The real problem is prohibition

The Food and Drug Administration seeks to reschedule hydrocodone as a Schedule II Drug instead of Schedule III.

This means those suffering chronic pain will have to pay for more doctor visits to get a written prescription. Phone-in renewals will be banned. The reason given is that hydrocodone is “abused” by those who want to enjoy synthetic codeine. Scamming scripts and buying on the street enable some to party on the pills.

In 2006, Nevadans were the No. 1 users in America per capita of hydrocodone, sold combined with other drugs in brand names like Vicodin or Lortab. Nevada is still within the top five states for illicit pill use.

Many who “abuse” Vicodin do so because oral intake is safer than injecting heroin. Vicodin is actually a harm reduction tool to help them avoid AIDS and hepatitis. Most Vicodin “abusers” are in fact middle class whites who have a job, family and home. Some young Nevadans also use the pills at dances and parties. A small percentage become addicted.

The drug scolds will tell you in 2000 there were almost 20,000 hospital admissions due to Vicodin. They also tell you that in the same year there were 86 million new prescriptions written. But they don’t seem to do the math that suggests that fewer than .0003 percent of hydrocodone users wind up visiting a hospital.

That is not to say that Vicodin is as safe as marijuana or psychedelic drugs like psilocybin, which cannot be linked to a single overdose. Yes, people die from recklessly using Vicodin, just as they die from recklessly using alcohol. Most Vicodin overdoses occur from mixing many pills with alcohol.

The state has done a terrible job of educating on the use and dangers of drugs. For too long it has followed the zero tolerance, DARE model that provides no helpful medical information by promoting the idea that all drugs are equally bad and all illegal drug use is abuse. More enlightened countries police raves only by making sure that there is plenty of water and a quiet place to calm down.

Physicians who prescribe pain medications are already heavily regulated. Many people are forced to live, even die, with severe pain due to their doctor’s fear of being seen as “over prescribing” narcotic-based pain medication. A few doctors undoubtably do operate “pill mills.” While the recreational use of marijuana is becoming politically acceptable, recreational pill use is not. But if the numbers are rising for this drug use, punishing those truly in pain is not an acceptable response. It is like the gym teacher who makes everyone in the class drop down and do 50 push-ups because the fat kids can’t run laps. It is collectivism pure and simple.

Some Nevada politicians have indicated support for changing state law to allow police to search confidential medical records without probable cause, looking for over-prescribing doctors. Prescription prohibition is crossing the line between protecting the public against harms done by others and harms done only to oneself. Addiction can bring emotional harm to loved ones but that is also not a reason for government intervention.

Like Beth Green said in a recent episode of The Walking Dead, “When you love someone, hurt kinda comes with the territory.” Harming the ones you love is part of the human condition. The state should only intervene against violence and fraud perpetrated with criminal intent, not against human failings and vices. Prohibition, not drugs, is the worst problem. Keep Nevada police from fishing expeditions in medical records!