Alcohol - bad
OxyContin - okay

mmmmmmmmmm OC

Previous commenter:when the one you love dies from OxyContin, see how OK it is then.

The White House response to this national medical disgrace of prescription addiction epidemic is just as disgraceful, but expected, since they would never upset the pharmachological greed cart(el) that created it. Ridiculous, but typical. The problem stems from inappropriate "disposal" of drugs? How about an appropriate "disposal" of them?

Thousands of patients and families have been found dead or addicted, and ruined because of inappropriate prescribing practices. Look at the national numbers and state medical examiners reports of accidental overdoses by medically prescribed patients. Outrageous. And if they aren't blaming the "criminal street addicts", or saying stupid things like "follow the doctors directions", now they are blaming what's stolen from grandma's med cabinet? Guess what! Grandma probably can't police her med cabinet because for the first time in her life, she's in a detox facility. Those numbers are truly outrageous. All because her doctor overprescribed narcotics because the pharms pandered "undermedication" will cause lawsuits. When is it time to "wake-up"?

You missed the point Annie.

I find it terribly ironic that a culture that is so vehemently passionate about the "evils of alcohol" feels its okay to get strung out on prescription uppers or downers. (See Utah leads nation in anti-depressant abuse)

One of the most prominent addictions we have in Utah is to SUGAR. You may smile, but investigate how much sugar is in soft drinks which we drink by the gallon. A gram of sugar is close to 1/4 teaspoon. A can of a popular rootbeer has 45 grams of sugar. This works out to a little over ten teaspoons of sugar, which equates to 3.333 tablespoons of sugar in a 12 oz. can. And who drinks just one can? Add to that the packaged cupcakes, brownies, pies, cookies and other snacks, not to mention all the candy bars and it is no wonder obesity and diabetes are rampant in this state. If you think you are not addicted, then go for one week without a soft drink. With the caffeine in so many, they are doubly addictive. You are what you eat, and what you eat can kill you.

Ah, yes sugar.
The white stuff.
Mormon's drug of choice.

As a husband of an addict who was addicted to Ambien, Soma, and Methadone, I feel lucky that my wife didn't die. I forced her into rehab which bankrupt us, but saved her life. She ordered medication off the web without seeing a doctor, just filling out a simple questionnaire. The whole system is a joke. Soma isn't even a controlled substance, but it is an incredible tranquilizer if taken incorrectly. Methadone is the scourge of the earth as far as I'm concerned. It is so easily misused. It doesn't just make a person sick, it makes them dead. Over three year of sobriety for her, and life is good, but it is a constant struggle, and constant trust issues.

Try it again:

Your right, I missed the point, but it was easy to do! I encounter a lot of idiot blogs that when your trying to have a discussion on a serious topic they hop in and make fun with comments like "drugs are good for ya". I hate that. Sorry if I mis-interpreted. I'm not from Utah! I am however, one of the many thousands of people, who were put on OxyContin, told it was a "wonder drug", and ended up (first time in my life) in a detox clinic. I had a doctor, who when he realized I had become addicted, tried to get rid of me. It was a horrible experience, and I almost lost my life. Doctors need to stop depending on money hungry pharmaceutical company's to diagnose and treat patients with chronic pain. They should do theier own work, independantly, and this never would have happened
Annie

What is it about the repressive Utah County culture that drives so many to drugs to be happy?

Why?
When you live a lie when you KNOW it's a lie, the mind plays unkind tricks on you.

It is confusing to me how a story about something so important can become once again about the people "living a lie" and the mormon drug of choice sugar. Utahs population has more non-LDS than LDS, which is a very good thing for everyone, but to say that this is strictly an LDS problem, and reduce the seriousness of the problem to this and "sugar", well, it just has to make me wonder why religion is the only thing on some peoples minds.The problems of drug abuse in our community affect all of us, no matter what we believe, we are all in this together and should act like it to try to help solve anything.

Well "confused", when you realize the magnitude of the problem that arises when a culture focuses on setting itself apart in our society -
you may also see the futility of almost everything you do, suggest, or present as "from the outside world" and is to be dismissed as being "from the devil" or something like that.
And at that point you might as well go outside, find the nearest tree, and bang your (blanking)head against it rather than expect that culture to entertain ANYTHING you have to say as credible.

Yes I agree, I'd like to know if anyone has any intellegent or helpful comment on the subject presented in the article. If not, why can't you start a blog where you can talk about these "other" issues you think are important? Why interupt a discussion of another matter? Add self absorbed behavior to your list of problems.

These blogs always start out okay, but when our closed-minded right-wingers get their BS thrown back at them, the blog turns into The Rush Limbaugh Show.

I sat in a business meeting recently where a man decided to identify the drugs he was popping = 4 pain pills, 1 for his nerves and 1 for his heart. He was quite proud of himself. Utahns are loved by the drug companies, we keep them in business

Once again comments are rarely on target. For you mormon haters get out of the state and see the world. Sugar is a developed nation problem. Drugs are a nationwide problem. The same people saying its related to mormonism are probably saying we should legalize drugs. Discuss the issue rationally without prejudice. If you hate mormons write a letter to the editor about your hatred or get some counseling.