It’s just nuts. If I don’t vape THC I can have fentanyl. Nucking futs
Why is that-- because you get piss-tested for opiates? That sucks!
My doctor and I had to navigate that. She knew the doctor who prescribed the cannabis and my shrink, so she was okay about it.
The ghastly 2016 opiate prescribing guidelines have been REVISED -- in favor of patients who have a legitimate need for pain medication. Depends on the laws in your state, I guess, but your HCP really shouldn't be piss testing you anymore.
I never complained about the piss tests for medical reasons, though I did tell my HCP that I wasn't happy about my HMO spending my premium money on them-- that it was a waste of resources. I think she kind of agreed, and my HMO stopped the whole piss-test thing a couple of years ago, thank God.
In my opinion, there's a special place in hell for Kolodny and PROP, aka "Physicans for Responsible Prescribing of Opioids." Prescription opiates did not have very much to do with the overdose epidemic, even before 2016. But after 2016? They
made it far worse. The overdose rate for opiates skyrocketed after 2016, because so many patients went to the street to treat pain their doctors should have been treating.
And the thug selling bootleg Percocet that's probably fentanyl isn't checking the PDMP (prescription drug monitoring program) to make sure you're using it as directed. Your doctor, however, is REQUIRED to do so-- that's one regulation they got absolutely right, IMHO. Stops doctor shopping, catches overuse before it escalates to addiction.
I'm a major hater of anti-opiate hysteria and benzophobia, as well as SSRI prescribing. This is one reason I can't get too angry at antivaxers. The CDC really does get it wrong sometimes-- a lot of the time. And that scares the crap out of me.