Codeine ban

[mr me]

Codeine has apparently been re-scheduled and you will now have to show ID to buy

http://www.smh.com.au/national/codeine-ban-will-induce-headaches-pharmacists-20100327-r44l.html

[ref1ect1ons]

It's funny cause the MAIN active ingredient in most strong pain relievers is codeine, the paracetomol only serves to fuck ur liver and has little effect. Not that codeine doesnt fuck your liver, but atleast it does something.

In other countries I believe 30mg is available over the counter, but in good ol australia addicts are extracting miniscule amounts and fucking up their body.

Some people cannot think logically and can only think in terms of their own fears and hyseria, it seems alot of this people work for the classification office and towards drug policies.

I knew this was coming. ID for 12.8 mg what a fuken joke. If ppl want drugs they are gonna get them somewhere.

KHAT is next, it is used to make meow meow apparently and we know what's being going on there recently. All the media channels work as a team when it means pushing government policy, every fuken channel has had something on meow, at the same fuken time. A concerted effort as with the obese kids thing a while back, that was funded by a lobbyist group who had 'grants' for the best story on childhood obesity.

Edited March 28, 2010 by ref1ect1ons

[Benzito]

>"Packs containing up to 12 milligrams of codeine will be kept behind the counter and dispensed only by a pharmacist who will record the customer's details. This includes 12-tablet and 24-tablet packs of Nurofen Plus and Panadeine.

Customers will have to obtain a prescription for a 48-tablet pack or larger, leading many to stock up before so-called Codeine May Day."

So, what about 'packs' containing more than 12mg, regardless of number of doses? Are they banned, or prescription only?

[ballzac]

For a long time a lot of the banning has gone by without any notice from the general public. Now that their runny noses and mild headaches are involved in the war, perhaps they will begin to take notice.

[mr me]

For a long time a lot of the banning has gone by without any notice from the general public. Now that their runny noses and mild headaches are involved in the war, perhaps they will begin to take notice.

I wish, we have it too easy in this country. The people have their circuses and bread, and don't care. Anyways you can replace codeine with another pharmaceutical. Yes that drug may cause great harm 5-10 years later, but that doesn't matter as the company was only try to help people and won't be held responsible.

[Chiral]

In a way I'm glad of this ban, when you find yourself spiraling out of control with a codeine addiction knowing full well that at any time your kidneys could give out, any help to stop is a blessing. There is no need to bitch and moan about this move as the tablets are still available to anyone, but know we have to ask...good move IMO, hopefully it helps the 100's of thousands of addicts come off them as it's a quite common and somewhat deadly addiction.

Renal failure is not something to take lightly, I'd rather be free of the addiction and work on being drug free and healthy, living with pain than hooked up to a dialisis machine...wouldn't you..?

[ballzac]

When have changes like this ever really helped addicts?

[Chiral]

When have changes like this ever really helped addicts?

 

Well obviously there are many types of addicts, those that are aware and continually wish to stop, want a healthier lifestyle and be codeine free, there are those who abuse it just as means to get high, those that abuse it and lazily found themselves simply reaching for it whenever they felt a mild headache coming on and then down the track don't realise they are hooked.

Leaving the product on the shelves as it is now will not help these people make a decision to quit, nor will it stop newcomers to the addiction, so IMO taking them off may make some changes and help a few to decide to not continue down that road. Most headaches and mild pains can be resolved without painkillers with a little extra fluid intake and little exercise a day or some stretching. In the US there are no opiate painkillers on any pharmacists shelves, it has prevented many people having access to a powerful and IMO underrated drug, codeine is no laughing matter and anyone who thinks it's a pissy little short life opiate is kidding themselves.

[FancyPants]

At the very least I hope this might make more of the public aware that ibuprofen and paracetamol abuse is as serious a matter as drug addiction. The general ignorance of the harmful effects of them on especially liver, kidneys and stomach is ridiculously dangerous, so why isn't the govt spending millions of $$$ on the dangers of pharmaceutical abuse advertisements? Oh yeah, cos the pharma companies PAYS them not to through political party donations...

I wonder if this would still have happened had so many "codeine abusers" spent a little bit of time and effort separating the more toxic shit from the codeine?

[ballzac]

Well obviously there are many types of addicts, those that are aware and continually wish to stop, want a healthier lifestyle and be codeine free, there are those who abuse it just as means to get high, those that abuse it and lazily found themselves simply reaching for it whenever they felt a mild headache coming on and then down the track don't realise they are hooked.

Leaving the product on the shelves as it is now will not help these people make a decision to quit, nor will it stop newcomers to the addiction, so IMO taking them off may make some changes and help a few to decide to not continue down that road. Most headaches and mild pains can be resolved without painkillers with a little extra fluid intake and little exercise a day or some stretching. In the US there are no opiate painkillers on any pharmacists shelves, it has prevented many people having access to a powerful and IMO underrated drug, codeine is no laughing matter and anyone who thinks it's a pissy little short life opiate is kidding themselves.

 

You make some good points, but on the downside, how long before we see codeine popping up on the streets in adulterated form as 'poor man's smack'? How many codeine addicts will move to other opiates when codeine becomes harder to source than street drugs? Not saying I know the answer to these questions, but just pointing out that the issue is complex. I don't think making good quality, unadulterated pharmaceuticals harder to obtain has helped in the past, and I don't see why it will help in the future.

[Chiral]

Unfortunately these tablets used to be in breakable form, half codeine and the other half the analgesic, people were popping just the codeine and throwing the Ibu away...at least this was a little safer on the stomach & kidneys etc, but no the damned religious lobbyist groups stepped in and said this was not right and made a real big fuss, therefore bringing to the masses a pill that was mixed and more dangerous than a clean snap-able one could ever be.

nice one.

[ballzac]

Yep. And that kind of illustrates my point. I think that any effort to prevent people from using a drug is always going to do more harm than good.

[alkatrope]

The National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee ordered the changes over concerns that 1 in 20,000 people abused combination analgesics containing codeine and ibuprofen

So we can still buy 96 packs tomorrow and wednesday, huh? Might be worth buying a couple, works out so much cheaper in bulk..

[Chiral]

How to Treat Your Pain without Causing More Grief

Many people reach for the pill bottle with little or no thought of what it might do to their health in the long run. Some 26,000 people die prematurely each year as a result…

It’s completely understandable to want to get rid of pain. However, please understand that there are many options to prescription painkillers that are much safer, even though they may require some patience.

Here are several guidelines that can help reduce, or potentially even eliminate, your pain, depending on its severity:

* Start taking a high-quality, animal-based omega-3. Omega-3 fats are precursors to mediators of inflammation called prostaglandins. (In fact, that is how anti-inflammatory painkillers work, they manipulate prostaglandins.)

* Eliminate or radically reduce most grains and sugars from your diet. Avoiding grains and sugars will lower your insulin and leptin levels. Elevated insulin and leptin levels are one of the most important reasons why inflammatory prostaglandins are produced. That is why stopping sugar and sweets is so important to controlling your pain and other types of chronic illnesses.

* Optimize your production of vitamin D by getting regular, appropriate sun exposure, which will work through a variety of different mechanisms to reduce your pain.

* Retool your diet based on your body’s unique nutritional type. Understanding your nutritional type is a tool I have seen work in thousands of patients to reduce their pain.

* Use effective energy psychology tools, such as kinesiology, which can address your previous emotional traumas that cause bioelectrical short circuiting, predisposing you to immune dysfunction.

* Use safer alternatives for temporary relief, while you are in the process of implementing the above strategies.

As you can see from the list above, there is no “quick fix” to treating pain, but rather it is a lifestyle change that will be well worth the effort.

The application of an integrated approach to your health, together we can formulate a strategy for optimum long-term health.

source

[shortly]

Its a good thing the powers that be finally noticed Codeine, God forbid the nanny state miss something.

We all need protecting from ourselves, heaven forbid someone might actually take some personal responsibility.

Chiral is right, if ppl took a little better care of their diets & paid attention to their own bodies the everyday use of drugs like codeine would plumet, OMFG that would negatively impact corporate profits. Better go back to business as usual. (sorry extremely cynical)

Tobacco next ? or is nanny state addicted to the excise?