Re: drug use by our homeless family members or friends?, lets adopt them

On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 15:57:19 -0500, Brother Nate
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>> Nate, I've been curious as to your reaction to recent accounts of the
>> DEA raiding the offices of physicians who specialize in the treatment
>> of chronic pain. One such, Cecil Knox, was just acquitted of most
>> charges, the jury hung on some others. Whatever happens to Dr Knox in
>> court, his practice has got to be deader than the Dodo bird. 
>
>My reaction is that they're sadly over-zealous, and they
>do little but provide folks like you with red herrings.

Red herring ... in what way is the issue a red herring?

>The bottom line in all of this isn't supposed to be what
>happens between doctors and patients but rather what happens
>between black marketers and the drug abusers they exploit -
>people like the ones discussed in the article link that
>Adam posted.

True. 

>> But that's not the problem. The problem is that rather than
>> investigate by knocking on the door and examining records, the DEA
>> serves warrants on these practices by bursting in, pointing weapons at
>> patients, forcing them against the floor, handcuffing them ... in
>> short scaring the shit out of them. 
>
>It's a gross mis-use of taxpayer money, if nothing else.
>I cordially concede that this is a matter for the auditors
>from state medical examiners boards.  Yet that doesn't mean
>that the DEA is obsolete - there's still the question of
>the black market and cigar boxes exchanged in Denny's
>parking lots.
>
>Some channels of pain pill distribution are clearly criminal,
>and that's where I'd prefer to see the DEA devoting their
>time.

Fair enough. But the problem isn't time or resources but method. The
DEA is using the dynamic entry in situations where it's clearly not
appropriate. How are they able to do this? Same way the FBI was able
to use tanks at Waco. Drugs have become law enforcement's "open
sesame!" to tactics, funding, equipment and denial of accountability.
They aren't going to give that up anytime soon.

And even if the MDs they target are pill pushing quacks, their
investigatory methods have got to dampen the medical community's
willingness to treat severe and/or chronic pain. How could it not?

>> What the DEA is doing
>> right now affects the whole fabric of our national life. Pain control
>> was already a delicate issue, but  the DEA is exacerbating it.
>
>Granted.  That's why I say that questions like this one are
>practically hand-picked to serve as distractions away from
>the real issue which is people who aren't in any pain aside
>from boredom who want to alleviate that "suffering" by
>treating drugs as toys.

No. This isn't a distraction, hand picked or otherwise. It's a
systematic campaign of terror against MDs who prescribe large amounts
of pain medication. I have no idea if the MDs in question are
prescribing meds to people who use them to alleviate boredom. Problem
is, neither does your doctor, or mine.

>> You've accused me of wanting to dismantle the Controlled Substances
>> Act, when I've advocated no such thing.
>
>If you have ever endorsed the argument that US drug law is
>unConstitutional then you can't evade the fact that if you

No. I have never done so. The Constitutionality or lack of same of the
CSA is not relevant to me.

>overturn the CSA on the question of MJ then everything else
>comes falling down too.  If I've convinced you that there
>are other more productive avenues for discussion then I
>hope you don't mind if I consider that a modest victory.

Oh, I definitely agree that there are more productive avenues for
discussion, Nate. Constitutionality is an interesting and worthwhile
topic, but a dead end for activism, since only the SCOTUS's opinion
really matters.

>> I don't believe morphine, or
>> ritalin or  valium should be sold over the counter. But the way the
>> DEA is enforcing the CSA right now is a cure far far worse than the
>> disease it was designed to fight.
>
>Granted.

So we're still left with the paradox of a worthwhile cause--prevention
or amelioration of drug dependency--pursued by the wrong tools. 

Andy Katz
____________________________________
I sentence you to kiss my ass!

                    The Simpsons


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