According to local news a Drug Warehouse in Tulsa was robbed of prescription drugs recently. The person who robbed the store pretended to have a weapon and got away and although no one was hurt, this situation brings up the epidemic proportions that prescription drug use is becoming in our cities, including Tulsa.
Information collected on a drug help line shows that this problem is definitely escalating and it is often a different demographic form what used to be found in the addicted population.
There are many people who have never had criminal, drug or alcohol problems that innocently get addicted to prescription drugs after they have had surgery, been in an accident or treated for a painful illness. The strength of today’s prescription drugs, such as Oxycodone are such that even a few weeks of use can cause severe withdrawal symptoms when the person wants to stop taking them. Many of these individuals require prescription drug addiction treatment.
Robberies like the one described in the news often happen when prescriptions run out and the user is suddenly faced with very painful withdrawal symptoms. Honest, law abiding citizens are found to suddenly be liars, stealing from their own families or from drug stores, pharmacies, etc just so that they do not have to go through the withdrawal symptoms off the prescription drugs.
There are a couple of points here:
1. Education and warnings to people who get prescribed these strong pain killers should be much clearer so that each person can watch for signs of addiction and get off of them before heavy addiction sets in.
2. There must be drug addiction treatment readily available for people in Tulsa who get into this kind of addiction.
The addicted person is often told to “just tough it out”. Anyone who has had to experience the withdrawal symptoms form these drugs know how hard that is – witness people will go criminal and steal from their own family before facing simply ceasing taking the drug. There are a few drug rehab centers in Tulsa, but not nearly enough and especially for persons who do not have insurance or ability to pay, it can be almost impossible to get help other than try to shop around to different doctors and trying to keep the prescriptions going.
This is the type of addiction that hits businessmen, blue collar workers, house wives – anyone who encounters and is treated for severe pain. Even dentists will hand out these types of painkillers. The advice is – do not get on prescription painkillers like Oxycodone, Vicoden, Loritabs, Perocets if you can at all avoid it. If you do get on them, make sure you taper off as quickly as possible and do not fall prey to the apparent release from physical and emotional pain that these drugs are professed to cause.
If you are struggling with a prescription drug addiction contact us today at 888-816-0667.