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A comment on The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a backlog of autopsies. Parent comment

Re:The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a... by njarboe on Sunday October 08, 2017 @03:49AM (#15427380)
If you read up on Oxycontin, it was formulated and prescribed in a particular way that created many addicts[1]. In particular it was claimed to work for 12 hours when in some people worked for much less. Being on an opiate for pain and then having it wear off and being forced to wait in pain for sometime before taking it again, is a recipe for creating addiction. Many people also were less wary of taking the opiates when prescribed by their doctors.

I'm not sure if the opiate overdoes epidemic is a clear strike against legalization, but it is surely a cautionary tale about supporting a system of all drugs being open sale of unlimited quantities and unlimited advertising. I support some form of drug legalization but, unlike food that is controlled for content but not much else, legal drugs will need more regulation.

[1] http://www.latimes.com/projects/oxycontin-part1/

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Re:The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a... by greggarious on Sunday October 08, 2017 @09:57AM (#15428208)
I have zero background in chemistry, so this may be a dumb question: but if the issue is it not lasting 12 hours, why can't doctors halve the dose and prescribe it twice as often per day?
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Re:The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a... by othersideofcoin on Sunday October 08, 2017 @03:40PM (#15429608)
Because the 12 hr formula was part of a huge marketing push to reduce doctors' "opiphobia" and get them to prescribe more. Doctors were likely unaware of the roller coaster ride of withdrawal they were sending patients on.
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Re:The rise of drug overdoses in New Hampshire has created a... by hansthehorse on Monday October 09, 2017 @12:16AM (#15431543)
I believe the patent extension to keep it from going generic was predicated on the 12 hour, slow release, dosage.
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