I don't know if other memebers of the forums saw this but I'm posting a very long message I got tonite from the American Pain Foundation. I haven't rersearched this any further but, as written, this story is really scary particularly for long time sufferers of chronic pain who may need ever stronger medications to deal w/ their pain, like narcotics. This can be particularly bad if they live in FL.

The "offender" here is a 47yr old father of 3 who suffers from serious spinal injury and MS. I'm enclosing the url for the APF for further details.
Alkymst


http://www.painfoundation.org/


ADVOCACY ALERT
March 28, 2007
________________________________________
Dear Pain Relief Advocate,
ACTION REQUESTED!
Join with us at APF to TAKE ACTION and send a message to Florida Governor Crist, to let him know the impact of lack of pain care and request clemency for Richard Paey. The battle continues for Richard Paey, as the Supreme Court of Florida recently released its decision denying the request to hear his appeal (see Background).
Thank you to everyone who has responded to past alerts! We need your help and that of others, as this continues to be an important opportunity to SPEAK OUT, tell your pain story and request clemency from the new Governor.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
For many people, severe pain may be unimaginable. But, in fact, millions of Americans suffer acute and chronic pain and research tells us that the majority of people seeking relief for their pain are untreated, undertreated or improperly treated; and they know this painful truth. Millions of Americans know that untreated pain can drive a person to depression, desperate means and even suicide. The case of Richard Paey illustrates just this very issue.
We, at the American Pain Foundation, believe sentencing Richard Paey to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking is a harsh punishment, as he exemplifies the tragic plight of pain patients, who live in constant severe pain, are failed by our healthcare system, and can be driven to desperate measures.
BACKGROUND
As you may recall on December 15, 2006, the APF launched an action alert to APF members calling for Florida residents and others to appeal to then Governor Jeb Bush for clemency for Richard Paey. Mr. Paey is a 47 year old father of three who suffers from intractable pain caused by a severe spinal injury and Multiple Sclerosis. A year ago he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking. Governor Bush failed to act prior to leaving office.
Recently, the Supreme Court of Florida released its decision on Friday, March 9, 2007 denying the request to hear Paey’s appeal. In essence, the Florida Supreme Court refused to decide whether the dissenting opinion of the Court of Appeals of Florida was right or not, that is, that it was cruel and unusual punishment to confine Richard as a drug trafficker when he was proven to be a chronic pain patient who was only taking the medication necessary to relieve his unbearable pain. It was never shown that Paey sold or diverted his medication supply though sentenced for that accusation. As explained under Florida law, "a person need not sell anything to commit the 'trafficking' offense...A person may commit the offense by knowingly being in actual or constructive possession of an enumerated controlled substance in a quantity equal to or greater than a weight designated by statute." in this case, 28 grams of the opioid medication oxycodone. The real tragedy of the law is that it considers the whole weight of the pill and not just the portion which was an opioid. In this case, only 3% of the pill was oxycodone….the rest was acetamenaphine. So, only 3% of the 28 grams was an opioid.
The Court of Appeals of Florida on December 6, 2006 did said that the injustice of Richard's case did not fall on deaf ears but on the "wrong ears," and that a request to the Governor to grant clemency was the proper course of action. In other words, the Court of Appeals supported that the just and right thing for the Governor to do is to grant clemency. Therefore, you, have another opportunity as a resident of Florida to use APF's online Advocacy Center. Please write Governor Charlie Crist to request clemency for Richard Paey.
Please take this opportunity to speak out, tell your pain story. Let Governor Crist know the impact of lack of pain care and request that he grant clemency to Richard Paey.
TAKE ACTION NOW!

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I sincerely feel that in the not too distant future, the people of the world will look back at our "War on Drugs" with the same incomprehension and contempt that we feel when we look back at the Salem witch hunts.

We have our own jihadists...the anti-drug fanatics in government and law enforcement. The "War on Drugs" isn't a war on drugs, it's a vicious war on people who are suffering either physically or psychologically or both (like the Salem witch hunts were).

I sadly don't think that even a million signatures will sway a cynical politician (but I repeat myself) playing to his political base. Still, I sent the fax suggested in the article. Poor, poor Richard!

P.S.
This is what I inserted into the form letter, "I suffer from peripheral neuropathy. Maybe that makes me more empathetic. I trust that you have suffered intractable, though temporary pain. Imagine the pain that Richard Paey endures 24/7 with no hope for respite except through opiate drugs. Please err on the side of kindness and compassion, instead of allowing this injustice to proceed."

I cannot believe this! How can this be allowed to happen? Honestly I am truly shocked, it will have ramifications for chronic pain suffers. I’m speechless!!
Lupin

contradictions...
He 'said', HE 'said' kind of stuff. I'll just reference two sources for the different points of view.

http://www.nationalreview.com/commen...0510240837.asp

and an AARP on prescribing pain meds

http://www.aarpmagazine.org/health/prisoners_pain.html

Hope I typed this stuff out right! Wish me luck? - j
Got it! Happy reading? There are many sides to the overall perspective I guess. Still and all the whole thing seems silly...But, this way the STATE gets to pay for his treatments? Sick in a way....perverse in many others.

The odd thing is that when he goes to jail, they'll give him his meds just to quiet him. I read about this once. A person couldn't get the meds he needed, so he got them illegally, got convicted, got sentenced and now he's in jail and he gets what he needs. ONLY HE IS IN JAIL!!!

How stupid is that??? Well, let me tell you how stupid that is. I live in Brooklyn, there is a kid who lives not too far from me, who has been a delinquent most of his life. He was 17, pulled a knife on five people one day, robbed them and ran away. He and his friend. The victims all went to the police, hopped in the police car, made chase and tracked him down. He was ID'd and everything.

He is now in jail (where they put the 17 year olds), He goes to school, etc. His case comes up on April 17. Last night his father told me "it's up to the judge, he might get 1 year or he might get probabion". I boldly said "What do you mean he might get probation, he put a knife to the stomachs of 5 people who then pressed charges, so what do you mean he might get probation"??? The dad said "well, in his case, he has one thing in his favor (oh by the way, he stole his aunt's car to get away, and the police will not release the car because it's evidence, so the father bought the aunt another car". The dad then said to me "they might try him as a youthful offender". I said "you're son has not been a youthful offender in 10 years and you know this". He sadly shook his head and said "yeah, but he's sorry and he absolutely hates being in jail" I said "you think he learned his lesson"? The father said "Let me tell you something, if my son catches a break from the judge, and gets probation, he'll come home, and the probation officer will ring our doorbell and test his urine whenever they want to test him.

I said "but he won't go to jail and he put a knife to 5 people????" I just looked at him. He said "yeah, I know, he did a bad thing". I couldn't say anything because it's this guy's son and blood is blood.

But think about it. They jail a guy who is in chronic pain and takes pain meds out of necessity. THEY PUT HIM IN JAIL!!!!!. And then we have a 17 year old son of a "you know what", who has been in and out of trouble his entire life, and he goes and puts a knife to 5 people who jumped in a police car (they also have surveillance footage of him doing the crime. I mean they have him dead to rights here AND HE MIGHT GET PROBATION BECAUSE HE'S 17 YEARS OLD.

Give me a break. I hope they lock this kid up for 10 years. He's dangerous and we all know it. He once broke my front door by jamming the lock.

I wish the govenor or the judge would listen to the faxes and re-review this poor guys fate. Doesn't bode well for others who have chronic pain.

Not at all!!!

mel

I also hope that this type of thing hastens the day when enough people are aware of the damage the so-called war on drugs is doing, here and in other countries the U.S. affects.

I hope many more people in the U.S. will tell all of their government representatives that ending the current war on drugs and replacing it with responsible policy is one of the main issues on which future votes will be based. When one studies this issue it becomes clear that every other issue is affected negatively: health and healthcare, safety, justice, environment, finance, education, parental and government credibility, etc.

rose

Dahlek,
Your links are great thanks for the heads up - both articles are well worth a slow read particularly the AARP piece. It's a very sad commentary when physicians are afraid to prescribe narcotic pain killers for fear of repercussions, losing their license or even jail time because of the "laws of the land".

Fortunately, my neurologist is an old school doc who told me he used any and all means available to him to provide pain relief for his patients - up to and including narcotics - his opinion - if prescribed and used properly the danger of abuse and addiction is minimal vs the potential for pain relief. I may find out sooner rather than later since no combo has worked yet.

Now completely off the subject but truly absurd, the Mexican authorities just raided a posh residence suspected to be a meth lab - their 1st clue was 19Tons of pseudoephedrine, the precursor to methamphetamine, awaiting delivery to the residence. More importantly however, was the stash the authorities uncovered, no less than 2 1/4 Tons, that's right Tons of $100 bills, calculates out to ~$205.6M dollars.
Want to take bets on how much jail time these people serve as opposed to the 25yrs Richard Paey is serving in FL - makes you wonder sometimes.

Thanks again for the links - took my mind off the pain for a little while
Ever longer pain free times to you
Alkymst