I have been in practice for over 25 years and this is NOTHING NEW. I have seen this from the beginning and it has not changed one iota....
As another old timer (22 years), I have to disagree (sort of). I agree that the abuse of pharmaceuticals has always gone under-recognized, but Oxycontin abuse has, here in Canada, replaced heroin as the number one opioid of abuse in all but two of our major cities. In the US, oxycodone prescriptions have increased 400% over the past ten years, and there's all sorts of diversion from that, though the numbers vary, depending on what study you read.
I work in methadone maintenance, and I'm seeing all sorts of people who have never injected anything in their lives, preferring instead to chew "oxys," "T3s," fentanyl patches, and whatever other pharmaceutical opioids they can get their hands on.
I suppose from a harm reduction point of view, no needles is a good thing. Basically, these people doctor-shop, finding docs who give them whatever they want until they (the docs) get their narcotic-prescribing license taken away by the college. Most docs are solid, but the addicts seem to find those ones who will prescribe anything requested.
Diversion of benzos is also up.
