I am sure that the moderators will not see this as going completely OT, but its hard for anyone to provide a good faith answer to the second question, as a good portion of the members use medicines that, when not prescribed, are largely used in their capacity under the UK's MODA 1971 (or equivalent post UN single convention malum prohibitum legislation) regardless of the presence (or absence) of subjective (and possibly objective) legitimate need.
While it has been a few years since I was last in Dublin, codeine phosphate is controlled in the UK under Class B of the MODA (the same as speed and cannabis) and I am sure the situation is similar in Eire. However, certain preparations of the drug are available over the counter in the UK provided they are poisoned with enough acetaminophen to ensure that people suffer severe liver damage if they try to attempt regularly ingesting prescription only level doses (30mg + >).
When it comes to health professionals, no one can advise you to be anything other than honest. Legitimate pain patients are left in the lurch all of the time due to their 'drug seeking behaviour' - if a patient actually wants a drug just because they need it to feel well or manage chronic illness, then they need to be prevented from accessing safe, medically supervised treatments, often forcing them to rely on the black market, the existence of which is vital to providing jobs in LE agencies and ensuring enough funds are available to maintain public, domestic and international corruption among our betters.
