Discussions at the Dentist

I was at the dentist today, getting a new filling for an old filling that had fallen out.  The filling was pretty big, it had fallen out the side of a molar, so I had to be 'numbed' with Novocane (procane).  My dentist, Dr. Joseph Sexton, was making sure that I didn't feel anything and somehow we started talking about the opioid addiction epidemic.  I mentioned how I had recently watched the HBO Documentary: Warning; This Drug May Kill You

I told him one of the stories, about a 14 year old girl who had suffered from kidney stones and was given percocet and then oxycontin. Throughout high school, her younger sister and her started using those drugs to feel good.  Eventually they moved on to heroin and the sister died of an overdose.  The story follows the girl, who is now a mother herself, as she fights her addiction, vowing not to put her mother through another death.  It is a very sad, but true, eye opening documentary.

Dr. Joe stated that he was recently at a consortium of dentists, and their discussion turned to trying to figure ways to stop the early prescription use of opioids.  He came up with this idea:  What if, it was illegal to prescribe opioids to anyone under the age of 21?  Isn't that a great idea?  Alcohol is illegal, so why are drugs that are so addictive and persuasive like opioids legal?  Many of his peers could not agree with something so drastic, but Dr. Joe wanted to go further with his belief that this method could help PREVENT addiction in young people that leads to Heroin use, addiction, and ultimatley death.

He said that he even wrote to the State of Ohio's Attorney General, Mike Dewine whose job is to PROTECT Ohio families.  He has yet to receive an acknowledgment of receipt of the letter, let alone a response to his idea to Make it ILLEGAL to prescribe opioids to anyone under the age of 21.

 What do you think?

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