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From: Eric.Bohlman@p1.f778.n115.z1.fidonet.org (Eric Bohlman)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: NEW ON THE NET
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Date: 10 Jul 90 20:24:42 GMT
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Index Number: 9086

 MA> xanax or other anti-anxiety drugs because I don't want to get addi 
 MA> cted, though they sure calmed me down when I was first in the hospital. 

"Addiction" to anti-anxiety drugs or narcotic analgesics used in a medically  
supervised setting is so different from addiction to street drugs that some  
less emotionally loaded term should be used for it.  True, such medications  
can result in dependence (the body adjusts to the medication in such a way  
that when the medication is abruptly discontinued, symptoms result).  The same  
response occurs to innocuous-seeming medications like nasal decongestant  
sprays (stop using them and your nose gets stuffier than it was before the  
problem you started taking them for).  However, these drugs can be withdrawn  
in a proper medical setting without too much problems.  The kind of dependence  
I described DOESN'T put you in the same position as a junkie!!!!  What happens  
to junkies is more a result of the "outsider" position they're put into by the  
illegality of what they're doing and the problems that led them to seek relief  
in drug abuse in the first place than of the effects of the drugs themselves.   
Keep in mind the distinction between USING a drug that's intended for a  
specific condition to treat that condition and ABUSING a drug.

Some reports (and I believe them) have indicated that the major behavioral  
change the "war on drugs" has created in our society has been making pain  
patients wary of taking pain medication.  Not quite what the warriors intended.
 

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