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If you’re wondering what affect the Purdue Pharma hearings are having on prescription painkillers sales, the answer, so far, seems to be ‘none’. Conflicting headlines abound - Prescription painkiller sales up, Prescription painkiller sales down. However, a few things are abundantly clear. For example, the people of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida are now among the top consumers of OxyContin. The DEA has been concerned about Florida’s rising prescription drug abuse for a while, so this doesn’t come as a surprise. Let’s hope addicted Floridians find a good Florida drug detox soon.

It doesn’t surprise me that the sales don’t appear to have been affected. Many people in severe pain are going to take OxyContin and other painkillers, regardless of the risks.

And I don’t think there are too many people thinking “what if I get addicted?”or “what if I abuse this drug?” before they take them. They’re going to think it couldn’t happen to them.

I’d like to get all the people who are addicted to OxyContin in one big room, okay, let’s make that one small state, and get a show of hands – “Everyone who thought they were going to get addicted to this drug when they first started taking it, put up your hand.”

I’d lay odds on the percentage being quite low. Wouldn’t you?

And that is exactly why prescription drug addiction is so insidious. If you take heroin, you expect it. You might even expect it with other street drugs. But when you get it from your doctor, you’re safe. Yeah, right.

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