Drug Issues in Scott County, Virginia: Don't Be A DOLT

In 2009, Scott County was rated 83 out of the 132 counties in Virginia in a study of the state's major health problems. Our five biggest problems suggest the mnemonic "Don't Be A DOLT" - Asthma, Drug-related problems, Obesity, Lung cancer and Tooth loss.

How ironic that drugs should be one of Scott County's biggest health problems. When I was growing up in Gate City, we had the utmost contempt for people who used recreational drugs. Thirty years later, most of us still have no firsthand experience with cocaine, heroin, or XTC, but many of us have developed addictions or other serious side effects from prescription medications.

Almost every week the Kingsport Times-News and Virginia Star report another roundup of people arrested for trying to sell prescription pills to addicts without prescriptions. Most of them are working-class, working-age people who are between jobs, who may have been recruited by a pill distributor looking for people to deliver pills and take the punishment for him. Others may be patients who've hoarded pills for resale. Our addicts are often nice people from good homes, and they seem, if anything, more likely to be seniors than teenagers.

Scott County's incidence of health problems, relative to the rest of Virginia, reflects our "graying" population. We are one of the counties where people tend to leave around age 20 and return to around age 60 or 70. Because so many of our active residents are medically classified as geriatric, it's inevitable that we have a high incidence of health problems associated with aging. Side effects from medication are in this category. For specific advice about side effects from medications other than addiction, you need to consult your doctor.

How can we prevent addictions? First, recognize that pain medications that go beyond a local injection given during surgical or dental work tend to have serious effects. Most of them produce a backlash of intense pain, depression, narcolepsy (uncontrollable sleep) and/or mental confusion, and sometimes worse. Some pain medications have been identified as causing permanent nerve damage. One has been linked with what doctors call suicidal ideation (even patients who think committing suicide is wrong find themselves thinking about it in an academic way). It's usually easier to live with a little natural, short-term pain rather than live with the effects of pain medication. When people continue popping pills to postpone the backlash after using pain medication, addictions develop.

Today's antidepressant medications are also highly addictive. My feeling is that, although these Band-Aid treatments for depression have saved many lives, they should be used only in a hospital. Pain and muscle spasms are a "normal," predictable side effect antidepressants have on many people. One out of every 10 to 20 patients will develop "pseudomemories," often of injuries or abuse that would produce patterns of pain congruent with what the patients are feeling. In the hospital, doctors can start detoxification before these symptoms escalate into violent insanity. Patients using antidepressants outside a hospital setting will have easy access to lethal weapons--guns, knives, cars--and may be able to commit mass murder-suicides when their pseudomemories suggest revenge, or kill children "to protect them from ever going through what I [imagine in my delusional state that I] did."

A few people have been "hooked" on painkillers or antidepressants after using these drugs recreationally just to see whether they get "high." People who would be likely to try this probably don't read, so it's probably useless to state that, according to drug researchers, no drug gets anyone "higher" than conscious techniques for controlling our own hormone balance and moods like exercise, music, meditation and deep breathing. When we're all given a natural right to get "high" whenever we want to, without having to pay for drugs or risking any loss of awareness of external reality, why would anyone want to take drugs?

There are chemical-free treatments for pain and depression that are not addictive, and are highly effective for most people. When consulting a doctor, it's a good idea always to ask the doctor to recommend non-chemical treatments and techniques. This may not be possible for everyone. Although cancer of the bone marrow is often painless, cancer of the bone often produces pain that even a morphine drip doesn't completely relieve. Some other diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, are also known for producing all-prevailing misery that may require heavy pain medication. The intention of this article is not to encourage anyone to be judgmental about anyone else, but I'm glad I've only ever had to use a local anesthetic even for surgery.

Now a personal note to fellow able-bodied residents of Scott County. If you are in financial distress, and someone who offers you an odd job, a lift, a tow, etc., says "Hey, I've got pain pills," be better informed than I was when this happened to me a few years ago. I thought, "Why does this guy think I'm in pain?" DUH! You might be more aware of the local market for bootlegged pills, so you might think it would be safe and smart to try to sell the pills at a profit. Don't be a dolt! The lousy creep who encouraged you to try to cash in on your neighbors' pain will also turn your name in to the police any time he feels any heat coming his way. Beat him to it by turning him in. If your cell phone has recording or photographing capabilities, use them.

SOURCES

Virginia Star newspaper: For information on purchasing printed copies, either current or back issues, visit virginiastar.net.

The National Institute of Health has a web page specifically about addiction to prescription medications: http://www.nida.nih.gov/ResearchReports/Prescription/Prescription.html

The Mayo Clinic has a web page about this topic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prescription-drug-abuse/DS01079

For a drug-free cure for one type of depression that's very common in Scott County (especially among us teetotal-abstainer genetic alcoholics, who tend to inherit sugar issues as well), click here: http://www.radiantrecovery.com/.

Due to the inflated cost of licensing, I'm no longer licensed to practice a massage technique that literally "erases" many kinds of chronic pain, for payment. I've never been sued and can continue using my job training as a favor to personal friends. If you prefer to pay a licensed therapist in a hospital setting, currently the closest Neuro-Muscular Therapy practitioner to Scott County seems to be this one in Chattanooga, Tennessee. If you plan to travel, you can locate other practitioners here: http://www.nmtcenter.com/.

For natural prevention, treatments, and cures for other kinds of pain...there's an industry out there, not quite as massive as the pharmaceutical industry, but immense. Grandma Bonnie Peters recommends this clinic for affordable, prevention-oriented, informative medical care: http://local.yahoo.com/info-14972918-gray-family-clinic-plc-gray.