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CHRONIC-PAIN SUFFERERS IGNORED

I have suffered from chronic pain for 24 years.

I use opiates to help control the pain so I can have some quality of life, so that I can be married, care for my father and friends, volunteer and do my work.  The fact that people abuse opioids has made it more difficult for people who need them, like me, to get them.  It makes me angry that there is so much attention on the addicts and so little on others who need these meds but are shamed and denied.

You never see a chronic-pain sufferer on TV.  I don't want to be on these meds and would be happy to use something else if there were something available.  I don't think safe-injection sites are a good idea.  I do think addiction should be treated like a disease, not something to be ashamed about.

But we need to make addicts more accountable for their care, just like chronic-pain sufferers are.  There are medications, like Buprenorphine, that can help addicts get off heroin, but there aren't enough doctors able to prescribe them.  We need more pain doctors, more use of the meds that would help and more money for programs that actually do something instead of just enabling addicts.

Joy Walker, Seattle