DEA moves Vicodin to a schedule 2 drug.

[OutHouse]

to prevent OD deaths...

The Drug Enforcement Administration is reclassifying hydrocodone-combination drugs from a Schedule 3 Controlled Substance, to the more restrictive Schedule 2.

The highest, says Moore, are Schedule 1 drugs that have no legitimate medical purpose and the highest dependence and abuse. They include: marijuana, ecstasy and heroin.

http://kdvr.com/2014/08/22/big-chan...or-patients-to-get-pain-killers-like-vicodin/

 

[Jay5]

the nanny state continues

 

[waggy]

yeah. it won't cut down on idiots buying it and ODing. but it is going to cut down those with chronic pain getting some relief.

 

[Jimzz]

 

[Thebobo]

yeah. it won't cut down on idiots buying it and ODing. but it is going to cut down those with chronic pain getting some relief.

yep

 

[z1ggy]

Makes total sense, gj law makers.



Notttttttttttt.

 

[TerryMathews]

Makes total sense, gj law makers.



Notttttttttttt.

Nope, not lawmakers. Look closer, gj DEA.

 

[vi edit]

Had a discussion about this with my wife. She's a pharmacist and involved with a bunch of case studies and discussion groups on these types of things. A few years back there was a major push in Heroin overdoses. They went back and started looking at the data and they all started spiking when Oxycodone was reformulated for "sustained release". The reformulation was really there so that it couldn't be crushed up and snorted or cooked down for IV use.

They are bracing for another wave of Heroin OD's after this legislature goes through.

 

[T9D]

Must mean that the pharm companies have a more expensive money making drug they want to push instead :thumbsup:

 

[alkemyst]

My mother needed a certain pain killer for cancer and the hospital no longer stocks it for out-patient needs. Every other pharmacy in town will only fill it if you have already been getting it.

There was not a comparable level that she could take so she had to go through pain which is ridiculous.

 

[Skel]

I'm a bit confused by this. I had thought it was a schedule II all along, the same as Oxycodone. It makes no sense for them not to be the same schedule as it's the same kind of drug. As for the ruling, it makes it sound like all that is going to happen is the patent will need to see the doctor for the prescription, and the max is 90 days worth of meds.

 

[smackababy]

yeah. it won't cut down on idiots buying it and ODing. but it is going to cut down those with chronic pain getting some relief.

I think it will, if by only straining the supply. No longer can Joe Druggy steal his mother's pills and sell them to kids, as she won't be able to get them anymore.



The fight against pill poppers has taken it's toll on people who need it, but a lot of times, those same people become addicts themselves. Few understand that 'pain management' doesn't mean 'manage the pain to zero', and keep popping those Vicodins.

 

[rudder]

yeah. it won't cut down on idiots buying it and ODing. but it is going to cut down those with chronic pain getting some relief.

This happens already with sudafed. There was a push to make sudafed prescription only in Tennessee to prevent people from making meth. So that $6 pack of sudafed would then cost me $31 plus and hour and a half at the doctors. Luckily the measure failed. I still have to show my ID and can only buy so much throughout the year.

 

[waggy]

I think it will, if by only straining the supply. No longer can Joe Druggy steal his mother's pills and sell them to kids, as she won't be able to get them anymore.



The fight against pill poppers has taken it's toll on people who need it, but a lot of times, those same people become addicts themselves. Few understand that 'pain management' doesn't mean 'manage the pain to zero', and keep popping those Vicodins.

those who are have chronic pain know they can NEVER get pain down to zero. the reason they keep taking the pills is just so they can have a life. you take those away or reduce them you reduce what that peson can do.

 

[vi edit]

I'm a bit confused by this. I had thought it was a schedule II all along, the same as Oxycodone. It makes no sense for them not to be the same schedule as it's the same kind of drug. As for the ruling, it makes it sound like all that is going to happen is the patent will need to see the doctor for the prescription, and the max is 90 days worth of meds.

Was Schedule III

 

[destrekor]

Had a discussion about this with my wife. She's a pharmacist and involved with a bunch of case studies and discussion groups on these types of things. A few years back there was a major push in Heroin overdoses. They went back and started looking at the data and they all started spiking when Oxycodone was reformulated for "sustained release". The reformulation was really there so that it couldn't be crushed up and snorted or cooked down for IV use.

They are bracing for another wave of Heroin OD's after this legislature goes through.

I believe it. It does not matter what the regulation is, what drug it is, everyone who wants to get their high WILL find a way to get their high. If the means to the end is prescription meds, illicit drugs, something one can cook up at home with cheap chemicals, the end is still the end.

Does it make the government feel any better knowing that it is no longer abuse of legal medication, and in fact only a spike in what is already illicit?

I'd rather a druggie live off of something clean and pure than mess with chemicals that can be tainted or cut with suspect chemicals.

I'd rather they get a clean chemical delivery vehicle than inject, or put yet another foul chemical into their lungs.

I'd rather they have known dosage than gamble with completely unknown variables, as potency of any unregulated and illicit chemical will vary by batch, source, and vendor. Is it weak, or cut with something else? Does it contain more than one active chemical that contributes to mixed responses in the body?

I thank the system for encouraging police departments to have overdose kits, as in my region heroin use has been spiking significantly.

The call for all drugs to be legal may go too far, but the more I think about it, only so few actually refrain from trying various drugs because the government tells them that they must not do so. The more we know about exactly what is out there, and how regulated that product is, we all benefit.

 

[disappoint]

yeah. it won't cut down on idiots buying it and ODing. but it is going to cut down those with chronic pain getting some relief.

Why would we want to cut down on idiots ODing?

 

[Skel]

Was Schedule III

I'm tracking that.. I'm just surprised it wasn't all along, or at least as long as Oxycodone. It's the same type of drug so to me it doesn't make sense that they weren't together on the same list. In all the chronic pain dealings I've had it's always been this kind of restrictive. For me nothing's really changed. The bigger issue is the pharmacies that are being targeted to slow the amount of pills. According to the local Walgreens they're only allowed to stock a x number of opiate meds at one time depending on volume. That means there are many times where patents are unable to fill the perfectly legitimate prescriptions and needlessly have to suffer.

 

[alkemyst]

I'm a bit confused by this. I had thought it was a schedule II all along, the same as Oxycodone. It makes no sense for them not to be the same schedule as it's the same kind of drug. As for the ruling, it makes it sound like all that is going to happen is the patent will need to see the doctor for the prescription, and the max is 90 days worth of meds.

Not all pharmacies will carry these types of drugs so availability is more difficult and pricing can be increased.

These kinds of things do not do much but affect those that get their meds legally and will increase parking lot drug muggings.

My internship in Pharmacy was for a Eckerds (now CVS) next to a large pain clinic. There were police in the parking lot all the time yet still people got the fuck beat out of them (and some would joke they couldn't even feel it) for their meds.

The tighter the restrictions on the legal way of getting the drug, increases their street value greatly.

 

[mcurphy]

So how exactly is Sched 2 more restrictive than Sched 3? Can your normal family DR. not prescribe Sched 3?

 

[vi edit]

So how exactly is Sched 2 more restrictive than Sched 3? Can your normal family DR. not prescribe Sched 3?

No refills on Sched 2. That's the big reason. You need a new RX each time.

 

[alkemyst]

So how exactly is Sched 2 more restrictive than Sched 3? Can your normal family DR. not prescribe Sched 3?

It becomes more of something that you physically need to have a written script and something the Dr. can't just call in. Nor can you just be giving a temporary window after running out.

My one script the pharmacy will give me some if my prescription expires and the Dr. forgets to call it in or calls it in to the wrong pharmacy.

With Scheduled drugs, they just can't do that and you must go back to the Dr. for another written script as well.

It becomes difficult for the patient especially if they are on these kinds of meds they shouldn't be driving.

 

[lupi]

I've gotten both a couple times over the last couple of years. Assuming this only has an impact on those drawing a constant supply?

 

[alkemyst]

I've gotten both a couple times over the last couple of years. Assuming this only has an impact on those drawing a constant supply?

Correct, many debate chronic pain as real.

 

[waggy]

No refills on Sched 2. That's the big reason. You need a new RX each time.

A new RX means a doctor appointment each month. now you pay for a doctor visit that takes 2 minutes just to get a RX.

It's going to cost more just to get the damn thing.

Only people this change hurts are those that are doing it legally.