It's time to take action...

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:35 am

I have spent the past few days, fighting the good fight, clashing it up with the Anti-Methadone crowd.. I have to say it has gotten me really fired up because of the sheer deviousness of some of these groups out there, trying to get a perfectly legitimate medicine banned, because someone they love made irresponsible choices when taking it, or were unfortunately the vicim of negligent doctors and/or clinics. These people have no shame, and have no sense of reason left to deal with. They don't address legitimate points about why they did not seek overdose assistance from an E.R, why they did not question the doctor(s), or why they did not outright take the medication away..

They perpetuate myths such as "One pill can kill", "Methadone is the #2 killer drug in America", and routinely distort facts and studies to support their own twisted logic and cause.

I have decided if these people can write their congress representatives and demand action, with their skewed statistics and personal tradgedies, then I can also do the same, with truth and empirical evidence. Now that these people are starting things such as billboard campaigns, I can't sit by and idling ***** and moan, while doing nothing to fight their ignorance.

Hopefully over the next few days I will be able to start and complete a packet to send to my representative, and it will not only address ingorance of Methadone, but I would like to also address ignorance of RLS and the cruel way that many others are treated every day, or denied potentially beneficial medications, all because physicians don't know what they are doing and have pre-biased opinions about opiates.

I've never asked you guys to do anything for me, or rather I've never HAD to ask. You all have been great to me, and my personal unique case of RLS, and opiate addiction. But I am asking you now, to please join in my effort and write your state representative(s) in congress and demand that we get the recognition we deserve.

I want to make this as simple as possible for everyone.... So I am proposing that all anyone need to do, is write a personalized letter about thier personal experiences with RLS or Methadone, or both where applicable for those of us who belong to that club..

I will try and do my best to wite the rest of the packets that our letters will be attached to. Hopefully this will include information about RLS and Methadone, and studies, research facts, and other relevant data. All you have to do is write your personal letter/story and wait for me to finish the rest of the packet so everyone can download it and we can all send them in as soon as possible.

Sojourner · Post by **Sojourner** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 9:45 am

Z, I think it is a great project particularly if it can be broadened to reflect rls in general. Maybe that type of campaign has already been done but twice, three times can't hurt. Guess I'm wondering though if our letters should be sent to our individual state reps etc rather than to just that of one state. Maybe I missed something to that effect in your posts in your post.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 4:01 pm

Yes the idea is for us all to send letters to our state reps, not one state. I hope sooner, rather than later, I will have the time to sit down and write up an essay on both RLS and Methadone, with facts and real statistics. But keeping them separate, so we can each send either, or both in a packet with our letters, as our personal causes dictate.

Post by **ViewsAskew** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:12 pm

I'm sure the psychologists would be able to tell us why, but it's hard for us to get out of our comfort zones, even when something makes us angry. We have to either be the type of person who takes on injustice regularly, or we're likely to sit on the sidelines.

Some of us might be afraid of being on a list somewhere, others might feel it would take too much time.

Maybe some of us would be more likely to do this if we helped; I've learned in my job that when people participate in planning, they feel more comfortable with what is happening.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:33 pm

It's not my intention the "delegate down" and be the center of attention, I think everyone should be free to add to or modify the essays as they feel they need to.. Although I admit I didn't originally plan it that way..

When I came up with the idea, my idea of the participation of everyone is that we will be writing our own personal stories about dealing with RLS and horrible doctors, etc. The same for the Methadone essay.

I thought it would be good to submit a uniform packet of information we can all use as a reference attachment, so no one gets conflicting stories or info. Kind of like an attached "fact sheet" to accompany your personal letter.

So, I think everyone is very much involved, as no one can tell our personal stories but us.. Perhaps I didn't communicate the idea properly.

Post by **Polar Bear** » Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:56 pm

Zach, I have to say that I admire your spirit and your positive attitude.
Full marks to you.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 5:48 am

Just so you know.. This is the kind of idiocy Methadone is fighting for its legality against.. I got a little heated at times, but I don't come anywhere close to these people. I'm "lolnonymous"

Evil people

I feel so sorry for them... truly I do. They do everything they accuse me of and keep on foaming at the mouth, and then for fun flag my posts as spam, incendiary, etc.. ah well

woodsie357 · Post by **woodsie357** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 4:57 pm

Zach wrote:Just so you know.. This is the kind of idiocy Methadone is fighting for its legality against.. I got a little heated at times, but I don't come anywhere close to these people. I'm "lolnonymous"

Evil people

I feel so sorry for them... truly I do. They do everything they accuse me of and keep on foaming at the mouth, and then for fun flag my posts as spam, incendiary, etc.. ah well

That's Awful!

I'll try to write my story down, it will take me some time I can't think that hard most of the time.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Wed Mar 04, 2009 7:08 pm

I wouldn't bother trying to talk to these people..

But do write your story down, so when the information packet is ready, you can print it out and mail everything to your congressman's office.

Spiticus · Post by **Spiticus** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 1:16 am

Incidentally, that was the first forum I stumbled upon when looking for some advice. I left to find a new one quickly. Their style of argumentation is internet-logic at its worst. All caps so as you know they're making a "strong point", petty name-calling, etc...

The quality of conversation and dialogue here is far greater then anything they have to offer.

Neco · Post by **Neco** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 3:32 am

Interesting... I'm guessing you ran into "RLS is not real, its a big pharma conspiracy lolzz!111" type posts?

SquirmingSusan · Post by **SquirmingSusan** » Fri Mar 06, 2009 5:26 am

Zach, sorry I haven't jumped in here. I think what you want to do is great. If you can find a way to get it all together into a packet, I'll help where I can. I already try to keep on top of advocacy opportunities, but I usually do it through the American Pain Foundation. They send out information and when there are bills pending in congress, they send out action alerts. I can click on a link, and fill in the blanks to send letters to me congresspeople. It's a great system. When things really get me hot under the collar, I add my personal story to the email.

I think one avenue of attack is to work with the APF to get them to recognize RLS patients as a part of their organization. If we could somehow educate them that we are treated with the same meds as other chronic pain patients, it would be a start. Maybe you could send a packet their way.