News DEA crackdown on buprenorphine

[deficiT]

It looks like they would prefer we die, no surprises there...

DEA takes aggressive stance toward pharmacies trying to dispense addiction medicine

A West Virginia pharmacist wanted to help those hit by the opioid crisis. But a few years after he began providing medications to treat addiction, drug enforcement raided his pharmacy.

www.npr.org

"When Martin Njoku saw opioid addiction devastate his West Virginia community, he felt compelled to help. This was the place he'd called home for three decades, where he'd raised his two girls and turned his dream of owning a pharmacy into reality.

In 2016, after flooding displaced people in nearby counties, Njoku began dispensing buprenorphine to them and to local customers at his Oak Hill Hometown Pharmacy in Fayette County.

Buprenorphine, a controlled substance sold under the brand names Subutex and Suboxone, is a medication to treat opioid use disorder. Research shows it halves the risk of overdose and doubles people's chances of entering long-term recovery.

"I thought I was doing what was righteous for people who have illness," Njoku said.

But a few years later, the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Njoku's pharmacy and accused the facility of contributing to the opioid epidemic rather than curbing it. The agency revoked the pharmacy's registration to dispense controlled substances, claiming it posed an "imminent danger to public health and safety."

Although two judges separately ruled in Njoku's favor, the DEA's actions effectively shuttered his business."

 

[Jabberwocky]

accused the facility of contributing to the opioid epidemic rather than curbing it.

Well you don't want people to have one of the most safest opioids (when compared to potency it is crazy) circulating the streets. I mean someone could OD on oxycodone or morphine and his friends could reverse the OD with buprenorphine. Naloxone was too much of a gift already, what do people expect???...says he sarcastically...

I am really not quite sure why the States are seemingly getting crazier and more irrelevant on the global scale every year. This could be crazy talk but I am quite sure that Putin and Xi took over a number of institutions in USA and Canada. Mexico as a base with big backup from China and logistics from Russia seem to be quite obvious military bases in this drug war. Too many suspicious craziness at the same time playing out to be just chance. I still remember where I was sitting when I read the FDAs, sorry DEAs, review which stated something like:"Drug gangs are seeing heroin as an adulterant in fentanyl drug trade.". Or something very similar.

I am a bit off topic and conspiratorial but you NA people surprise me (in a bad way) with each passing year. This is coming from a person who lived in a country that was run by a president that said "Fuck off!" to Stalin and lived for another 30 years in his communist regime (Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito). If you can't see what is happening let me help - you're being screwed. The war on drugs is truly the war - war with drugs. Just look at the drug laws in Russia and China and do the math.

Do the math not meth. Or do the math on meth. Now I am really straying off topic.

 

[xaddictx]

DEA--Dead End Assholes

 

[neversickanymore]

Drug prohibition has always been about control.. same as it ever was

 

[neversickanymore]

Well you don't want people to have one of the most safest opioids (when compared to potency it is crazy) circulating the streets. I mean someone could OD on oxycodone or morphine and his friends could reverse the OD with buprenorphine. Naloxone was too much of a gift already, what do people expect???...says he sarcastically...

I am really not quite sure why the States are seemingly getting crazier and more irrelevant on the global scale every year. This could be crazy talk but I am quite sure that Putin and Xi took over a number of institutions in USA and Canada. Mexico as a base with big backup from China and logistics from Russia seem to be quite obvious military bases in this drug war. Too many suspicious craziness at the same time playing out to be just chance. I still remember where I was sitting when I read the FDAs, sorry DEAs, review which stated something like:"Drug gangs are seeing heroin as an adulterant in fentanyl drug trade.". Or something very similar.

I am a bit off topic and conspiratorial but you NA people surprise me (in a bad way) with each passing year. This is coming from a person who lived in a country that was run by a president that said "Fuck off!" to Stalin and lived for another 30 years in his communist regime (Yugoslavia and Josip Broz Tito). If you can't see what is happening let me help - you're being screwed. The war on drugs is truly the war - war with drugs. Just look at the drug laws in Russia and China and do the math.

Do the math not meth. Or do the math on meth. Now I am really straying off topic.

Nahh.. because I don’t see China or Russia as being the big players.. who needs a big player when the US is already the biggest player in the drug war?

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

They probably went after him because he was dispensing generic bupe instead of the patented suboxone strips. I'll bet you anything he was giving the stuff away at cost. I'll also bet you anything a licensed clinic is operating in that area which is charging $100+ a week to stay in their program. That's $100 a week on top of peeing in front of someone every time, attending group meetings, and risking being kicked out at any moment should your pee contain thc or less bupe than you are prescribed.

I've had one experience with a clinic and I will NEVER go back. They are just drug dealers. I spoke to a woman on skype for 5 minutes and walked out with a script for 24mg of bupe daily. 24mg daily for a 40-60mg a day oxycodone habit. Madness. I paid them $200 for half my monthly prescription and never returned. I had a nervous breakdown when I got back home. I realized this was no better than scoring dope on the street. At least the guy on the street doesn't watch me piss then yell at me when I can't go. At least he doesn't force me to attend meetings with people I don't want to be around and talk about my drug use. Great idea that group stuff. That's exactly what I need when I'm attempting to quit. A room full of junkies talking about all the times they've done dope.

If I would have continued going there I would have just ended up with more sources for the drugs I was attempting to stop using.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

I saw this on NPR; it makes me sad/angry but I'm not surprised that Subutex is being cracked down on. I'm honestly surprised ANY methadone clinics still exist seeing as it's a very good opioid. Why would they let us have anything? Drug users deserve death for being so, so evil, right?

 

[Nurse Ratched]

The Department of Corrections doesn't like bupe either. All the detainees are on it. It s now the #1 smuggled drug into the prison system.

Read an article the other day where a guy did an 8 year stretch and had bupe everyday of his sentence. Guards are bringing it in by the wheelbarrow full ( the strips ) and anyone on the street that say they have a habit can get it. Don't even have to be in WD anymore for a GP to dispense it. And State funded medicaid programs pay for it. Make an appt. Walk in and say you are an addict. Take your first dose and wait one hour. Walk out with a script for 18-24 mgs per day. 90 ct. 8 mg. sub strips. Bingo. And when you aren't an addict and don't want it in the first place it makes diverting it a piece of cake.

Everyone I run into from my old drugging days are carrying 10 strips in their wallet for sale.

There's always going to be the ones that ruin it for the others. I know there are people out there that it saved their life and are on it today. The abusers always mess it up for the people that need it the most.

 

[Cream Gravy?]

Walk out with a script for 18-24 mgs per day. 90 ct. 8 mg. sub strips. Bingo.

Christ almighty. I've been on/off bupre/methadone for most of this year, I still never pass .4mg of bupre daily. 1mg would have me puking in between nodding. That's just downright irresponsible prescribing practices.

 

[neversickanymore]

The Department of Corrections doesn't like bupe either. All the detainees are on it. It s now the #1 smuggled drug into the prison system.

Read an article the other day where a guy did an 8 year stretch and had bupe everyday of his sentence. Guards are bringing it in by the wheelbarrow full ( the strips ) and anyone on the street that say they have a habit can get it. Don't even have to be in WD anymore for a GP to dispense it. And State funded medicaid programs pay for it. Make an appt. Walk in and say you are an addict. Take your first dose and wait one hour. Walk out with a script for 18-24 mgs per day. 90 ct. 8 mg. sub strips. Bingo. And when you aren't an addict and don't want it in the first place it makes diverting it a piece of cake.

Everyone I run into from my old drugging days are carrying 10 strips in their wallet for sale.

There's always going to be the ones that ruin it for the others. I know there are people out there that it saved their life and are on it today. The abusers always mess it up for the people that need it the most.

But who is going to take it besides those that need it?

 

[Nurse Ratched]

But who is going to take it besides those that need it?

A lot of people take it recreationally. Like the guy that did 8 years. He didn't have a habit of anything when he went in but when he came out he sure did. Guy was just bored so he figured he'd do subs every day. That's all that was floating around so he figured why not. Opioid scripts dried up.....people that wanted an opioid high but didn't want to move on to heroin had no other option than to see if the subs would replace the perks they were buying. Some moved on to heroin/fent to get their fix as the subs couldn't cut it.

You must not have much sub diversion and abuse in your neck of the woods. They sell 'em like candy around here. Some people actually prefer them. .

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

But who is going to take it besides those that need it?

It's now a lot of people's introduction to opioids because it's so available. I was buying strips for a very low cost off the street. One strip even with my history of opioid use can last me nearly a week. When I went to the clinic I was given 24mg daily without any real questions asked about my current/past use.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

Guy was just bored so he figured he'd do subs every day. That's all that was floating around so he figured why not. Opioid scripts dried up.....people that wanted an opioid high but didn't want to move on to heroin had no other option than to see if the subs would replace the perks they were buying. Some moved on to heroin/fent to get their fix as the subs couldn't cut it.

This reminds me so much of my friend. He did subs for the last 6 months because his roommate is selling them (along with other opioids). He had past experience with oxycodone. Well the roommate cut him off because he's a pussy hound that would rather sell to some chick than his own friends.

So my friend goes into bupe withdrawal for the first time for 6 days. He's telling me how horrible he feels and I'm like yeah dude that's withdrawal you should have known it was going to happen if you did bupe daily. Somehow we get to talking about oxy and he made this statement to me:

15mg of oxy for what he's selling it for is a good deal. I could make that last three days

I got a bit mad about this. I explained that no it isn't a good deal because you can't even get high for a $20 bill. His response was "maybe you need to slow down". I got even more mad about that comment. I haven't touched oxy in years but even I know 15mg is a waste of money if you're paying street prices for it. I told him he's a fucking dumb ass because he should have never used bupe in the first place if his tolerance was that low to start with. Despite all the times I warned him not to fuck around with opioids here he is suffering because he thought he knew better than me.

He's fucked I guess. After suffering for over a week and getting clear of the worst of withdrawals he did more bupe as soon as he could talk his roommate into selling him one. I don't see any possible way for him to stay off opioids now. He's already making up excuses for dosing it. All those aches and pains he'd been dealing with for years are suddenly too much for him to handle on the daily.

I told him to buy 15mg of oxy and see how it feels now. I bet it won't even provide pain relief anymore. No way he'll be able to stretch it over multiple days. Welcome to the club!

The most frustrating thing for me in life is people asking me for my advice, ignoring it, then coming back and saying they should have listened.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

This reminds me so much of my friend. He did subs for the last 6 months because his roommate is selling them (along with other opioids). He had past experience with oxycodone. Well the roommate cut him off because he's a pussy hound that would rather sell to some chick than his own friends.

So my friend goes into bupe withdrawal for the first time for 6 days. He's telling me how horrible he feels and I'm like yeah dude that's withdrawal you should have known it was going to happen if you did bupe daily. Somehow we get to talking about oxy and he made this statement to me:


I got a bit mad about this. I explained that no it isn't a good deal because you can't even get high for a $20 bill. His response was "maybe you need to slow down". I got even more mad about that comment. I haven't touched oxy in years but even I know 15mg is a waste of money if you're paying street prices for it. I told him he's a fucking dumb ass because he should have never used bupe in the first place if his tolerance was that low to start with. Despite all the times I warned him not to fuck around with opioids here he is suffering because he thought he knew better than me.

He's fucked I guess. After suffering for over a week and getting clear of the worst of withdrawals he did more bupe as soon as he could talk his roommate into selling him one. I don't see any possible way for him to stay off opioids now. He's already making up excuses for dosing it. All those aches and pains he'd been dealing with for years are suddenly too much for him to handle on the daily.

I told him to buy 15mg of oxy and see how it feels now. I bet it won't even provide pain relief anymore. No way he'll be able to stretch it over multiple days. Welcome to the club!

The most frustrating thing for me in life is people asking me for my advice, ignoring it, then coming back and saying they should have listened.

Exactly this.

 

[neversickanymore]

A lot of people take it recreationally. Like the guy that did 8 years. He didn't have a habit of anything when he went in but when he came out he sure did. Guy was just bored so he figured he'd do subs every day. That's all that was floating around so he figured why not. Opioid scripts dried up.....people that wanted an opioid high but didn't want to move on to heroin had no other option than to see if the subs would replace the perks they were buying. Some moved on to heroin/fent to get their fix as the subs couldn't cut it.

You must not have much sub diversion and abuse in your neck of the woods. They sell 'em like candy around here. Some people actually prefer them. .

It's now a lot of people's introduction to opioids because it's so available. I was buying strips for a very low cost off the street. One strip even with my history of opioid use can last me nearly a week. When I went to the clinic I was given 24mg daily without any real questions asked about my current/past use.

im sure it’s around my neck of the woods. At this point I’m almost a decade away from that world. I jumped and never looked back. Five friends are dead. Right now I only know one person on opiates and she is in hospice with terminal cancer. Im insanely grateful to have made it out of that nightmare.

 

[HeadphonesandLSD]

im sure it’s around my neck of the woods. At this point I’m almost a decade away from that world. I jumped and never looked back. Five friends are dead. Right now I only know one person on opiates and she is in hospice with terminal cancer. Im insanely grateful to have made it out of that nightmare.

I've jumped off three or four times now. Underlying pain keeps me coming back. I switched to bupe months ago because it was preferable to eating kratom multiple times a day (cheaper to). I prefer taking one small piece of a strip in the morning to having to sneak off every 4-8 hours for a re-dose of plant material.

I wouldn't even have gotten access to the bupe if it didn't walk into my life again. My stupid friend thinks he can get away selling opioids like it's pot. He will not listen to any of my warnings no matter how much I beg him to stop. The asshole even refused to sell me bupe and tried to push oxycodone on me multiple times despite me telling him I am not interested in anything but bupe. My solution? Cut him off until he stops or the bad thing happens. It will happen. You don't sell to junkies spending that kind of money on pills everyday without something eventually happening.

That's the part I hate the most about opioids. The friends it didn't kill are friends I can no longer see. I can not compromise the control I have over my own demon by getting around people that give no fucks. I'd love to sit around snorting pills all day and nodding. But I can't afford it in the current market and even if I could I don't want to deal with the people selling it.

If I could find a doctor that wasn't afraid to prescribe me 40mg of hydrocodone daily I would be perfectly content with that and it would drastically improve the quality of my life. But no doctor seems to exist. I'm always "too young" or "hair is to long" or "thc was detected in minimal amounts in your pee so that means you're a junkie". I don't know wtf the problem is. I guess I should just go in there with the intentions of scamming them out of pills instead of trying to get better.

10 times out of 10 when I've gone to a doctor they've sent me out with free samples of heavy antidepressants. Most of the time without even drawing blood or seeing me for longer than a few minutes. Every time I go there are pharmacy reps in the waiting room who get seen before patients that have been there for hours. We all know they're just drug dealers. I'm willing to pay cash for the good shit. I don't understand their problem.

I agree with you opioids are horrible and everyone would be wise never to start them. But I'm the result of them flooding the market with pills and prescribing them for headaches. I am dependent for life at this point. Giving me 40mg of Hydro a day is not doing any harm. In fact, it's less harmful than giving me bupe or leaving me to constantly cycle in and out of withdrawal because sources are unreliable. The clinics are not an option. I will not subject myself to that level of humiliation for opioids. I'd rather be dope sick.

 

[neversickanymore]

I've jumped off three or four times now. Underlying pain keeps me coming back. I switched to bupe months ago because it was preferable to eating kratom multiple times a day (cheaper to). I prefer taking one small piece of a strip in the morning to having to sneak off every 4-8 hours for a re-dose of plant material.

I wouldn't even have gotten access to the bupe if it didn't walk into my life again. My stupid friend thinks he can get away selling opioids like it's pot. He will not listen to any of my warnings no matter how much I beg him to stop. The asshole even refused to sell me bupe and tried to push oxycodone on me multiple times despite me telling him I am not interested in anything but bupe. My solution? Cut him off until he stops or the bad thing happens. It will happen. You don't sell to junkies spending that kind of money on pills everyday without something eventually happening.

That's the part I hate the most about opioids. The friends it didn't kill are friends I can no longer see. I can not compromise the control I have over my own demon by getting around people that give no fucks. I'd love to sit around snorting pills all day and nodding. But I can't afford it in the current market and even if I could I don't want to deal with the people selling it.

If I could find a doctor that wasn't afraid to prescribe me 40mg of hydrocodone daily I would be perfectly content with that and it would drastically improve the quality of my life. But no doctor seems to exist. I'm always "too young" or "hair is to long" or "thc was detected in minimal amounts in your pee so that means you're a junkie". I don't know wtf the problem is. I guess I should just go in there with the intentions of scamming them out of pills instead of trying to get better.

10 times out of 10 when I've gone to a doctor they've sent me out with free samples of heavy antidepressants. Most of the time without even drawing blood or seeing me for longer than a few minutes. Every time I go there are pharmacy reps in the waiting room who get seen before patients that have been there for hours. We all know they're just drug dealers. I'm willing to pay cash for the good shit. I don't understand their problem.

I agree with you opioids are horrible and everyone would be wise never to start them. But I'm the result of them flooding the market with pills and prescribing them for headaches. I am dependent for life at this point. Giving me 40mg of Hydro a day is not doing any harm. In fact, it's less harmful than giving me bupe or leaving me to constantly cycle in and out of withdrawal because sources are unreliable. The clinics are not an option. I will not subject myself to that level of humiliation for opioids. I'd rather be dope sick.

your score may be to high in the algorithm.

the medical profession is so fucking terrible at not making their opiate crisis so much worse.. everything they do makes them look stupid and kills more people. The crime syndicates must just love them

The Pain Was Unbearable. So Why Did Doctors Turn Her Away?

A sweeping drug addiction risk algorithm has become central to how the US handles the opioid crisis. It may only be making the crisis worse.

www.google.com

 

[deficiT]

I've jumped off three or four times now. Underlying pain keeps me coming back. I switched to bupe months ago because it was preferable to eating kratom multiple times a day (cheaper to). I prefer taking one small piece of a strip in the morning to having to sneak off every 4-8 hours for a re-dose of plant material.

I wouldn't even have gotten access to the bupe if it didn't walk into my life again. My stupid friend thinks he can get away selling opioids like it's pot. He will not listen to any of my warnings no matter how much I beg him to stop. The asshole even refused to sell me bupe and tried to push oxycodone on me multiple times despite me telling him I am not interested in anything but bupe. My solution? Cut him off until he stops or the bad thing happens. It will happen. You don't sell to junkies spending that kind of money on pills everyday without something eventually happening.

That's the part I hate the most about opioids. The friends it didn't kill are friends I can no longer see. I can not compromise the control I have over my own demon by getting around people that give no fucks. I'd love to sit around snorting pills all day and nodding. But I can't afford it in the current market and even if I could I don't want to deal with the people selling it.

If I could find a doctor that wasn't afraid to prescribe me 40mg of hydrocodone daily I would be perfectly content with that and it would drastically improve the quality of my life. But no doctor seems to exist. I'm always "too young" or "hair is to long" or "thc was detected in minimal amounts in your pee so that means you're a junkie". I don't know wtf the problem is. I guess I should just go in there with the intentions of scamming them out of pills instead of trying to get better.

10 times out of 10 when I've gone to a doctor they've sent me out with free samples of heavy antidepressants. Most of the time without even drawing blood or seeing me for longer than a few minutes. Every time I go there are pharmacy reps in the waiting room who get seen before patients that have been there for hours. We all know they're just drug dealers. I'm willing to pay cash for the good shit. I don't understand their problem.

I agree with you opioids are horrible and everyone would be wise never to start them. But I'm the result of them flooding the market with pills and prescribing them for headaches. I am dependent for life at this point. Giving me 40mg of Hydro a day is not doing any harm. In fact, it's less harmful than giving me bupe or leaving me to constantly cycle in and out of withdrawal because sources are unreliable. The clinics are not an option. I will not subject myself to that level of humiliation for opioids. I'd rather be dope sick.

I feel your pain brother. I have been on the kratom ---> bupe train cycle for quite some time now. Currently on 2mg bupe but I am tapering off. I am hoping not to start back again on any opioids but I have considered getting some tianeptine, as I really enjoyed that when I tried it before. I don't want to be dependent on opioids anymore but they honestly do improve my mood and my quality of life, so there's that. Idk, it's problematic but honestly opioids are the least "problem" drugs that I've ever been dependent on. They don't cause me to act out impulsively, get paranoid or delusional, or cause me any problems really other than spending too much money on them.

Idk, it's a love/hate thing.

 

[tubgirl.jpg]

But who is going to take it besides those that need it?

Before I had a tolerance to stronger opioids, Suboxone was my absolute favorite. .5-1mg intranasally and I'd be high for almost the entire day.
Long legs, great nod, cheap as hell. Beside opium, those highs on Suboxone were better than heroin for me.
Lotsa people use recreationally.

It's mostly a matter of tolerance (and metabolism and individual differences of course).

 

[Burnt Offerings]

Yeah if you bang it (which I wouldn’t recommend doing, but just saying...) it’s equivalent, enjoyment-wise, to the plateau phase of being high on dope. It lasts a hell of a long time too. My friends and I used to joke about it being the “socially-acceptable heroin” or “government heroin”.

Where I live it is dirt cheap, people practically give it away. It is BY FAR the least expensive opioid on the street.