pill mills

Florida is the painkiller capital of the U.S.

I never noticed, when I lived in Tallahassee, the "oxy" problem in this state; however, shortly after I arrived in the Tampa area, I discovered that there are an alarming number of young people - folks in their early 20's - with prescriptions for hydrocodone (Vicodin) and oxycodone (Oxycontin, Percocet, Roxicet etc.) because they claim to have "severe" back pain.

When I was in my late 20's, I went to my doctor in Western New York due to chronic muscle spasms between my clavicles and shoulder blades. My doctor wouldn't give me anything for it, since he thought (probably because of my long hair) that I was simply drug-seeking. A simple muscle relaxant would likely have helped.

To this day I suffer from the same problem, but having no medical insurance means that I can't get help anyway - but if I did, I imagine that I could get all the narcotics I wanted so long as I stayed in Florida. As it is I do my best to get by on ibuprofen.

Meanwhile, many young people that I know are dealing with narcotic addiction caused by over-prescribing by their own doctors.

Our new Governor, Rick Scott (whose employment history is dominated by running health insurance companies that have been repeatedly censured for fraud) does not believe that it is worthwhile to regulate legal narcotic trafficking. If this problem were to be regulated, it would surely cut into the profits of his beloved insurance giants. As if they weren't making enough money already.