-Caveat Lector- July 17, 2001 Vol. 4 No. 29 - - Police State Prescription - - Happenings in the small southwest Virginia town of Pulaski should give pause both to drug warriors and anyone who thinks that licensing powerful drugs is a simple thing. Residents of Pulaski will have to provide fingerprints at the area's six pharmacies to get the painkiller OxyContin. Local police say the drug is the object of rampant prescription fraud that fuels a booming black market. "Anything that will stop the flow onto the streets we'll be happy with," said Detective Marshall Dowdy of the Pulaski police. "This is a seemingly never-ending battle." Indeed, it is a battle that has been waged since earliest human history. Ever since the first semi-rotten, half-fermented fruit produced the first alcoholic buzz, man--or at least a goodly chunk of the population--has sought out one form of altered consciousness or another. So it is no surprise that OxyContin, which comes in a time-release pill and is similar to morphine, has become the source of a relatively cheap high in rural areas far from urban drug supplies. Nor is it a wonder that people with chronic pain seek the drug--it is a very effective painkiller. Doctors readily prescribe it precisely because it isn't morphine. But now OxyContin use is being stymied by fears of its abuse. A patient may have good reason to want to avoid giving his or her fingerprints to the drug store, all but declaring to the world that they are a likely drug abuser or con artist. Perhaps a solution is not to treat painkillers like controlled substances, but to treat currently controlled substances more like standard painkillers. This would not only ease many of the troubles of the standard drug war, but allow sick folks to keep both their medicine and their dignity without state interference. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44111-2001Jul10.html -- Best Wishes The truth is, if you are the President's wife and have a drug problem you get a drug-rehab clinic named after you. If you are poor, black, or Hispanic and you have a drug problem, you will languish in jail for years. ~~Bill Masters, "Liberty", November, 2000 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
