Well I wouldn't say that I have faith in the system.
With psychoactive drugs there is always a risk that people may abuse them but that should never be a reason not to prescribe a drug when it is indicated.
When taking into account the risk to benefit ratio, the possibility of a medication inducing a substance abuse disorder in a previously drug naive patient does need to be considered, but when you look at the empirical evidence the proportion of legitimate patients that subsequently turn into drug addicts is very low.
I've been prescribed benzodiazepines for a long time but don't use them on a daily basis as I find them somewhat unpleasant and flattening.
Yep I agree with all the above. Except not prescribing it! But I’m bias, I couldn’t live life without codeine, I’m sensitive to tramadol, find oramorph completely ineffective and anything stronger has such a sedating effect that I struggle to do anything.
I take up to 60mg, sometimes with diazepam, and taper off quickly and easily with little issue. I go months without it, but it’s a life saver when needed. I am particularly careful because I recognise how easy it would be to fall into a spiral.
I think I’ve come across as being anti prescription, but I hope this post belies that.
I was more angling towards ‘dependance will happen for a small percentage of people’ and I don’t think we’ll ever stop that.
It’s nice to see people discuss it, even in the thread of such a sad event.
