Are You Taking Prescription Pain Killers?

[JJx23]

An article on Pain Killers that might interest people here at Drugs-Forum.



Please read and comment, thanks.

Regards.

Reputation Comments on this post:

This is garbage

[lostribe]

PAIN KILLERS ARE BAAAAAD! BAAAAAD! sorry for the CAPS but come on give me a break! That article was horrible! It was about as informative as the back of a milk carton. I am not flaming you JJx23 if I came off that way I do sincerely apologize. I am just expressing my disgust at the quality and content of that article. It was not informative it was opinionated. Part of the last paragraph of the article sums it up.

"Anyhow, the percentage is increasing at around 75 %, this is the amount of people who are currently abusing pain killers. It's a sickness that can be treated very well."

75% where the hell did he pull that number out of!?!? I would like to hear what other people in this forum think of this article. Should be interesting.

[JJx23]

This article is both opinionated and factual, I included a bit of my own information along with factual information to make it more interesting. It's actually a known known fact that over 75 % of people using pain killers, abuse them. Prescription pain killer abuse is rising every year, watch the news, read the paper...

I could have made the article really boring, but I changed the style up a bit by including a few words that would make it more fun to read. This is my article, I am a respected member at Associated Content and like every other writer around the world, I respect your opinion and your constructive criticism as well.

Regards.

Originally Posted by lostribe

PAIN KILLERS ARE BAAAAAD! BAAAAAD! sorry for the CAPS but come on give me a break! That article was horrible! It was about as informative as the back of a milk carton. I am not flaming you JJx23 if I came off that way I do sincerely apologize. I am just expressing my disgust at the quality and content of that article. It was not informative it was opinionated. Part of the last paragraph of the article sums it up.

"Anyhow, the percentage is increasing at around 75 %, this is the amount of people who are currently abusing pain killers. It's a sickness that can be treated very well."

75% where the hell did he pull that number out of!?!? I would like to hear what other people in this forum think of this article. Should be interesting.

[lostribe]

[QUOTE=
I could have made the article really boring, but I changed the style up a bit by including a few words that would make it more fun to read. This is my article, I am a respected member at Associated Content and like every other writer around the world, I respect your opinion and your constructive criticism as well.

Regards.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately, due to my circumstances, I have been on opiates for a considerable amount of time now, and will continue to be on them for the rest of my life. Obtaining straight up factual and scientific information, including the "really boring" stuff is quite important to those who seek a life without pain. It is especially important to those who wish to further their knowledge of whats actually going on in their own bodies, and to those who choose to be proactive in their own health care. Personally, I would rather educate people about certain substances rather than demonize them and their users just to make an article "more fun to read". I respect your opinion and your right to free speech as well. If you could post a link to your resource for this "known known fact" I think it would be appreciated by all. And yes... I do read the paper and watch the news, but I don't always belive everything that I read and see. Do you?

Reputation Comments on this post:

ver informative

[JJx23]

Well I tried to be as factual as possible so that people would learn something too, I obviously don't want to scare anyone, but that's just how I decided to write the article. I didn't have any reason to put any false information in the article. I am on a pain management program as well, every 2 weeks I go to get my meds, and they are quite potent, so I know a but about them as well. As for my resource, I had saw a few web-sites that stated this fact, I was also chatting with someone who had told me this fact. I think it's pretty much out in the open that much more than half of the USA abuses pain killers, I mean they are very addictive, and there are very potent ones that match up with the king of them all 'Heroin'. Now I will try and look for a source that states 75 %, but if the information is in that article, or at least the important information, it is factual, I research my topics before I start on the actual article.

Thanks again for your input.

Originally Posted by lostribe

Unfortunately, due to my circumstances, I have been on opiates for a considerable amount of time now, and will continue to be on them for the rest of my life. Obtaining straight up factual and scientific information, including the "really boring" stuff is quite important to those who seek a life without pain. It is especially important to those who wish to further their knowledge of whats actually going on in their own bodies, and to those who choose to be proactive in their own health care. Personally, I would rather educate people about certain substances rather than demonize them and their users just to make an article "more fun to read". I respect your opinion and your right to free speech as well. If you could post a link to your resource for this "known known fact" I think it would be appreciated by all. And yes... I do read the paper and watch the news, but I don't always belive everything that I read and see. Do you?

[lostribe]

Originally Posted by JJx23

Well I tried to be as factual as possible so that people would learn something too, I obviously don't want to scare anyone, but that's just how I decided to write the article. I didn't have any reason to put any false information in the article.

"Now I will try and look for a source that states 75 %, but if the information is in that article, or at least the important information, it is factual, I research my topics before I start on the actual article."

Thanks again for your input.

You are welcome. I wasn't accusing you of providing false information. That was not my intent at all. I apologize if that is how it came off. I would simply like to read said article. I don't believe that people who are genuinely seeking knowledge are scared off by factual information. I do however believe we are living in a society where disinformation is the norm, and factual information is watered down, or left out because of fear. Knowledge really is power, but true wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know. I appreciate you looking for that article. Thank you.

[JJx23]

Surely, no problem what-so-ever. There are so many different pain-killers out there that it is really difficult to put an exact number on it, but here are a few articles that might help you all out.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3184003.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20327132/ (another source similar to the top.)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5061674

These are simply telling you that perhaps 40 % of a certain grade on average or taking OxyContin, but seeing that there are different types of drugs, I simply estimated it to the best of my ability. I know there is a few sites out there that stated the 'over 75 %' fact, but I cannot find them unfortunately. Hope these articles help.

Regards.

Originally Posted by lostribe

You are welcome. I wasn't accusing you of providing false information. That was not my intent at all. I apologize if that is how it came off. I would simply like to read said article. I don't believe that people who are genuinely seeking knowledge are scared off by factual information. I do however believe we are living in a society where disinformation is the norm, and factual information is watered down, or left out because of fear. Knowledge really is power, but true wisdom is knowing what to do with what you know. I appreciate you looking for that article. Thank you.

Reputation Comments on this post:

good find

[lostribe]

Originally Posted by JJx23

Surely, no problem what-so-ever. There are so many different pain-killers out there that it is really difficult to put an exact number on it, but here are a few articles that might help you all out.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3184003.shtml
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20327132/ (another source similar to the top.)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5061674

These are simply telling you that perhaps 40 % of a certain grade on average or taking OxyContin, but seeing that there are different types of drugs, I simply estimated it to the best of my ability. I know there is a few sites out there that stated the 'over 75 %' fact, but I cannot find them unfortunately. Hope these articles help.

Regards.

These articles are quite informative actually. Thank you. I think I better understand now what it was you were trying to address in your original article. Personally, when I search for information on a certain drug I usually go to www.rxlist.com

for example- http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lortab25.htm

It contains all the pertinent information you could possibly want, but I find the "boring stuff" to be very informative and usefully as well. Thanks again for your research.

[JJx23]

No problem buddy. I am an avid writer, so of course I can deal with people criticizing my work, but if there is cause for correction, than I will try and fix it. I am actually working a few more drug related articles, and will post them here as soon as they are published.

Regards.

Originally Posted by lostribe

These articles are quite informative actually. Thank you. I think I better understand now what it was you were trying to address in your original article. Personally, when I search for information on a certain drug I usually go to www.rxlist.com

for example- http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/lortab25.htm

It contains all the pertinent information you could possibly want, but I find the "boring stuff" to be very informative and usefully as well. Thanks again for your research.

[OhCasey]

Originally Posted by JJx23

An article on Pain Killers that might interest people here at Drugs-Forum.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...n_killers.html

Please read and comment, thanks.

Regards.

Prescription pain killers arent over the counter meds in Mexico. You need a prescription to fill meds in mexico only thing is pharmacists can write out prescriptions as well as fill them so you dont necessarily need a doc.

Anyhow, the percentage is increasing at around 75 %, this is the amount of people who are currently abusing pain killers.

Give me a break you didnt read this percentage on any real website. 75% of what? 75% of people in general abuse pain killers or 75% of people prescribed pain killers abuse them? It doesnt matter cause that number isnt even close to right. The CBS article you site even says "The vast majority of people with prescriptions use the drugs safely". Everything ive read says that between 10% and .1% of patients recieving habit forming medication for pain acute and chronic develop an iatrogenic addiction. Its a hard number to pin point because pharmaceutical companies want you to believe that no one develops addiction and other media outlets spew out misinformation saying its a mass epidemic most of those high % place it no higher then 15% but i have never read anything coming anywhere close to 75%.

[moda00]

Some of the article is well written, and I don't mean to be a downer at all, but I do believe it was inappropriate, both the act of making up a statistic to include in a publication (without stating that it was a personally made up number), and to include wording and statistics that clearly plays to peoples' fears without clarification. There is already an issue with inappropriate management of pain because doctors are afraid of being accused of providing the drugs that result in addiction, so factual information is helpful, but the factual information is that a small minority who are legitimately prescribed pain meds actually abuse them, and a smaller percentage still of those who abuse them develop actual addictions.

Also, you may want to revise this wording as it is a bit unclear to me:

Many people believe that the euphoria that is produced when taking narcotics is a way of forgetting about the pain, but the ingredient in these powerful pain killers is simply acetaminophen. The acetaminophen has nothing to do with the euphoria however, just that it takes care of the pain.

Often narcotic pain pills do include acetaminophen or ibuprofen along with the opioid, but to me the first part of the first sentence (Many people believe...) does not match its conclusion (but the ingredient...) Furthermore "the ingredient" implies that the sole ingredient is the acetaminophen, while there are actually two active ingredients, which should be clarified?

I like the way you hook the reader with the introduction. That is well done.

Again, don't mean to be a downer, and it sounds like you enjoy writing and have experience with it- but it seems this article's content could have been written by anyone just by reading a couple similar articles and paraphrasing, and like you said was slightly hyped to attract attention rather than present facts? I think if you took the time to delve into some real research on the complex issues surrounding opioid medications' prescription, use and abuse, and shared some real facts and statistics along with perhaps multiple perspectives- ie. a doctor's perspective, your own experience (which you mention briefly, saying you know firsthand how powerful these drugs are), the perspective of someone who has taken these meds legitimately as well as someone who has dealt with addiction to them, it would be more interesting rather than just generalizations. But don't make them up, you actually have to do the legwork! I do think you have the capability to produce a great article though- good luck to you!

[JJx23]

Thank you for the constructive criticizm Moda. I appreciate it a lot. I did see somewhere though that 75 % of people abuse pain killers. It could have been including people doing Heroin, but I am not sure, it was a while ago. There are articles that state that over 40 % of people abuse Oxycontin alone, and I believe I posted one of them. I do enjoy writing a lot, and I wasn't really looking to post any fear, I was pretty much trying to post a realistic view on what prescription pain killers are like, etc.

Regards.

Originally Posted by moda00

Some of the article is well written, and I don't mean to be a downer at all, but I do believe it was inappropriate, both the act of making up a statistic to include in a publication (without stating that it was a personally made up number), and to include wording and statistics that clearly plays to peoples' fears without clarification. There is already an issue with inappropriate management of pain because doctors are afraid of being accused of providing the drugs that result in addiction, so factual information is helpful, but the factual information is that a small minority who are legitimately prescribed pain meds actually abuse them, and a smaller percentage still of those who abuse them develop actual addictions.

Also, you may want to revise this wording as it is a bit unclear to me:
Often narcotic pain pills do include acetaminophen or ibuprofen along with the opioid, but to me the first part of the first sentence (Many people believe...) does not match its conclusion (but the ingredient...) Furthermore "the ingredient" implies that the sole ingredient is the acetaminophen, while there are actually two active ingredients, which should be clarified?

I like the way you hook the reader with the introduction. That is well done.

Again, don't mean to be a downer, and it sounds like you enjoy writing and have experience with it- but it seems this article's content could have been written by anyone just by reading a couple similar articles and paraphrasing, and like you said was slightly hyped to attract attention rather than present facts? I think if you took the time to delve into some real research on the complex issues surrounding opioid medications' prescription, use and abuse, and shared some real facts and statistics along with perhaps multiple perspectives- ie. a doctor's perspective, your own experience (which you mention briefly, saying you know firsthand how powerful these drugs are), the perspective of someone who has taken these meds legitimately as well as someone who has dealt with addiction to them, it would be more interesting rather than just generalizations. But don't make them up, you actually have to do the legwork! I do think you have the capability to produce a great article though- good luck to you!

[moda00]

No worries, I believe your intentions were the best and that hopefully at this point you have progressed as a writer and would clarify some when giving numbers on such an issue. I think perhaps the statistics weren't clear because of the variety of different numbers out there, along with the lack of clarification on whether stats are regarding those prescribed pain pills or those who divert them, whether it is just one brand or type of pill, or all pills, or all opiates including opium, heroin, etc. which country the stats were from, etc. Statistics are just a confusing thing in general, and as they say can oft be manipulated, so I think many people disregard them anyways- of course that is one portion of the article and don't mean to focus in on that alone, it just seemed to set the tone and be what stuck in my mind because of the hugeness of the number and its placement towards the end. Best of luck to you and look forward to seeing more of your work.

edit: Also- I believe that the 75% number may refer to the people in the US who have been prescribed one of these pain medications or been given at the hospital at some time in their life- I believe that statistic is probably pretty close to right on if in fact it refers to having been given one of these meds at some point at least once in their lifetime, as most people I know have. However, USE versus ABUSE is a huge issue, and could merit an article all of its own! Lots of misconceptions stem from this. And I think if that is indeed where the figure comes from, it simply shows that most people get their wisdom teeth out or get a migraine or have some similar painful but not life threatening condition where, imo, low dose opioid meds with additional added ingredients are appropriate in many to most cases. Just thought I'd throw that out there..

[bloodred1889]

well firstly and in no perticular order i will tell you what i think is wrong.
one is that the ingrediant in these painkillers isnt paracetamol, although most do have that, the actual ingrediant is opium based.
this might confuse people and they might think that if they want a high all they have to do is take loads of paracetamol, and that would be toxic.
also paracetamol on its own works as a painkiller and reduces fever, but its very mild.
when its put with opoids it serves no actual perpose whatsoever the only reason they put it in them is to stop people taking more then they should and maybe die and to stop abuse.

also opioids block the pain receptors thats how they work, they dont take away the pain they just make you not notice it as much.

i dont really understand what your trying to say about this subject, are you trying to warn people of the bad side of opioids or just telling them what they are?

if your trying to warn people, i dont think its such a good idea saying you can get really high and euphoric and feel amazing, because then most people will now go out and try and get some.
and if your trying to just tell people about them, then... to be honest you need to be more clear, and get some of the facts a little more.. right.

i know im sounding mean, and i do really like you from other posts i have read from you.
but this article to me just didnt work, because i know alot oabout opiods and know how good they make you feel but also how bad they can be, its ok for me and people who know because they can see where you went wrong, but for newbies and others you may have just told them some really dangerous things.
plus its kinda confusing.

apart from that its well written and not too preachy, and i can see how it could be read easily by young people.

but please dont think im having a go at you because i like you, and very well done for actually taking the time to write somthing like that in the first place

but i liked it more then those articles that totally tell people how amazingly bad opiods are and if you take them you are an evil addict.

[JJx23]

Well thank you, I like you too bloodred. This was written a little while ago, and perhaps the source(s) I used weren't right on target. I swore I read something along the lines of 75 %, but we aren't talking about that now. When I said that the APAP has nothing to do with the Euphoria produced from Narcotics, I meant that it only has to do with adding to the relief of pain, which is what it does, unless you are only taking oxycodone, and not APAP along with it. As I said before, I am not trying to scare anyone, this article was only about people who are taking prescription pain killers and the possible dangers of abusing the drug. I will be writing another article on Percocet and Vicodin, and possibly a few others maybe. I want to get the message out there about what these drugs are and how they are both good and bad for you, depending on how you take them.

Yes, I have been writing for a while. I enjoy a lot, and I believe it's something that I will be doing for the rest of my life. Certain topics are harder to write about, but now days, I am a lot more careful with the topics I write about. Of course I am going to have people bashing my articles, but there are also people that enjoy reading them too. It's just like everything else, music business, movie business, etc. Critics will get their hands on this material and do whatever they can to bash it. But that's what us writers have to deal with.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Regards.

Originally Posted by bloodred1889

well firstly and in no perticular order i will tell you what i think is wrong.
one is that the ingrediant in these painkillers isnt paracetamol, although most do have that, the actual ingrediant is opium based.
this might confuse people and they might think that if they want a high all they have to do is take loads of paracetamol, and that would be toxic.
also paracetamol on its own works as a painkiller and reduces fever, but its very mild.
when its put with opoids it serves no actual perpose whatsoever the only reason they put it in them is to stop people taking more then they should and maybe die and to stop abuse.

also opioids block the pain receptors thats how they work, they dont take away the pain they just make you not notice it as much.

i dont really understand what your trying to say about this subject, are you trying to warn people of the bad side of opioids or just telling them what they are?

if your trying to warn people, i dont think its such a good idea saying you can get really high and euphoric and feel amazing, because then most people will now go out and try and get some.
and if your trying to just tell people about them, then... to be honest you need to be more clear, and get some of the facts a little more.. right.

i know im sounding mean, and i do really like you from other posts i have read from you.
but this article to me just didnt work, because i know alot oabout opiods and know how good they make you feel but also how bad they can be, its ok for me and people who know because they can see where you went wrong, but for newbies and others you may have just told them some really dangerous things.
plus its kinda confusing.

apart from that its well written and not too preachy, and i can see how it could be read easily by young people.

but please dont think im having a go at you because i like you, and very well done for actually taking the time to write somthing like that in the first place

but i liked it more then those articles that totally tell people how amazingly bad opiods are and if you take them you are an evil addict.

[bloodred1889]

Originally Posted by JJx23

Well thank you, I like you too bloodred. This was written a little while ago, and perhaps the source(s) I used weren't right on target. I swore I read something along the lines of 75 %, but we aren't talking about that now. When I said that the APAP has nothing to do with the Euphoria produced from Narcotics, I meant that it only has to do with adding to the relief of pain, which is what it does, unless you are only taking oxycodone, and not APAP along with it. As I said before, I am not trying to scare anyone, this article was only about people who are taking prescription pain killers and the possible dangers of abusing the drug. I will be writing another article on Percocet and Vicodin, and possibly a few others maybe. I want to get the message out there about what these drugs are and how they are both good and bad for you, depending on how you take them.

Yes, I have been writing for a while. I enjoy a lot, and I believe it's something that I will be doing for the rest of my life. Certain topics are harder to write about, but now days, I am a lot more careful with the topics I write about. Of course I am going to have people bashing my articles, but there are also people that enjoy reading them too. It's just like everything else, music business, movie business, etc. Critics will get their hands on this material and do whatever they can to bash it. But that's what us writers have to deal with.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Regards.

cool, like i said i think its awesome you have written this to educate people.
and i think its great your gonna write another one, alot of people would see the critasism and just not bother. so well done.

when you write your next article try and be abit more clear like maybe note down some bullet points about what you want to say and then kinda answer each one in a paragraph, like think about what people might ask about them ect.
that helps me when im reading an article or writing one.

but yeah i think its great what you have done

[ironmics]

It's well written for someone who doesn't know much about opioids. I think people around here know a bit much though. My only problem is this line "and of course their semi-synthetic or fully synthetic substitutes, which include other drugs such as cocaine, etc."

Why is cocaine mentioned with narcotics?

[JJx23]

I actually know a lot about opioids, a lot more know especially. But when I wrote the article, I knew a lot about them as well. Just the facts weren't as straight as some people are saying, but that was simply because there are different percentages on different sites\sources.

Regards.

Originally Posted by ironmics

It's well written for someone who doesn't know much about opioids. I think people around here know a bit much though. My only problem is this line "and of course their semi-synthetic or fully synthetic substitutes, which include other drugs such as cocaine, etc."

Why is cocaine mentioned with narcotics?

[moda00]

^^I think maybe he meant the article was written for people who don't know much about opioids, as an introduction to the concept, and was a good article as a starting introduction to those who don't know much about these meds. But of course, one can never kow too much, especially if one wants to be able to teach and share knowledge with others through various mediums.

I think the suggestion bloodred gave, of clarifying a topic or list of questions you want to answer as a sort of outline for your next article, is a great idea as well. For example, do you want to do an overview of some of the more commonly prescribed pain meds like Vicodin and Percocet, or do you want to discuss all opioid pharmaceuticals? For example, Percs/Vics might be given with a sprained ankle or dentist visit, in small doses and quantities, whereas morphine or Oxycontin (oxycodone without the APAP or ibuprofen and in higher dosages) might be prescribed for chronic pain or more severe conditions in a more ongoing fashion. Which of these situations are you referring to?

Are you wanting to give an overview of the effects of these drugs? Maybe the outline could include the effects (ie. physical effects such as pupil constriction, slowed bowels, etc.) possible mental effects (euphoria etc.) as well as their effectiveness for pain relief. Maybe you want to talk about the risk of taking them habitually or taking more than prescribed in these situations, it seems that may have been the original article's intent. Maybe you want to focus on your personal experience as the backdrop for the article, or that of another specific person. Something like that helps tie things together a bit?

But if the article is to help or educate, the conclusion should match the premise (ie. if the article is about ensuring that people realize how serious these drugs are if misused, maybe go back to the basketball injury analogy and end with something like "if you find yourself in a situation like this, be sure to discuss the effects of these meds with your doctors and take them carefully and as prescribed."

Or if the article is to be focused on the risk of young people or family members/friends taking pills and diverting them, then the conclusion about disposing of pills could be more appropriate. See what I mean?

I find when writing articles and papers it really helps me to do something like this, to clarify my goals in writing the paper and what I want to say, and then use the format of Introduction (you did a good job of an intro I though with the descriptive story), then state the basic premise and purpose of the article. The paragraphs are used to give examples that support the premise and offer more information on the issues, and then the concluding paragraphs of the article are used to summarize what has just been said, restate the main points concisely, and then in the case of an article about a topic like opioids, perhaps offer some solutions to potential problems, advice on how to approach them, or resources to gain further information.

I think overall you have a good start, and think that the problem was that the goal was not clear, or that the goal was to give an overview of too broad a topic which caused things to get scattered- perhaps by narrowing the topic (painkillers in general is a pretty big topic to cover effectively in a single article) and doing some pre-writing and outlining beforehand?

Again, I look forward to seeing more of your writing, and agree that some of the criticism may be due to the fact that individuals on DF know more about opioids than the average person, so we are not necessarily the "target audience" of that article? Good luck, and again you've written a good introductory article and gotten some good constructive criticism. I think now if you clarify what you want to say, what questions you hope to answer, and who your audience is you'll be able to write more in depth articles on the topic if you so choose.

Also, I'd recommend delving into some other resources other than just other websites or articles to come up with supporting facts. The archives here has some good studies and articles about these issues, and it is always more engaging when facts or numbers are presented if they can be backed by concrete examples.

[JJx23]

Wow, thank you for the large post, I appreciate it. =) If you take a look at my most recent thread in the 'Opium, Opiates & Opioids' section, you will see my 'Articles on Certain Drugs' thread. This is where I will be posting which drugs I will be writing about. Now that I have become a regular here every day, I can always ask for help if I need it while writing my articles. There is plenty of information here, and seeing that I am on Percocet right now as I type, no pain = more time to write. =) Again, I appreciate everyones assistance in this matter, I love to write, and I am very intrigued by medication.

Thanks again everybody!

Regards.

*Again, the thread is right here! http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56530

Originally Posted by moda00

^^I think maybe he meant the article was written for people who don't know much about opioids, as an introduction to the concept, and was a good article as a starting introduction to those who don't know much about these meds. But of course, one can never kow too much, especially if one wants to be able to teach and share knowledge with others through various mediums.

I think the suggestion bloodred gave, of clarifying a topic or list of questions you want to answer as a sort of outline for your next article, is a great idea as well. For example, do you want to do an overview of some of the more commonly prescribed pain meds like Vicodin and Percocet, or do you want to discuss all opioid pharmaceuticals? For example, Percs/Vics might be given with a sprained ankle or dentist visit, in small doses and quantities, whereas morphine or Oxycontin (oxycodone without the APAP or ibuprofen and in higher dosages) might be prescribed for chronic pain or more severe conditions in a more ongoing fashion. Which of these situations are you referring to?

Are you wanting to give an overview of the effects of these drugs? Maybe the outline could include the effects (ie. physical effects such as pupil constriction, slowed bowels, etc.) possible mental effects (euphoria etc.) as well as their effectiveness for pain relief. Maybe you want to talk about the risk of taking them habitually or taking more than prescribed in these situations, it seems that may have been the original article's intent. Maybe you want to focus on your personal experience as the backdrop for the article, or that of another specific person. Something like that helps tie things together a bit?

But if the article is to help or educate, the conclusion should match the premise (ie. if the article is about ensuring that people realize how serious these drugs are if misused, maybe go back to the basketball injury analogy and end with something like "if you find yourself in a situation like this, be sure to discuss the effects of these meds with your doctors and take them carefully and as prescribed."

Or if the article is to be focused on the risk of young people or family members/friends taking pills and diverting them, then the conclusion about disposing of pills could be more appropriate. See what I mean?

I find when writing articles and papers it really helps me to do something like this, to clarify my goals in writing the paper and what I want to say, and then use the format of Introduction (you did a good job of an intro I though with the descriptive story), then state the basic premise and purpose of the article. The paragraphs are used to give examples that support the premise and offer more information on the issues, and then the concluding paragraphs of the article are used to summarize what has just been said, restate the main points concisely, and then in the case of an article about a topic like opioids, perhaps offer some solutions to potential problems, advice on how to approach them, or resources to gain further information.

I think overall you have a good start, and think that the problem was that the goal was not clear, or that the goal was to give an overview of too broad a topic which caused things to get scattered- perhaps by narrowing the topic (painkillers in general is a pretty big topic to cover effectively in a single article) and doing some pre-writing and outlining beforehand?

Again, I look forward to seeing more of your writing, and agree that some of the criticism may be due to the fact that individuals on DF know more about opioids than the average person, so we are not necessarily the "target audience" of that article? Good luck, and again you've written a good introductory article and gotten some good constructive criticism. I think now if you clarify what you want to say, what questions you hope to answer, and who your audience is you'll be able to write more in depth articles on the topic if you so choose.

Also, I'd recommend delving into some other resources other than just other websites or articles to come up with supporting facts. The archives here has some good studies and articles about these issues, and it is always more engaging when facts or numbers are presented if they can be backed by concrete examples.

[sarbanes]

This is a horrible article. It is poorly constructed, with improper (and blatantly incorrect) noun/gerund structure, including run-on. Also, there is a certain overall lack of professionalism here: this reads like it was written by some teenager, and not someone with a journalism degree. There is a real fuzziness of reference, for instance, when the author says....."Anyhow, the percentage is increasing at around 75 %, this is the amount of people who are currently abusing pain killers." First, its not an amount, its a percentage, and 75% of what? Three quarters of all humans on Earth? Or just people in the USA? Or is it just 75% of people who take (or is it also those who have taken) the drug(s) in question. And "increasing at 75%" implies the percentage as a rate of acceleration, over a discreet quantity percentage (which we believe is what the author must have intended). Just sloppy in every way. Are NSAID's not analgesics? Does the opioid component of binary medicines (referred to in the article) have no analgesic activity (as is tacitly suggested by the author, who equates the "narcotic" component with euphoria only and the acetaminophen with pain reduction only). These observations are only the tip of the iceberg. If this is an article you are writing as an assignment in Journalism 101, you are going to get a C at best. What utter, unprofessional garbage. This is just poor writing.

[JJx23]

Thanks Sarbanes. It is not poorly written, but your advice is definitely appreciated. Perhaps you'd like to take a look a few of my most recent pieces? Since you put a damper on my thread, perhaps you'd like to assist me? I am re-writing articles on certain popular drugs, so we shall see how that will turn out. I promise you though, it will turn out very well.

Regards.

Originally Posted by sarbanes

This is a horrible article. It is poorly constructed, with improper (and blatantly incorrect) noun/gerund structure, including run-on. Also, there is a certain overall lack of professionalism here: this reads like it was written by some teenager, and not someone with a journalism degree. There is a real fuzziness of reference, for instance, when the author says....."Anyhow, the percentage is increasing at around 75 %, this is the amount of people who are currently abusing pain killers." First, its not an amount, its a percentage, and 75% of what? Three quarters of all humans on Earth? Or just people in the USA? Or is it just 75% of people who take (or is it also those who have taken) the drug(s) in question. And "increasing at 75%" implies the percentage as a rate of acceleration, over a discreet quantity percentage (which we believe is what the author must have intended). Just sloppy in every way. Are NSAID's not analgesics? Does the opioid component of binary medicines (referred to in the article) have no analgesic activity (as is tacitly suggested by the author, who equates the "narcotic" component with euphoria only and the acetaminophen with pain reduction only). These observations are only the tip of the iceberg. If this is an article you are writing as an assignment in Journalism 101, you are going to get a C at best. What utter, unprofessional garbage. This is just poor writing.

[sarbanes]

Oh, OK, well if you say its not poorly written, I guess that must be so. Never mind the substance of my critique, nor the specificity with which I point out the failings in your writing.

[JJx23]

Sarbanes, I told you that I appreciated your criticism, it will help me when I write future articles. I have learned a lot ever since I have written that article, and you can see that in my most recent articles. I have been focusing on American Idol a lot, seeing that it's getting down to crunch time, and I also have five articles pending, as I am a regular writer at Associated Content.

Regards.

Originally Posted by sarbanes

Oh, OK, well if you say its not poorly written, I guess that must be so. Never mind the substance of my critique, nor the specificity with which I point out the failings in your writing.

[sarbanes]

Jason, your writing is so mediocre and flawed, there’s really no fixing it. You’ll never be a good writer, period. Of course, you will have "fans" (just as any yee haw has on MySpace), but you seem to have more detractors than admirers. If you think you are a "good writer", then you have very low standards set for your self, and you are delusional.

Reputation Comments on this post:

your posts in this thread have disintigrated into name calling and insulting, this is not the way to go about it, please...