By J.W. Kain, Columnist

I recently received this email from a family member:

Hi Jen,

I was listening to a thing on pain medication and why prescription meds are so dangerous. They turn the receptors off in the brain and the person forgets to breathe. That part is a totally separate thing from the pain. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was on talking about it. I think that is a very valid argument about overuse of pain meds.

For example, Prince had very valid issues to use the meds and also lived a very clean life style. If he overused, it goes to follow that someone who doesn't lead a clean lifestyle is in more danger. It's not the meds as much as the brain receptors. The breathing part is scary. So I'm not such an advocate anymore.....unless you can tell me this isn't true and why he would say that.

I love you and don't want anything to happen to you. Xoxoxox

I got mad after reading that, even though I knew she was coming from a place of love and fear. It didn't take long for me to calm down because I saw the bigger issue.

First off? Yes, those claims are true. They are also massively simplified. Heavy pain medications slow down or impair bodily functions. You’ve seen those opioid-induced constipation commercials. That is why only a select few of the chronic pain club gets high-voltage pills for daily life as opposed to post-surgical pain.

Here’s a great quote from WBUR’s interview with Dr. Howard Fields that explains the difference between addiction and dependence, the latter being what most chronic pain patients experience:

“Addiction really gets to the issue of compulsive overuse of a drug so that it becomes the dominant thing in your life. If you are going to your physician once a month and getting your prescription refilled and you are able to lead a normal life by taking a pill maybe three or four times a day, you’re not addicted.

But if you’re spending all your time in the search of a drug, or trying to get the money to buy that drug, or stealing from your friends, or going around in other people’s medicine cabinets looking for opioids, then you’re addicted.”

My view of this increasingly volatile situation is that opioids — which the majority of pain patients use responsibly — cannot be banned without another medical intervention in place. Yet some pain management clinics are declining to prescribe opioids.

So what’s fueling this explosion of insanity?