Hydrocodone combination products are changing from schedule 3 to schedule 2

[Sbane]

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2014/08/8551315/hydrocodone-change-unknown-side-effects

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(Edit: trimmed for length of quotes - TF)

[Sbane]

My opinion on this is that it will do nothing to stop opiate abuse. Until we start treating addiction as the medical problem that it is, more people will continue to die and our civil liberties will continue to be lost. This change is just another extension of the failed drug war and its failed tactics.

I predict the main effect of this change will be that the druggies will switch over in greater numbers to oxycodone since it is more potent than hydrocodone. If you need to go over the same hurdles to get both, then why not go with the more potent medication? There will also be an increase in the use of heroin. Good job DEA!

The people who will lose are those who actually need pain medications and are not the most mobile. Now they have to figure out how to get paper prescriptions to their pharmacy every 3 months. Earlier, a doctor could have called in a refill of their hydrocodone/acetaminophen to their pharmacy and a family member could have picked it up for them. Now that it is a C2 medication, there must be a hard copy of every prescription hand delivered to the pharmacy. Also, for all you young guys who may be getting their wisdom teeth taken out, good luck finding a pharmacy that will fill pain medications for you. Be prepared for a lot of "sorry, we don't have it in stock".

[memphis]

More red tape for docs and pharmacists. Oh goody. They're all already very leery of prescribing and dispensing it. I had a minor surgery earlier in the year, and the pharmacy gave me a hard time with my after surgery prescription, wanting to know why I was prescribed it (despite the surgery center's name being in bold at the top of the prescription) etc. I regularly get Adderall, which is already schedule 2, at the same pharmacy, and that's never a problem.

[Sbane]

More red tape for docs and pharmacists. Oh goody. They're all already very leery of prescribing and dispensing it. I had a minor surgery earlier in the year, and the pharmacy gave me a hard time with my after surgery prescription, wanting to know why I was prescribed it (despite the surgery center's name being in bold at the top of the prescription) etc. I regularly get Adderall, which is already schedule 2, at the same pharmacy, and that's never a problem.

Hey, at least you have a relationship with that pharmacy. Imagine someone who never gets prescriptions filled from any pharmacy. And it's not simply a matter of not trusting the person with the prescription. There is also the thought in the back of your head that you could get in trouble with the DEA just for ordering too many C2's. Some pharmacies just don't take any new C2 prescriptions from people who don't already get those medications, regardless of how legitimate the prescription is.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

It's great because doctors didn't have enough crazy new regulations to follow already, and we really need more people with untreated debilitating pain in our society.

The DEA needs to be DEAD.  The idea that we let a law enforcement agency decide which drugs they are allowed to prosecute people for taking and doctors for proscribing is insane.