Drug treatment and gun rights.

[bakersman345]

I good friend if mine recently told me he had a addiction to pain pills after a surgery on his knee. He wants to get into some kind of treatment. Probably a suboxone program but is concerned he won't be able to buy a gun again if he goes through with it. He lives in Washington state, any doctors or lawyers have any answers for him?

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[CountryGent]

I'm no lawyer, so I won't comment at length. However, the ATF has a guide on this topic here. The fact your friend is voluntarily seeking treatment, versus being involuntarily committed, is a key point.

 

[scrandall01215]

A good friend of mine has gone through treatment. If its voluntary it's a none issue. There's no way of tracking it.
Stacy

 

[Joe13]

I'm not that friend if anyone was wandering.

Sorry about your friend man, drawing the line between reasonable pain and addiction after pain can be tough - that's why I keep trying to get off my pain meds sooner then I should and end up in agony at times (tonight I waited an extra grueling hour to take my pills and it's been 2 hours after the pills were taken and I am just barely hanging on by trying to stay busy but as soon as there is a lag I notice the pain straight away.


Best of luck to friend and good luck finding your answers.

 

[billdeserthills]

I hear many good things about using kratom to get off of opiates, unfortunately the dea has announced that they are making kratom a scheduled drug at the end of this month in order to help out big pharma, like they need help...

 

[nwwoodsman]

Suboxone is just addictive as the opiates. Your friend needs to be damned sure that's the only option for him. While it's his right to own a firearm it may be a good idea for him to hold off on a purchase. Prescription drugs and the withdrawals from can really screw with ones ability to think rationally.

 

[Joe13]

I hear many good things about using kratom to get off of opiates, unfortunately the dea has announced that they are making kratom a scheduled drug at the end of this month in order to help out big pharma, like they need help...

Suboxone is just addictive as the opiates. Your friend needs to be damned sure that's the only option for him. While it's his right to own a firearm it may be a good idea for him to hold off on a purchase. Prescription drugs and the withdrawals from can really screw with ones ability to think rationally.

There is another legal (on the west coast) drug that isn't addictive that has been proven to help with withdrawal symptoms and doesn't require a paper trail...

Wifey and I agreed that if bump in the night happens, at least until I'm not on pain meds, that she will be grabbing the gun and I get a crutch to swing at an intruder

 

[bakersman345]

Suboxone is just addictive as the opiates. Your friend needs to be damned sure that's the only option for him. While it's his right to own a firearm it may be a good idea for him to hold off on a purchase. Prescription drugs and the withdrawals from can really screw with ones ability to think rationally.

Yeah I don't know anything about it. I've been fortunate not to need any surgery's or pain pills. I'm hoping he can get it sorted out without losing anything. I suggested that he let someone hold onto his meds and do a taper until he can stop without the pain. I'm not available enough to give him a dose every few hours or whatever it would be. Hopefully he steps up and tells his wife so she can help him along.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I'm not that friend if anyone was wandering.

Sorry about your friend man, drawing the line between reasonable pain and addiction after pain can be tough - that's why I keep trying to get off my pain meds sooner then I should and end up in agony at times (tonight I waited an extra grueling hour to take my pills and it's been 2 hours after the pills were taken and I am just barely hanging on by trying to stay busy but as soon as there is a lag I notice the pain straight away.


Best of luck to friend and good luck finding your answers.

your damn knee feelin better yet joe???

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

There is another legal (on the west coast) drug that isn't addictive that has been proven to help with withdrawal symptoms and doesn't require a paper trail...

Wifey and I agreed that if bump in the night happens, at least until I'm not on pain meds, that she will be grabbing the gun and I get a crutch to swing at an intruder

thats what im talkin bout!

 

[Joe13]

your damn knee feelin better yet joe???

I have got a long road ahead of me, but I'm still in too much pain to go without at least one pill every 7 hours and 2 at bedtime.

I have no baseline to follow this time through as it was an atypical surgery (gotta love being in the top 5%) and not something I can make an educated guess on (so far I have not guessed one thing right as I never expected to be using pain pills for more then a few days much less 8 and counting).

 

[WALawyer]

The issue here is not an involuntary commitment under (g)(4), but rather (g)(3): "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance." Note that the drug does not have to be unlawful and that the prohibition kicks in if he's addicted to ANY controlled substance. Prescription drugs are controlled substances.

 

[The Heretic]

I'm not that friend if anyone was wandering.

Sorry about your friend man, drawing the line between reasonable pain and addiction after pain can be tough - that's why I keep trying to get off my pain meds sooner then I should and end up in agony at times (tonight I waited an extra grueling hour to take my pills and it's been 2 hours after the pills were taken and I am just barely hanging on by trying to stay busy but as soon as there is a lag I notice the pain straight away.


Best of luck to friend and good luck finding your answers.

Having dealt with both acute and chronic pain for decades, I can attest to, and studies show that it does no good to suffer in significant pain - it takes longer to heal and the pain is worse.

I mostly use OTC painkillers, but I do have a small stash of prescription painkillers I saved from past prescriptions from surgeries/etc. that I use every once in a while (12 to 24 months). I take a little bit (half an OTC pill), wait a little while (half an hour), then take some more if necessary, until the edge is taken off and I am not distracted by the pain.

By all means, when you can, switch to OTC painkillers, but don't sit and suffer in pain.

 

[PiratePast40]

Having dealt with both acute and chronic pain for decades, I can attest to, and studies show that it does no good to suffer in significant pain - it takes longer to heal and the pain is worse.

I mostly use OTC painkillers, but I do have a small stash of prescription painkillers I saved from past prescriptions from surgeries/etc. that I use every once in a while (12 to 24 months). I take a little bit (half an OTC pill), wait a little while (half an hour), then take some more if necessary, until the edge is taken off and I am not distracted by the pain.

By all means, when you can, switch to OTC painkillers, but don't sit and suffer in pain.

I agree 100%. I don't know what causes addiction or if some are more prone than others, but I know that my doctor and the nurses were pretty adamant about using pain meds for their intended purpose. I also know what it's like to be chasing the pain when I thought I could tough it out first thing in the morning and didn't take anything until the pain had progressed almost to the intolerable point. For me, pain meds gave me my life back when I needed them.

 

[Camelfilter]

Joe-I hear you on the concern of getting hooked, but at the same time you have to be painfree to be functional & to heal. Your a big guy, so meds that might work fine for someone else, may take longer or more of for you. Talk with your doc about it next visit, and when you should start tapering off.

As to the OP's question, yeah I agree legally there'd be no way for the authorities to know unless he truthfully answers the questions on the form. Best bet for him is to hold off on a purchase until well after rehab. Or alternatively bakersman, purchase it yourself & hold it in the safe. Transfer it to your friend when he's ready. A welcome back gift.

 

[BlackRyder]

As long as he wasn't court ordered to enter treatment (and doesn't go to one of the free, state or county rehabs- if they even exist anymore) he'll be fine. HIPAA laws will protect him from unwanted people finding out about it.
But, as someone mentioned above, he cannot truthfully check the no box of the 4473 question about controlled substances until he gets off the pills. Fortunately a background check doesn't require a drug test (yet).....

Edit to add: there are some states (I can't remember which ones) in which attending drug or alcohol treatment precludes you from owning a firearm. Fortunately Washington and Oregon aren't two of them.

 

[billdeserthills]

The issue here is not an involuntary commitment under (g)(4), but rather (g)(3): "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance." Note that the drug does not have to be unlawful and that the prohibition kicks in if he's addicted to ANY controlled substance. Prescription drugs are controlled substances.

Thing is he isn't addicted to anything, because after the doctor cuts him off, where will he get more? Addiction may be his next stop, perhaps when he begins using heroin--Until then I don't see why there is a problem.
Your friend could begin using a safe substance, kratom, instead of opiates. The dea has received over 200,000 requests to 'rethink' their plan to make kratom illegal after this month--Lots of people stocking up on it now as a result.

 

[IronMonster]

First thing I would tell you is to tell your friend to stop referring to his pain medication that was lawfully prescribed for a legitimate reason as an "addiction" It very well might be but at this point his saying so is the only thing that establishes it as such. Addiction is a bad word

Opiates are habit forming, everyone knows this. Needing help to ween off of a prescribed and once necessary pain killer is not illegal or even reason to be ashamed. He should be applauded for recognizing he has developed a dependency and talk to the doc that prescribed the medicine to work up a plan to get him off them. That should be job one.

Opiates can be a serious monkey to shed and in some cases medical detox is required. In my opinion the worst thing he could do is act like he is doing something wrong or something he is ashamed of. He needs to tell the doc, do what is recommended and get to work kicking. If he needs detox, then he needs it and he best sign his toukus up. If he does it like an open book and does what the doc says its not "addiction" it is simply being prudent to ween off prescribed pain meds.

Thats my 2 cents

 

[DeanfromOregon]

^^^Wish I could give this 1000 likes.

 

[Roger65]

It should be noted that not all prescription drugs are "controlled substances".

Controlled substances are a subset of prescription drugs which are generally considered to be narcotics with a risk of addiction.

Some examples of prescription drugs that are not controlled substances would be antibiotics, blood thinners, asthma inhalers, antinflamatory steroids like prednisone, statins (for high cholesterol), blood pressure meds like diuretics (water pills) and beta blockers, just to name a few.