Elderly Substance Abuse

It has recently become an issue in the U. S....elderly substance abuse. Unfortunately, I do not think this is exactly correct, nor as it seems to be. I am not condoning what I believe is going on with this situation, but I believe it needs further exploration.

The elderly in Appalachia, as I am sure the elderly are across the country, are eating cat food to survive, while billions of dollars are poured into impoverished countries abroad. Is someone not looking here? SSI and Social Security are "get by" situations for the elderly, many who do not have any supplemental retirement. The medicare medication assistance program is better than nothing, but it is essentially a joke.

Now for the point of this article. I hope young people are not involved in this situation, and I don't have the answers, but what looks like elderly substance abuse is actually the only way these poor people can pay their bills and survive in general. What I think is happening, is the elderly are going to their physicians at least once per month, (pehaps "doctor hopping") in order to get their pain medication and tranquilizers...anything with street value. They suffer in pain in order to sell this medication to street drug users or pushers, in order to supplement their income.

A bottle of 120 Lortab costs around $100. With a street value of $10.00 or more per pill, someone is making $1,200; this is an $1,100 markup. I would think the elderly probably sell to the street pushers for much less than street value, but it helps them with food, electricity, etc. As I said earlier, I don't condone this behavior, but I believe the elderly are not experiencing substance abuse as much as they are selling what they have for extra income.

If George Bush would get his Yale "newcular" butt out of Iraq, and stop giving our tax money away, perhaps he could appoint a person or committee to address these concerns. I am indeed predjucdiced; I think we should take care of our own first.