From Alternatives, in Salem Oregon, check out an important editorial about pain medicine: Chronic Pain – The Hidden Epidemic by Rick Bayer, MD.

While the science of pain control has progressed, the politics of pain control remains in the Dark Ages.

This doctor’s editorial particularly takes the current administration to task for their drug policies and what that means for suffering patients:

To fix the problem of untreated and under-treated pain in chronically ill patients, we must vote out the Bush/Ashcroft party and re-examine our nation’s War on Drugs.� What are we gaining besides over-funding the doctor-busting narcotics agencies while laying off police who actually protect us from violent criminals? Why are we willing to sacrifice civil liberties, healthcare, education, a clean environment, and solid infrastructure in a self-destructive pursuit of a “drug-free America”? We need drug education and drug treatment–not another war.�

We can no longer be passive when drug warriors threaten the practice of compassionate scientific medicine and make the chronically ill do without necessary medication.� For the compassionate, I ask you to inform yourself, contact your representatives, and vote.� For those who need more convincing, I ask you to consider that anyone is only one accident away from a life with chronic debilitating pain.

You can now read the entire transcript from the 60 Minutes program on mandatory minimums: More Than They Deserve. A sample:

“Judges throughout the country, of all political persuasions, feel that they have to have discretion so that they can do justice in the individual cases,” says Martin, who is resigning from the bench.

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