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Hernando Today

Darker Side of Easing Pain

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By Kyle Martin

Hernando Today

Published: August 17, 2008

We live in a zombie nation.

If this sounds like an odd statement, you've either never been a zombie or had a loved one become a victim.

But chances are high you've at least come in contact with one.

To explain, there is a drug epidemic sweeping through America. That's nothing new or shocking. But this latest narcotics craze has a twist.

Unlike crack cocaine, heroin or even marijuana, people who abuse prescription pills can function just fine in society. Unlike someone strung out on PCP, for example, an addict high on painkillers can hold a conversation, walk without stumbling, run a business, serve your food and bag your groceries — everything a sober person can do.

But their mind is clouded, their body numb.

They become a zombie.

Prescription pill abuse killed three times more Floridians last year than an overdose of an illegal drug. Excluding alcohol, prescription pills accounted for 69 percent of all the drug occurrences in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's 2007 report on the drugs found in the systems of Florida's deceased.

What began as an underground trend of popping pills has "evolved into a monster now," says Kaleb Bierwirth.

Hitting Rock Bottom

Bierwirth, 45, speaks from experience. A Chicago native, he dabbled with heroin and marijuana during a stint as a blues guitarist in New York City.

He was prescribed methadone for pain following a traffic crash. The purpose of opiates is not to get high, but to numb the pain. It's when you gradually begin boosting the dosage when the numbness fades that it becomes a problem, said Bierwirth, a counselor with faith-based Jericho Road Ministries in Brooksville.

He was aware of the addictive properties of the drug, but Bierwirth thought he could control its pull. He was wrong.

"I didn't want to admit I was addicted," he said, but deep down inside, Bierwirth knew he had a problem. A cycle emerged: His self-esteem dropped because of his habit and the self-loathing pushed him to take more pills.

He hit rock bottom when his wife had him involuntarily committed under the Baker Act.

Coming clean is not easy. Sleep loss, skin crawls and vomiting torment the recovering addict. It typically takes the body up to six months to flush out all the toxins from drugs like crack cocaine and crystal meth. But with pain pills, an addict can expect a year or more to feel right.

"This stuff embeds itself in your bones," Bierwirth said.

There are alternatives to pills. Time release patches on the market gradually release medicine. Bierwirth has seen addicts so desperate for a fix that they've tried to eat the patch or inject it. For the record, that doesn't work.

Bierwirth finds there are several other differences between prescription pills and illicit drugs. With illegal drugs, there's a tendency to blow a whole paycheck on drugs and binge for three days, he said, but pill addicts tend to space out their supply.

The flipside is that while a pill addict can function OK while high, there is almost an immediate withdrawal without the pills. There's no motivation to get out of bed, Bierwirth said.

A Change In Perspective

In Larry Golbom's opinion, the problem is a matter of proper perspective. Golbom, a Tampa pharmacist, says the term "prescription drugs" gives the impression that painkillers are in the same category as penicillin.

But opiates such as oxycodone have the same molecular content as heroin — they are narcotics, said Golbom, who expresses his views as the host of a weekly AM program called Prescription Addiction Radio.

"Our drug companies have replaced Columbian cartels," he said.

Fighting his claims are myriad pain clinics and pain management foundations that describe chronic pain as a just as a serious disease as addiction.

The American Pain Foundation, for example, cites statistics from 2006 that 76.5 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. From their perspective, pain medications provide a new lease on life for people who cannot otherwise get around because of the condition.

A common position is that "horror stories" about pill addiction only scare off people who could be helped with medication. Doctors are afraid to prescribe pain relief for fear that the DEA will come busting into their clinic with an arrest warrant.

Golbom says "every number they throw out can be questioned."

Asked if it was hypocritical to speak out against painkillers as a pharmacist, Golbom agreed that was a fair question.

"It's my livelihood," he said. But, "this has become a dark side of our industry."

His concern is not for the terminally ill cancer patient, but the man with bloodshot eyes and shaky hands asking for 240 OxyContin or the woman pacing the floor as she waits for her prescription to be filled.

Golbom has turned people away on more than one occasion.

"It's disconcerting," he said.

Golbom considers himself a rational person who wouldn't subscribe to conspiracy theories. But he cannot understand why government agencies like the DEA or FDA do not crack down harder on drug companies.

"It's really scary right now," he said. "It comes down to what kind of society we want."

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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