2 important things you need to understand about pain medication

If you’ve suffered from a chronic pain disorder for a long time, the odds are good that you have a few extra pain pills laying around. They could be from old prescriptions that went unfinished when you switched to something new, or narcotics that just didn’t work for you.

That can make the temptation strong to pass the extra medication on to a close friend or relative in need of pain relief.

Studies show that sharing prescription medication is a fairly common practice, especially among women, adolescents and young adults. The motivations are usually altruistic: People just want to help the other people that they care about, especially if they both seem to have the same condition. Nobody particularly wants to watch someone they love suffer, especially when they have a pill or two right there that will take away the pain within a few minutes.

Before you make a move toward the medicine cabinet, however, there are some facts that you need to know:

— Sharing your pain medication makes you a drug dealer.

— Taking your pain medication makes your friend or relative the recipient of illegal prescription drugs.

— Both offenses are felonies in most states and can end up costing you a small fortune in fines and legal fees if you happen to get caught.

— It doesn’t matter if you give the pain medication away for free. In fact, many actual drug dealers will do that for new customers in order to get them interested in a specific drug.

— It doesn’t matter if you are merely loaning the medication to your friend or family member just until his or her own prescription gets filled.

— It’s also illegal to carry loose prescription drugs around in a pocket or purse, so if you give your friend or relative a few extra pills to take home and he or she gets stopped by the police on suspicion of driving under the influence, the pills could be found. Loose prescription narcotics could set your friend or relative up for a drug possession charge.

It’s easy to make a misstep when you are only trying to help someone. If you or a friend are facing charges due to a prescription drug violation because one of you loaned the other some pain medication, an attorney can help you build a strong defense.

Source: DoctorsSafeguard.com, “12 Issues Pain Management Patients Need to Know About Possessing Rx Pain Medication,” accessed Feb. 03, 2017

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