE of the addicts I've known have rap sheets. You have to be one pretty screwed up addict to go down that far. Most of the 'suburban' addicts I've known have held down jobs, and when they wanted to quit, they (grudgingly) quit. These weren't chippers either these were fully habituated addicts. On the other hand, ALL of the addicts I've known when forced into rehab by their parents or schools, relapsed every time. Good luck, Rush.

atek3

 

[Keith]

that Rush only confronted this in a manner that (hopefully) will lead to the end of his addiction after faced with the consequences of public exposure and legal punishment.

You're confused. Rush is a rich man and as such has ZERO chance of being incarcerated for his addiction. He is kicking the habit because of his public exposure as an addict and that would be true whether he was addicted to a legal or illegal substance.

Keith

 

[Navy joe]

So let me get this straight. Marijuana, Oxycodone, Vicodin, et. al are bad, but it's perfectly okay to take Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Ritalin, Viagra and everything else? We are a society of addicts. People take a pill for everything and the line between good pill and bad pill is pretty arbitrary. Most common addiction I see is Motrin. People eat it like it came in a Pez dispenser. No physical addiction but it's all in their head. They like peeing out what's left of their liver and kidneys I guess.

 

[Kestryll]

Navy Joe is right, we are a nation of addicts.
How many here have worked in a pharmacy and seen how much Vicodan goes out the door? How about Oxycodone? How about T-3's and 4's?
How many have seen 'Mom' come in to pick up the family scripts, her 3 and Dad's 2 and the kids 1 to 3 each? Kids in elementary school jackets and back packs coming in to get their meds.
I can think of a few dozen people who I handed Vic's, Oxycodone and T's to for over 3 years straight. Of course it was all legit, every time we would call the Doctor for refills it was "Sure give them this one and three more." Every single one of them started with a real serious injury and just kept going. Now to be honest 4 or 5 of them will be on pain meds for life, that is just the nature of their disease or injury. Oddly these are the one's that were always trying to stop taking the pills or to find other meds to transition to.
If the Feds really are looking into over-prescribing then they seem to have missed the L.A. area entirely. These Doc's have rubber stamps for the prescription LITERALLY! Ka-chunk! here ya' go!

I would put a large part of the blame on the Doc who okayed the refills. "Well it wasn't his refills." Yeah whatever, somebody signed off on a prescription made out to whomever to allow more and more and more and that's who needs to be slapped.

 

[son of a gun]

I can just imagine a bunch legal drug addicts doing crazy things since drug addicts can't have guns, the goverment could just legalize drugs and legally take so called addicts guns.
They keep lowering the thresh hole for blood alcohol levels it use to be .010 but in most places it's been lowered to .008, for DUI.

 

[publius]

When did Rush do this?

When confronted by the observation that the drug war, both historically and in modern times, is mostly waged as a racist, us-vs-them enterprise, his solution was that we shouldn't lock up fewer black people, we should lock up more white people.

I wonder now if Rush will loose his gun rights being technically a drug addict?

I'd guess the answer is yes, unless he decides to lie on the form where you have to swear under oath that you're not an addict.

It didn't? It has forced him to publically acknowledge his problem and enter a 30-day treatment center to hopefully end the addiction. Such drastic steps most certainly would not have taken place apart from the legal investigation.....If legal, he most likely would blissfully continue in his addiction.

Possibly, though some of the stigma of hypocrisy would be removed if he hadn't been a strong supporter of prohibition all these years. There would still be the same social stigma we attach to alcoholics, so he'd most likely remain "in the closet."

atek makes a good point, though. Most rehab programs have pretty high failure rates. Could that be because only people who are really sick of addiction and really want to go to rehab can be helped?

Picture a bottle of aspirin. How much does it cost? It may sound strange to you, but producing Heroin is cheaper than producing asprin. And thanks to the miracle of the free market, the price would be driven down through competition.

You're missing a couple of factors. One would be a heavy sin tax. You don't really think we'd get away without one of those, do you? Another would be the lawyers. Sell something known to be dangerous, you're a target, and that's expensive. To eliminate the black market, sin taxes would have to be kept low enough that evading them isn't worth the effort and risk. I don't know how we'd keep legal expenses low enough. It's probably cheaper to evade US Customs for a year than to hire a good lawyer for a month. Loser pays? Kill all the lawyers (except, of course, those in my immediate family).

I enjoy Rush's show. I enjoy it more when Walter Williams sits in, so I'll have a good month here. I hope he kicks his addiction, though I note that it hasn't prevented him from putting on a good show these past few years.

I've scarcely seen any mention of the aspect of prohibition that offends me most.I wonder how much of Rush's property is about to become government property?

 

[semf]

post deleted because I'm in a better mood now,

 

[Vitamin G]

I'm a drug and alcohol addictions counselor. I think alot of people choose to "blame" the addict for the disease of addiction. First, let me explain the disease concept of addiction.
Addiction is progressive - it will continue to get worse as time goes on, if left untreated
Addiction is chronic - Addiction, like cancer, will be with you for the rest of your life. Some are lucky and force it into remission.
Addiction is terminal - Addiction WILL kill you if left untreated. Like cancer.
Addiction is NOT curable - but it is very much treatable.

When working with my clients, I like to first explain why relapses are so common, and how the government can be so satisfied with the HORRIBLE chances of recovery in addicts, and continue to fund it.

I like to take myself for example... I LOVE to play paintball. (You, reading this, probably LOVE to go shooting) What if I told you that right now, you should never go shooting again in your life. Not even "just" .22 rimfire, because it will lead you back to the bigger calibers.
Now imagine I actually DID convince you, and you swore to give up shooting for the rest of your life. After all, its expensive. You probably give up alot of time with your family, unless they *use* firearms with you. You have possibly been hurt in the past by a firearm (maybe its a blister, rebound at the indoor range, or some fool with a crappy ejector chunking some hot brass down your shirt), but continue to go shooting. (I personally tore my ACL while playing paintball. I'm counting down the days of the remaining 6 months until I can go play again).

Now look at all the bad things!
But that doesn't mean that when you WERE shooting, its all of a sudden not fun!
No. Cravings to go to the range would return. Urges to visit the gun store would come. You'd encounter triggers in your every day life. Imagine giving up shooting forever, pick a reason why, but when you choose to give it up, you were at your peak. Obviously you'd miss it. Now imagine missing it, driving to work, and hearing Ted Nugent on the radio. Still giving it up? Imagine coming home from work, eating dinner, and walking through the room where your reloading bench USED to be (You sold it along with your other gun paraphenalia).

The first step in Narcotics Anonymous is to admit your powerlessness over your addiction. Hopefully Mr. Limbaugh will be able to do this, and I wish him a speedy, lifelong recovery. Personally, I feel that he will struggle with his addiction far more than the average street addict.
After all, how many street addicts could withdraw $1000 from an ATM with the thought of "Its only $1000. No one will even miss it"

Good luck Rush! Bad things happen to good people.

 

[BryanP]

NavyJoe said:

Most common addiction I see is Motrin. People eat it like it came in a Pez dispenser. No physical addiction but it's all in their head. They like peeing out what's left of their liver and kidneys I guess.

Depends on why you take it. Speaking as a 35 year old who has been in slowly increasing amounts of chronic pain from arthritis since I was a teenager I can tell you that Ibuprofen is one of the things that makes my life tolerable. Both hands hurt right now, actually. I'll go have a snack to help insulate my stomach and pop 800mg before bed to get me through the night.

Oh, and ibuprofen has the same effect as aspirin - primarily it causes stomach trouble by decreasing the protection in your stomach from your own digestive acids. It's Tylenol/Acetaminophen that can easily destroy your liver if taken in too high a quantity.

As for Rush's situation, speaking as a former fan who became highly angry at him over a non-political comment he made on the radio back in the early 90's that made me see him for the shallow, callow, and just plain rotten excuse for a person he really is, I still feel some sympathy for him. I have not been in his situation but a someone close to me has been. This person was hospitalized for a couple of weeks and came out of it addicted to prescription pain medications. While I may not like him, I've seen the effects this can have and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.