By Josh Mur

The infamously untrustworthy Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has furthered its reputation as one of America’s most beloved hypocrites with their latest motion. It was reported on Thursday that the FDA has just approved OxyContin prescriptions for children between the ages of 11 and 16 years old.

For those unfamiliar, OxyContin is an opiate-based pharmaceutical painkiller used to ease severe pain. Aside from being known for its powerful effects on users, it is also notorious for its widespread abuse. Its effects on the mind and body are strikingly similar to heroin, making it dangerously addictive. It typically contains anywhere between 40-160 milligrams of OxyCodone, the active painkiller in OxyContin and the alternative name for Vicodin, which lasts around 12 hours thanks to its extended release. However, abusers generally crush the pills to inhale or inject them with a syringe by mixing it with water, thus receiving a dose that is meant to stretch over a 12-hour span almost instantly.

After an abandoned study in 2004 due to an apparent lack of monetary resources, the FDA announced that pediatric studies on the effects of OxyContin would be underway in order to establish whether or not this pharmaceutical version of heroin should be available for children. After a very short period of trials and research, the FDA has concluded that 3 years is enough time to evaluate the long-term effects of extended use of a highly potent drug in children. Keep in mind that the FDA is the same government organization that has lumped marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms into the same category as Schedule 1 narcotics with zero medicinal value and heightened potential for abuse (because we all know a handful of people addicted to psychedelic mushrooms, right?).

One of the most blatant problems with this new allowance is that opiate addiction itself has become one of the most pressing health crisis’ of modern times. In 2010 alone, 16,651 people died from opiate overdoses — making up 60% of all overdose deaths. Prescription drug overdoses are now responsible for more deaths than all illegal drug overdoses combined. Another recent study has shown that 4 out of 5 new heroin addicts initially became addicted from using prescription opiates. One can’t help but ask whether or not prescribing children OxyContin will lead to heroin addiction at an earlier age.

http://www.activistpost.com/2015/08/the-fda-just-approved-oxycontin-to-be-prescribed-to-children.html