GM Thuggery

[Tetge]

I personally saw, and have still witnessed, a lot of pain medication addiction issues when I was still working, and even recently. It was fairly universal that all habitual users were addicted and also that they all developed tolerances for the medications that meant that they did not ever feel that good old relief that they initially got. This always led to them looking for any opportunity to get more medication from any source at all. And, this is, of course, true for any addiction. Now, the government has stepped in, in response to the real and perceived dangers of pain medications, and tightened the availability of pain meds, and this is bad news for those addicted (see developing tolerance, above). There are also personality changes that go hand in hand with long term addictions, and, not everyone can maintain when drugged up.

There has been little discussion of tobacco and alcohol in this thread, but, they still are legal most places, although both have legal restrictions to deal with. So, there are already two addicting substances out there, and you could add caffeine to the list as well, and maybe sugar. Which leads me to ice cream and cakes and other fattening foods of questionable nutritional value. Perhaps the government should restrict those potentially harmful items as well? I mean, fat people take up more than their fair share of room, and they consume more than their share of calories, and all the doctors agree that they are not healthy as they exceed the BMI obesity guidelines, and we all know that medical statistics can not be incorrect.

But, as prohibition proved, humans like to indulge in mind bending, reality distorting, substances. Humans sought out and cultivated and invented all such substances, and, as far as I know, indulging in hedonistic pleasures are as old as humanity. Laws may hamper those who seek to satisfy their addiction(s), but, a review of history, would reveal that laws never change human nature.

Now, having finished my mandatory coffee, as caffeine withdrawals are real and quite painful, where is my morning Bloody Mary, or Margarita, or shot of gin, or even bottle of red? And, don't even get me started on salt addicton or pizza addiction......