Are painkillers causing more pain than they kill?
Here are some chilling statistics from a PBS Newshour segment earlier this week, “Painkiller Epidemic Deepens in U.S.”
* Overdoses from prescription painkillers — including oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone (Vicodin) — killed 15,000 people last year. That’s more than 40 per day.
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* In 2010, 1 in 20 people in the United States (age 12 or older) reported using prescription painkillers for non-medical reasons in the past year.
* The quantity of prescription painkillers sold to pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors’ offices in 2010 had quadrupled since 1999.
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Closer to home, a St. Petersburg Times article from May 2010 told us that “about 5,000 Floridians die each year from pain medications."
Here’s one Tampa Bay hero who didn’t die but lived. His story of spiritual renewal is one you’ll want to read. It offers hope.
Former Buc Randy Grimes emerges from a tight downward spiral of pain pills
On Sept. 22, 2009, former NFL star, Grimes, who played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1983 to 1992, literally crawled into a pain clinic in Palm Beach, his third de-tox attempt. After being there for three weeks (average stay…5-7 days) without improving, he started writing down his thoughts, weeping openly.
“It was like someone came up and draped a warm quilt across my shoulders. I had a spiritual moment”
The article goes on to say, “In that moment, Grimes said he figured it out. He wanted to help. Two years later, Grimes still thinks of the facility as holy ground. Perhaps he always will. His life is simple these days. Grimes lives in a one-bedroom apartment not far from the facility. Here, he has found a purpose, and here, he has saved his life. Now, what he wants is to save the lives of others. This is better than football, he will tell you. Better than touchdowns. Better than anything.”
Grimes’ harrowing escape from pain-killer addiction may hold the key to freedom for millions of others. In a moment of deep desperation, a spiritual solution presented itself and literally transformed him. He found freedom through a deep desire to help others.
Grimes' example suggests that there are spiritual solutions to even the most desperate chemical addictions. This is very good news for all of us.
