There’s an extraordinary irony here. While some of the problem is counterfeit production, much of the problem comes from ‘real’ drug companies over producing, knowing their product will reach the street. So, if a politician tries to tackle the issue, he may be going against his biggest backer’s stock portfolios and even companies located in his district. What to do, what to do…

Prescription Abuse to Pass Illicit Drugs

Abuse of prescription drugs is about to exceed the use of illicit street narcotics worldwide, and the shift has spawned a lethal new trade in counterfeit painkillers, sedatives and other medicines potent enough to kill, a global watchdog warned Wednesday.

Prescription drug abuse already has outstripped traditional illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine and Ecstasy in parts of Europe, Africa and South Asia, the U.N.-affiliated International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report for 2006.

In the United States alone, the abuse of painkillers, stimulants, tranquilizers and other prescription medications has gone beyond “practically all illicit drugs with the exception of cannabis,” with users increasingly turning to them first, the Vienna-based group said.

Unregulated markets in many countries make it easy for traffickers to peddle a wide variety of counterfeit drugs using courier services, the mail and the Internet.



  1. GregA says:

    Actually, Rush had gastric bypass surgery. That is how he lost weight, and also the source of his painkiller addiction.

  2. clockwork oranjaboom says:

    Kinda’ crazy: I can’t get a case of wine delivered here in the glorious state of Ga., (or even buy it locally in this county) but pop has no problem calling in a 90 day resupply for any of his 8 meds by phone, no appointment needed!
    But hey- 30 carbine semi-autos are on sale at the local hardware store this week!

  3. Improbus says:

    I never get any “good” drugs prescribed to me. The strongest pain killer I have been prescribed was Tylenol III. I do have some high blood pressure medication that makes me ind of loopy though. Does that count?

  4. Mister Justin says:

    Marijuana still king! WOOT!

  5. Kendall Brookfeld says:

    Harry Shearer did a hilarious bit on Rush Limbaugh’s drug problem (RealAudio from KCRW):
    http://play.rbn.com/foo.ram?url=livecon/kcrw/g2demand/ls/ls060521le_Show.rm&start=33:32&proto=rtsp

  6. sh says:

    John tell us how you really feel about NON liberals 😉

  7. Tired of Sounding the Alarm says:

    #6 If there’s one thing that irritates the crap out of me its smug jackasses who always think that everything posted to this blog is from John.

    Look at the author line before you post your neocon ditties.

    What does the sh stand for? Shit head, may be shit for brains – please enlighten us.

    Thanks

  8. Tom 2 says:

    Wow that fat slob actually looks pretty good. You need to fix the server so when i post for the first time today that I’m not told that i have to wait fifty seconds, its getting kind of old.

  9. sh says:

    #7 Gee uncle Dave got your panties in a bunch today?

  10. Arrius says:

    The first post has it right. Didnt Rush also get his drugs from a doctory and not ‘off the street’? He doctor shopped to find one that would give him what he wanted, I dont believe he went down to the street corner.

    Also, the fat picture was streched fatter and the thin picture is stanced to look thinner. If your going to make a point dont cloud it with trickery or your point will be ignored.

  11. Guyver says:

    7. Geez, someone makes a playful comment and you liberal types go off on the deep end and get all personal. It’s amazing how quick some of you guys can be on making ad hominum comments.

  12. James Hill says:

    Just because the skinny dumbass continues to be more popular than any liberal on the planet is no reason to get pissy, ya hack.

  13. Angel H. Wong says:

    He decided to lose weight because the fat was absorbing the oxycontin.

  14. TJGeezer says:

    10 – Actually, whether a doctor was involved at first or not, eventually he was buying them on the black market. It was his housekeeper, whom he pressured to get the pills for him, who finally got tired of it and complained to someone. The irony here wasn’t that he got addicted to “poor man’s heroin” and bought it on the street. That’s a medical problem compounded by drug war laws that discourage legal, medically managed drug use and prop up an illegal black market system. The irony was his saying repeatedly, before he was exposed, that people who buy on the black market should shut up and go to jail because they’re breaking the law. After he got caught, of course, it was all “I’m so sorry I showed a human failing,” never spending a day in jail himself, and never admitting his hypocrisy.

  15. Mr. Fusion says:

    #10,
    Also, the fat picture was streched fatter and the thin picture is stanced to look thinner. If your going to make a point dont cloud it with trickery or your point will be ignored.
    Comment by Arrius — 3/1/2007 @ 11:35 am

    Are you suggesting Uncle Dave might have PhotoShopped the pictures? That, isn’t what Comedian Rush Limbaugh really looks like?

    #12,
    Just because the skinny dumbass continues to be more popular than any liberal on the planet is no reason to get pissy, ya hack.
    Comment by James Hill — 3/1/2007 @ 12:58 pm

    I think the quality of his audience is more indicative of his forum then the quantity. Limbaugh appeals to the neo-con crowd of shut-ins, the intellectually impaired, and those from Utah. The typical crowd that either prefer not to have anything original cross their neural synapses or are incapable of original thought.

  16. Greymoon says:

    ‘The typical crowd that either prefer not to have anything original cross their neural synapses or are incapable of original thought.’ – Comment by Mr. Fusion

    Much Like James Hill(ary)!

  17. Guyver says:

    15. Spoken like a true liberal. Rather than trying to walk a mile in another person’s opposing viewpoint you’d rather call them “intellectually impaired”? 🙂

  18. Lauren the Ghoti says:

    A rerun for some, but those who didn’t see it the first time might cop a giggle:

    Q: What’s the difference between Rush limbaugh and the Hindenburg?

    A: One is a giant, flaming Nazi gasbag. The other is a dirigible.


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