5 ms·

What drives me crazy is, if you go to a psychiatrist today and lie about having hard time sleeping, they can immediately prescribe you Ambien which not only cau

What drives me crazy is, if you go to a psychiatrist today and lie about having hard time sleeping, they can immediately prescribe you Ambien which not only causes dementia and other neurological problems in long term use, but systematically makes people do absolutely batshit crazy things they'll never remember the next morning. In the US, drug regulations are absolutely ridiculous and have no scientific basis, it is randomly decided by a few individuals and systematically affect the lives of each and every person living in the US, citizen or not. I can't even begin to believe how&why we let things like this happen.

craftyguy 8y ago
>I can't even begin to believe how&why we let things like this happen. $$$.
- sizzle 8y ago
  CBD and THC can easily be monetized for profit so what's the issue?
  - acct1771 8y ago
    Competition, as in, ease of home drug creation.
  - SerLava 8y ago
    The issue was that we wanted a new loophole for the 13th amendment. We also really wanted to permanently "deport" Americans who had brown skin. There's a lot of money in that.
    - simplecomplex 8y ago
      Don’t know why you’re downvoted, since the Controlled Substances Act was meant to disrupt African American and leftist political efforts, according to Nixon’s domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman. They couldn’t raid black panther meetings for legally possessing guns, but they could for smoking joints and selling drugs. "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people," former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman told Harper's writer Dan Baum for the April cover story published Tuesday.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/03/23/poli...
  - denkmoon 8y ago
    We haven't left the 1920's in terms of using drug law to "clean up" "undesirables".
    - 8note 8y ago
      wasn't this 70s drug law to prevent people from voting agaisnt Nixon? those people would still vote against Trump, so they shouldn't be allowed to
sigi45 8y ago
benzos and amphetamins, easy to get legally as long as you don't try to get thc or some magic forms of amphetamins like crystal. And when you are an black us citizen, have fun in prison. It is stupid...
qubax 8y ago
> they can immediately prescribe you Ambien which not only causes dementia and other neurological problems in long term use, but systematically makes people do absolutely batshit crazy things they'll never remember the next morning. Not only that, the same psychiatrist might be getting kickbacks from the maker of ambien to peddle it to their clients. >it is randomly decided by a few individuals It isn't randomly decided. It's systematically decided by drug companies.
- CynicalDio 8y ago
  It's bizarre. I have been treated for ADHD with stimulants for years and when I walk my psychs office there is Adderall/Vyvanse and Shire Pharmaceutical paraphernalia all over the walls, posters, tote bags, little models of the brain stamped with "Adderall XR".
Fellshard 8y ago
'Consumer protection' makes extremely good political capital.
eftychis 8y ago
So far I did not have that issue, but I am getting a bit concerned. If that is correct, going to a doctor, despite paying a hefty price, I have to double and sanity check my doctor's prescriptions. I don't want to end up accidentally dealing with terrible side-effects for little gain... And I can not say I can trust my pharmacist to raise a flag on a dangerous prescription or interference between medication, as I would back home. Perhaps this is a subjective feeling. P.S. On second thought: I am concerned about a friend who is getting over prescribed addictive medication for chronic back pain (see Vicodin/ Hydrocodone w. paracetamol). I have discussed this with a few family doctors overseas who all agree it is a terrible idea. Yet it is kind of standard in the U.S. Anyone with medical training in the U.S. has experience, thoughts or care to pitch in?
- gnulinux 8y ago
  It is true. We had endless conversations about Ambien in Hackersnews, one example here 50 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17591515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17591515 I was prescribed Ambien by going to a doctor for insomnia. No tests, no nothing. Sure I legit had insomnia, a pretty bad one at that, but they just asked me my problem I told them I can't sleep, next thing I know I'm prescribed Ambien. This the university hospital one of the best universities in US, not some random rural hospital. You should never ever use any drug without doing your own research about it. Doesn't matter if #1 MD in the Western World prescribed it. Drug industry is nothing but a game to make 1% of 1% richer.
- schreiaj 8y ago
  My other half has a chronic psychiatric condition, after struggling for 2 years we'd found a combo that worked. Prior to that though, we'd had to check drug/drug interactions ourselves because a previous doctor simply didn't, nor did the pharmacist... Been using Epocrates (the free parts) to check interactions and side effects. Beats digging through the FDA website for it. One suggestion, NEVER look up common drugs like Advil.
  - eftychis 8y ago
    >> One suggestion, NEVER look up common drugs like Advil. Why is that?
meko 8y ago
Or opiates, or benzodiazeprines, or amphetamine. The list goes on.

craftyguy 8y ago

>I can't even begin to believe how&why we let things like this happen. $$$.

sizzle 8y ago
CBD and THC can easily be monetized for profit so what's the issue?
- acct1771 8y ago
  Competition, as in, ease of home drug creation.
- SerLava 8y ago
  The issue was that we wanted a new loophole for the 13th amendment. We also really wanted to permanently "deport" Americans who had brown skin. There's a lot of money in that.
  - simplecomplex 8y ago
    Don’t know why you’re downvoted, since the Controlled Substances Act was meant to disrupt African American and leftist political efforts, according to Nixon’s domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman. They couldn’t raid black panther meetings for legally possessing guns, but they could for smoking joints and selling drugs. "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people," former Nixon domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman told Harper's writer Dan Baum for the April cover story published Tuesday.” https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2016/03/23/poli...
- denkmoon 8y ago
  We haven't left the 1920's in terms of using drug law to "clean up" "undesirables".
  - 8note 8y ago
    wasn't this 70s drug law to prevent people from voting agaisnt Nixon? those people would still vote against Trump, so they shouldn't be allowed to

sigi45 8y ago

benzos and amphetamins, easy to get legally as long as you don't try to get thc or some magic forms of amphetamins like crystal. And when you are an black us citizen, have fun in prison. It is stupid...

qubax 8y ago

> they can immediately prescribe you Ambien which not only causes dementia and other neurological problems in long term use, but systematically makes people do absolutely batshit crazy things they'll never remember the next morning. Not only that, the same psychiatrist might be getting kickbacks from the maker of ambien to peddle it to their clients. >it is randomly decided by a few individuals It isn't randomly decided. It's systematically decided by drug companies.

CynicalDio 8y ago
It's bizarre. I have been treated for ADHD with stimulants for years and when I walk my psychs office there is Adderall/Vyvanse and Shire Pharmaceutical paraphernalia all over the walls, posters, tote bags, little models of the brain stamped with "Adderall XR".

Fellshard 8y ago

'Consumer protection' makes extremely good political capital.

eftychis 8y ago

So far I did not have that issue, but I am getting a bit concerned. If that is correct, going to a doctor, despite paying a hefty price, I have to double and sanity check my doctor's prescriptions. I don't want to end up accidentally dealing with terrible side-effects for little gain... And I can not say I can trust my pharmacist to raise a flag on a dangerous prescription or interference between medication, as I would back home. Perhaps this is a subjective feeling. P.S. On second thought: I am concerned about a friend who is getting over prescribed addictive medication for chronic back pain (see Vicodin/ Hydrocodone w. paracetamol). I have discussed this with a few family doctors overseas who all agree it is a terrible idea. Yet it is kind of standard in the U.S. Anyone with medical training in the U.S. has experience, thoughts or care to pitch in?

gnulinux 8y ago
It is true. We had endless conversations about Ambien in Hackersnews, one example here 50 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17591515 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17591515 I was prescribed Ambien by going to a doctor for insomnia. No tests, no nothing. Sure I legit had insomnia, a pretty bad one at that, but they just asked me my problem I told them I can't sleep, next thing I know I'm prescribed Ambien. This the university hospital one of the best universities in US, not some random rural hospital. You should never ever use any drug without doing your own research about it. Doesn't matter if #1 MD in the Western World prescribed it. Drug industry is nothing but a game to make 1% of 1% richer.
schreiaj 8y ago
My other half has a chronic psychiatric condition, after struggling for 2 years we'd found a combo that worked. Prior to that though, we'd had to check drug/drug interactions ourselves because a previous doctor simply didn't, nor did the pharmacist... Been using Epocrates (the free parts) to check interactions and side effects. Beats digging through the FDA website for it. One suggestion, NEVER look up common drugs like Advil.
- eftychis 8y ago
  >> One suggestion, NEVER look up common drugs like Advil. Why is that?

meko 8y ago

Or opiates, or benzodiazeprines, or amphetamine. The list goes on.