Know the potential legal risks of addiction to pain killers

All of the media coverage of the opioid epidemic in America can be overwhelming. If you become addicted to these medications, you may start to seek more and risk drug charges being filed against you. Be careful with how you take these medications to avoid legal and health problems developing for you.

How Legal Problems Arise

Taking prescription opioids is not a crime by itself. You need a valid prescription. If you have one, you also must avoid going to multiple doctors or alternative sources to get more. Avoiding an addiction to these drugs is critical to keeping you safe legally.

Take Medications as Prescribed

Some who worry about addiction arising can make the mistake of not taking pain medications when they need them. If you wait until the pain is unbearable, you may take too much when you decide you have to have it. This feeling of intense need often creates the initial addictive sense that drives compulsive need for drugs. Instead of trying to fight through pain, take what the doctor prescribes.

Don’t Alter Your Doses

The flip side of this is taking more than you are supposed to take. Remember that pain medications seldom work immediately. It takes a little time for the pain you are feeling to recede. By taking too much, you might dull the pain more, but you also develop a compulsion that suggests the act of taking the medicines, rather than letting the medication work as designed, solves your problems. This can lead to trying to obtain more than you should and opening yourself up to legal difficulties.

Opioids are highly addictive products, and you need to be careful in how you obtain and take them. Still, taking them under valid prescriptions remains legal. If you are facing trouble with possession charges for prescription pain killers, contact Eisenberg Law Offices, at (608)256-8356 or online. We can help you protect your legal rights.