Pain physicians bring briefing on pain management to Capitol Hill

The Alternet Drug Reporter has another must-read issue this week. Our friends at DRC Net have an excellent article on The Politics of Pain that brings us up to date on the latest in a growing movement of physicians uniting in protest of the DEA's unreasonable vendetta against pain management doctors.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and more than 60 endorsing groups brought a briefing on pain issues to Capitol Hill in September, hosted by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). The two of them already made one failed attempt to cut funding for the DEA's vicious persecution program, but their amendment to the appropriations bill was ruled out of order by the Republican majority leader.

Congress has otherwise yet to grapple with this serious problem and our ailing citizens are suffering as a result. Thanks to the efforts of these two Congressmen, this is beginning to change.

One thing the briefing did accomplish, said Serkes, was to show that concern about the crisis in pain treatment is not an issue that belongs to one political party.

"We wanted to show that this is a bipartisan effort, and with Conyers and Paul, people are starting to understand that," she argued. "Our panel was another example. We had people who are very conservative and people on the left. The people on the panel put aside political differences on other issues to work together on this."

Well worth reading in full. And while you're at the site, also check out Steve Fox's brilliant op-ed on why Ricky Williams should not lose his career over cannabis and Jeremy Lott's fascinating interview with Joel Miller on his new book, 'Bad Trip' where he "discusses why anti-drug laws are the terrorist's best friend and what this year's election means for the war against drugs."