Editor's Note: This article doesn't specifically mention what these painkillers will be replaced with, nor does it talk about marijuana, but we felt it was important to share because it addresses a major issue facing our country, and an issue that is directly related to the fight against prohibition. Statistics show that 46 people die every day in the United States (nearly 17,000 annually) from pharmaceutical painkiller-related deaths. It has many times been called nothing shy of an epidemic. In states with legal medical marijuana programs, there has been a 25-percent reduction in painkiller-related deaths. Perhaps these statistics will help drive further support not only for medical marijuana programs nationwide, but also for faciliting/expediting further research into the potential medical uses for the 113 cannabinoids found in cannabis.
PATERSON, N.J. -- St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center announced it has become the first hospital in the country to implement a program that will manage patients' pain in the emergency room without the use of opioid painkillers.
Painkillers most frequently used in the emergency room in the past were oxycodone, vicodin and percocet, according to Dr. Mark Rosenberg, the Emergency Department chair.
“Our job here together is to look at the whole equation and understand how we can stop people from going from a prescription, to an addiction,” he said.
About a half-mile down the road from St. Joseph’s, recovering addicts are lining up for treatment at Eva’s Village.
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