Zohydro ER Approval Exposes Federal Hypocrisy

This month, newly FDA-approved, crazy-strong painkiller Zohydro ER is set to be released to market. Commonly referred to as “heroin in a bottle,” Zohyrdo ER has received staunch opposition from local and national lawmakers who are afraid that this pill will wreak havoc on our society. Prescription painkillers are directly responsible for roughly 16,000 deaths annually, in the US alone. For the sake of perspective, that’s 16,000 more deaths than cannabis caused last year ever.

Calling the grip of pain pills an epidemic is putting it lightly. Zohydro ER is, essentially, extended time-release hydrocodone. While this is probably great for the initial pain relief for which it was designed, it is far too easy to overdo it on pills. Pill addiction is insidious because it is initially prescribed by a doctor and it’s exceptionally easy to fly under the radar as a pill addict. These narcotics are so powerful that they will actually create pain in your body/mind so that you continue to take it. Also, Zyhydro ER has no tamper-resistant features, meaning people can grind it up and snort or inject it.

This is not really anything new. The FDA has been dumping potentially lethal substances on us forever, but the case of Zohydro ER is extra suspicious because it was opposed by the FDA’s own staff and advisory committee. Anyone else smell a lobbyist’s dirty cologne? What caused me to take notice (beyond the highly suspect circumstances of Zohydro’s approval) is the blatant hypocrisy exhibited by the federal government. Yes, there are separate agencies all trying to (presumably) work together, but seeing as how they all answer to the president, I can’t overlook the double-speak in this instance.

“Since its approval last October, Zohydro, an extended-release form of hydrocodone, has come under scrutiny from members of Congress, state attorneys general, doctors and addiction specialists who have worked to block the pill from being sold in the U.S. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg strongly defends the agency’s approval, arguing that Zohydro’s benefits outweigh the negative consequences. Simply put, she says, people in pain need more options…Hamburg called the “recent attention” by state policymakers on opioid abuse “commendable”…but said instead of blocking the sale of Zohydro based on a fear of abuse and addiction, providers should screen patients before they prescribe the drug and while they are on it.”

I don’t think I really need to point it out with much severity, but just try to imagine the level of fervor and obstruction we in the cannabis movement have encountered when trying to use some of Hamburg’s same arguments to bolster medical marijuana.

Hamburg is right, people in pain do need more options, and it is stupid to block the sale of a potentially helpful substance just because of fear of abuse and addiction. She hit the nail on the head. So, feds, tell me why that line of defense is perfectly acceptable for a pill that will likely kill many thousands of people in its lifetime, but wholly refutable when applied to cannabis, which has yet to seriously harm a single person in its entire history?

I think I have the answer: you can’t patent a plant and cannabis is a safe and relatively affordable way to find relief, if not a downright cure for what ails you. But, as we know, money is made from disease treatment, not disease cessation.

In truth, that’s why I think cannabis faces an uphill struggle. Too many greedy, pain-peddling, disease mongers stand to lose their cash-cows if people realize they can just smoke a doob and feel better. The feds don’t hate weed, but they want to be the only drug dealer in town and weed offers too much to people that they can’t charge them for.

Big Pharma is powerful and has a long reach, but we are exposing the lunacy we call healthcare in this country and making steady progress toward a better future.