#Soma Pills

[onlinesildamax]

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[powerpills]

OH MAN, THE SCARECROW LADY! THAT'S A THROWBACK!

LINES: Mooneria | COLOR: @kriber | SHADE: maxmayhem

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[trevor-hislop]

Pain O Soma is a deeply grounded muscle relaxant approved by the FDA. However, its use has limits because of possible side effects and the risk of dependence. Continuously examine risks and advantages with your doctor before taking pain O Soma to guarantee it's the best decision for your needs. While effective for temporary pain, it's important to understand that pain O Soma is not a magic bullet.

[zopiclonetablets]

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[uraharashouten]

hey silk, idk, i bet you have already posted about it, given the age of your blog, but i was trying to find an answer to this and simply can't seem to find it, so i thought why not ask *the* person who i am sure knows it all.

i know how you can get a soul out of a gigai (normal human body or artificially created by kisuke). but *how* does a soul get into a gigai? what would ukitake have to do to step into his gigai? i don't think i have ever seen / read how that works.

all i've ever known is how ichigo swallows the kon pill or how rukia uses the glove to separate his soul from his body but not the other way around, how to get back into his body.

Thank you for the meta question! I have actually never written about this.

Unfortunately, in terms of canon examples, nothing has come to mind. The closest we get is in Everything But the Rain.

Kisuke introduces Isshin's Gigai...

Isshin prepares to enter it...

Then we get the whole bit with him saving Masaki in her inner world, and the next time we see Isshin, he's in the gigai:

(He must have put on that green pullover after entering it.)

So... I don't think we ever see a shinigami entering a gigai in canon (though if anyone thinks of an example, please leave a comment!). Most roleplayers and fic authors have gone with fanon that one simply steps in. We can imagine some reishi supremacy going on here; we know a strong soul can cause a physical body to do things it otherwise can't, as Kon does for Ichigo's body, so it probably is just a matter of aligning the konpaku with the artificial body with the intent to operate it, and it simply works. Bleach runs on willpower.

Now, supposedly, if that's not enough, one may use a Sōma Fixer (内魄固定剤　(ソーマフィクサー) to help synchronize with their gigai. Supposedly...

Although it is worth pointing out that we may take whatever Kisuke tells Rukia about Sōma Fixers with a grain of salt, because we know her gigai was specifically designed by him to sap her reiatsu and keep her shinigami powers from returning, as he'd hidden the Hōgyoku inside her konpaku and did not want her to be findable by anyone in Soul Society. (Spoiler alert: it didn't work, because Hiyosu is a freak who watches human television and happened to see her on the Don Kanonji show.)

Moreover, the name should tip us off: anyone who's read Brave New World will recognize Soma as the drug that keeps all the artificially-conceived citizens happily in their lane and not asking too many questions. Perhaps Kubo's read that book. In any case, we never hear of any other shinigami using Sōma Fixers ever again, so it is also entirely possible that they were only a placebo he sold her, so that when she ultimately could no longer exit her gigai, she would blame herself.

Side note: It's usually a mistake to generalize "information" we get in Bleach too early from special cases and unreliable narrators.

[thelovelydoggycatmadi]

20 YEARS FROM NOW. HUSBAND. WIFE. MARRIED. ONE MAYBE TWO KIDS. I HAVE BEEN SOMA PILLED. ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED. I APOLOGIZE FOR MY PREVIOUS TRANSGRESSIONS AS A CHILD.

[rollingsim]

—OC 20 Questions— tagged by @sikoi 💕

Asahi Soma

1. What uncommon/common fear do they have // fear of being stranded on an island with no one else around

2. Do they have any pet peeves // grammatical errors when texting, not using a coaster with a cup, people who can’t hold eye contact

3. What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom // a gun in his bedside drawer, baby precautions* (c*****s), melatonin pills

4. What do they notice first in a person // posture, the way someone carries themselves in a room full of people

5. From a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance // 8

6. Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure // Flight

7. Do they come from a big family/are they a family person // Asahi was an only child and his parents still disowned him so it’s safe to say he’s definitely not a family person.

8. What animal represents them best // A raven

9. What is a smell that they dislike // cheap floral perfumes

10. Have they broken any bones? if so, how //Asahi’s broken his ribs, fingers, and nose (several times to the point where it’s visibly crooked) due to occupational hazards.

11. How would a stranger likely describe them //Intimidating and cold

12. Are they a night owl or a morning bird // He’s a night owl forced to be a morning bird.

13. What is a flavor they hate and a flavor they love // He loves umami flavors and hates anything sickly sweet (like candies)

14. Do they have any hobbies // He dabbles in cooking, likes reading (mystery novels mostly), and goes to the gym.

15. Do they like to wear jewelry? if so, what is their favorite piece // Just earrings and his glasses (if that counts lmao). On occasion he’ll wear one of his expensive watches.

16. Do they have neat or messy handwriting // Messy like he only had 10 seconds to write everything down.

17. What are two emotions they feel the most // Stress and desire

18. Do they have a favorite fabric// Cotton and satin

19. What kind of accent do they have // Japanese— Tokyo dialect/ accent

20. Boom, surprise birthday party! how do they react to surprises // He hates surprises and will suffer through every minute of it (and will show it)

[infinitecyanroses]

I think the way that the Federation has utilized the pills against q!Forever confirms that the reason the Feds seem to be looking into manufacturing happiness is as a means of control. It is easier to think that people are weaker when they're miserable and while it is true in a lot of cases, there's been research done that proves that happy/content people are more suggestible and less likely to think critically than people who are upset or disgruntled. The Federation has seemed to struggle a lot with figuring out how to keep the islanders from getting upset and digging too much but now that they have these pills and they seem to work on q!Forever, they could completely buy the islanders complacency as long as they're able to manufacture more. A lot of people have drawn parallels between the Federation and the dystopia of 1984 but the Federations current methods remind me of another dystopia novel I've read recently called Brave New World. The basic premise is that the world government maintains obedience and stability through genetic engineering, cloning, and by making all citizens take a drug called "soma" which comes in pill form and makes people way more happy and content. This might be the type of "perfection" that the Federation is trying to achieve, only they're still in the experimental stage

[toku-fanservice]

Can you do Soma Haruto and Nitoh Kosuke with s/o who is suffers from insomnia but hasn't told them about it until s/o accidentally drop their bottle of sleeping pills right in front of them?

- Your boyfriends are literal heroes, which of course means they want to be your heroes. They're very protective of you, each in there own way.

- Nitoh always wants to be so strong for you. He always walks you to your car or to the train station. Whenever Phantoms are out, he always stays with you until the situations handled. He wants to fight for you.

- Haruto enjoys more small, subtle gestures of protection and care. He always offers to carry your bag, to make you food or tea. When he buys donuts for everyone, he always makes sure to get your favorite flavor and hide it from everyone else. He wants to take care of you.

- You love them both so much, and you love feeling so cared for. But you also don't like to worry them. That's why you keep your insomnia from them as best you can.

- You drink a lot caffeinated coffee and tea, you try to be as normal as you can in front of them. Sometimes the facade slips, and they see just a bit of your exhaustion, which prompts questions of "Are you ok?" "Are you getting enough sleep?" "Do you need anything?"

- It makes you even more sure of your choice to hide it. You know they would both constantly question you and fret over you about getting enough sleep. You couldn't make them deal with that when they already have to save the world on a semi-regular basis.

- You're having a lovely evening with your boyfriends at the Antique Shop when it all comes crashing down. You were rummaging through your bag for your phone when your pills bottle fell with a horrible clatter. Right in front of Nitoh.

- "Huh? Pills?" He asked, picking them up. From there, you could only stare at the ground as you explained your situation- your insomnia and why you didn't tell them. At first, Nitoh was bewildered, just like you expected him to be. But Haruto was able to quiet him with a strong hand on his shoulder.

- "We're sorry we made you feel like you couldn't tell us. Of course we care about you, and we want to take care of you because of it. Just like how you take care of us. So, please, let us help where we can. Even if you just want to talk about it. We don't want you to have to suffer alone."

- After that, you can feel tears building in your eyes. You pull them both in for a big hug, promising to tell them when your insomnia is weighing you down.

- From there, life gets a little more manageable. Even if your boyfriends can't fix your problems, they support you. Haruto gets you a large coffee with your donuts now. Nitoh welcomes you into his tent when you can't sleep. And when you do manage to sleep, you are almost always in the company of one of them, if not both.

[cassiachloe]

""By his heretical views on sport and soma, by the scandalous unorthodoxy of his sex-life, by his refusal to obey the teachings of Our Ford and behave out of office hours, 'even as a little infant,'" (here the Director made the sign of the T), "he has proved himself an enemy of Society, a subverter, ladies and gentlemen, of all Order and Stability, a conspirator against Civilization itself. For this reason I propose to dismiss him, to dismiss him with ignominy from the post he has held in this Centre...""

-Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

On Soma and the opiates for the masses - be it religion, alcohol, television or some other blue pill or denial of truth. What of our internal ability to detach? Both a blessing and a curse. Be it cognitive dissonance, disassociation or even meditation. Whilst it can give you power if you can detach willingly, this makes you immune to threats, being controlled by emotions or externally inflicted harms, enabling a temporary boundary or more objective observation point allowing a longer time for contemplation or recovery. It could also hinder you from acting to resolve wrongful situations.

(On conspiracy:) But, what of when detatchment is uncontrolled, or worse, willingly triggered by another as a method of control or to extract other immoral uses from an individual? There is a conspiracy theory regarding 'programmed' individuals who are programmed, using trauma based mind control, to be triggered by trauma in to amnesiac states whereby they may then be violated, used for slavery, espionage or other corrupted covert uses.

(On personal experience:) Somatic substances are also used a method of conditioning or mind control, one method is to force an addiction on the individual and then mediate how you dose the individual based on their actions (perhaps without even their conscious recognition), using this to seek to 'reward' or 'punish'. From my personal experience with mind control attempts I have noted random injection sites and bruising appearing upon me, even though I do not use any drugs (except coffee/tea) and am absolutely terrified of needles, combined with unexplained changes to my eyes and other entrances to my home. I question if this MKULTRA style method could be at play.

Video stills; I'm diversifying my platforms so for more videos find me on Patreon, Rumble, Youtube, Tiktok, IG, Fb @cassiachloe

[rudethaccess]

Rudy Pankow para a FLAUNT MAGAZINE

| A máquina é de ouro maciço, sim, mas também maior que a soma de suas partes

Uma das minhas memórias menos queridas do ensino médio: a tarefa assustadora de recitar um monólogo de Shakespeare diante de toda a classe. Uma experiência verdadeiramente humilhante. Muito poucos de nós entenderam o significado por trás das palavras que decretamos — estávamos apenas nos esforçando para pronunciá-las corretamente e garantir uma nota decente. Depois de entrar em uma chamada do Zoom com o ator Rudy Pankow, pela primeira vez, quero voltar para a escola para tentar realmente dar sentido a essas palavras complicadas e canonizadas. “O mais bonito sobre Shakespeare é que se você confiar nele”, diz Pankow com um sorriso, “as palavras farão todo o trabalho.”

O ator que em breve completará 26 anos, que ganhou fama com a série de sucesso estrondoso, Outer Banks , está entrando em uma nova era. Agora podemos assistir Pankow ao vivo — sem cortes, sem refilmagens — enquanto ele abraça sua estreia no teatro neste outono como Romeu no clássico atemporal Romeu e Julieta . Até agora, Pankow não tem medo de ser cru, abraçando a imprevisibilidade e a autenticidade que somente o teatro ao vivo pode oferecer. “Você pode sentir uma grande diferença na tensão na sala”, ele lembra de arrasar em uma cena com uma plateia em uma de suas aulas de atuação teatral. “O momento em que a plateia ri, o momento em que a plateia respira com você. Você consegue estar na viagem com eles.”

Pankow estrelará ao lado de Emilia Suárez (Up Here, A Good Person) como os personagens-título no American Repertory Theater da Universidade de Harvard. Lançando a temporada 2024-2025 do teatro, a produção é dirigida pela vencedora do Tony Award Diane Paulus (Jagged Little Pill, Waitress, Pippin), que está se reunindo com o diretor e coreógrafo duas vezes vencedor do Olivier Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Jagged Little Pill, Babel(words), Puz/zle ) para encenar a tragédia clássica.

Em nossa ligação, Pankow está de volta à sua cidade natal, Ketchikan, Alasca, aproveitando um breve descanso de sua agenda agitada. Ele está preenchendo seus dias de verão praticando wakeboard com amigos e descansando. No entanto, é evidente que ele está ansiosamente esperando sua viagem para Boston na próxima semana para começar os ensaios. “Eu sempre quis fazer Shakespeare. É o padrão de ouro do teatro”, ele reflete. Seu treinador de palco Larry Moss sempre achou que ele seria um bom Romeu, então conseguir o papel é um momento de círculo completo.

A tragédia de Romeu e Julieta pode parecer uma história antiga e fora de sintonia, mas Pankow nos convence de que seus temas de amor, conflito e responsabilidade pessoal são mais relevantes hoje do que se poderia pensar. “Você tem um mundo ao seu redor ao qual pode prestar atenção, o que é importante, certo?”, diz Pankow, referindo-se à mensagem que espera transmitir, “Mas então é muito importante realmente focar em como controlar seu próprio mundo.”

Enquanto Romeo marca uma nova fase significativa para o ator, os fãs estão mais familiarizados com a interpretação de JJ por Pankow no já mencionado Outer Banks . Nas praias ensolaradas da Carolina do Norte, as aventuras de JJ são cheias de ação, camaradagem e a busca incansável por tesouros. Na terceira temporada mais recente, JJ e os Pogues continuam sua busca pela fictícia Cruz de Santo Domingo, enfrentando adversários perigosos e descobrindo segredos ocultos.

Outer Banks tem sido enorme para a Netflix, com todas as três temporadas aparecendo consistentemente na lista semanal Global Top 10 do serviço de streaming. A série ganhou vários prêmios People's Choice e MTV Movie & TV, um dos quais foi dado a Pankow por ‘Melhor Beijo’ em 2023. Para a alegria de muitos fãs, Pankow acabou de encerrar as filmagens da quarta temporada. Embora ele mantenha os detalhes em segredo, ele provoca com uma dica do que está por vir: “A manivela só gira em uma direção, então é maior, é mais intenso, mais reviravoltas estão por vir.”

Interpretar JJ é especial para Pankow; não há outra maneira de dizer isso. “O que é tão bom em construir um personagem é que você pode criar coisas novas”, ele diz. O espírito de JJ é inspirador e cativante, não apenas para o público, mas também para o ator. De certa forma, JJ foi uma espécie de professor para Pankow. “Ele nunca tem vergonha de resolver as coisas com as próprias mãos”, ele diz rindo. “Acho que ele me ensinou que é tipo, 'Ei, pegue o touro pelos chifres e tente segurar o máximo possível.'”

Com a nova temporada se aproximando, Pankow reflete sobre a jornada que seu personagem tomou nas últimas três temporadas. JJ começa como um pouco delinquente, sonhando apenas em viver na praia em Yucatán e evitar as complexidades da vida. No entanto, as aventuras e os desafios dos Pogues o forçam a crescer e assumir responsabilidades, transformando-o em um personagem determinado e confiável. “Neste ponto, acho que ele quer construir seu futuro; ele quer ser responsável por si mesmo, e esse é o seu crescimento”, explica.

Pankow segue uma regra de ouro, que talvez todos nós devêssemos adotar: entender que erros serão cometidos. Ele não está falando apenas sobre contratempos ocasionais; ele insiste que erros são inevitáveis — a parte crucial é como lidamos com eles. “Acho que, desde que você entenda essa regra de ouro, você deve ficar bem”, ele compartilha. “Eu me mantenho fiel a isso porque sei que não sou perfeito, mas também sei que quero fazer um bom trabalho em todos os aspectos da minha vida.” Não há como enquadrar Pankow. Ele não é um ator de ‘romance’ ou de ‘comédia’ — ele é um ator dinâmico. Ele apareceu anteriormente no filme da Sony Uncharted ao lado de Mark Wahlberg e Tom Holland, que arrecadou mais de US$ 400 milhões em todo o mundo. Ele também estrelou como protagonista no filme independente da Roadside Attractions Accidental Texan , ao lado de Thomas Haden Church, que ganhou o Texas Independent Film Award de 2024 da Houston Film Critics Society. Além disso, ele apareceu em 5lbs of Pressure, da Lionsgate , com Luke Evans, Alex Pettyfer e Rory Culkin.

Um belo currículo. Quando perguntado sobre como ele lida com a dinâmica diversa de cada conjunto, Pankow mergulha em uma analogia, “Não importa o quão diferente cada projeto seja”, ele diz, “a coisa mais importante a lembrar é que você é uma pequena parte do todo, uma engrenagem na máquina. Para que a roda gire, todos precisam trabalhar juntos, ouvir, entender e colaborar.” Ele continua, “É uma coisa tão linda quando todos estão trabalhando em direção a um objetivo comum, e eu tive a sorte de ver isso em primeira mão. O todo é realmente maior do que a soma de suas partes.”

Pankow entende que criar uma tapeçaria de emoções e experiências que ressoam profundamente com o público é uma questão de harmonia. Mas como essa harmonia acontece? O que faz as engrenagens da máquina girarem? Comunicação. Ele explica: "Se você está hesitando ou tem pensamentos que realmente não o levam a lugar nenhum, você precisa comunicar esses pensamentos, e é aí que todos nós começamos a girar.”

Essa confiança para se comunicar fala de uma espécie de bússola interna dentro de Pankow — não apenas usar sua voz quando necessário, quando precisa navegar pela relutância ou medo — mas ouvir. “Gostaria de aprender o máximo que puder”, ele comenta sobre onde vê sua jornada indo. “Gostaria de saber o que funciona e o que não funciona. Desde aprender sobre sets realmente grandes até aprender como um filme independente viaja longe se a equipe estiver, você sabe, girando as rodas.”

À medida que Pankow embarca em sua viagem para encarnar Romeu, seu processo nos lembra que, assim como a prosa duradoura de Shakespeare, a magia da narrativa está em sua capacidade de conectar as peças do quebra-cabeça da vida. E talvez, como eu, quando a "confiança" necessária ao ler Shakespeare canaliza através de alguém tão firmemente encravado no zeitgeist cultural moderno, você se verá querendo revisitar aqueles monólogos outrora assustadores com uma apreciação recém-descoberta pelo sempre romântico, sempre cômico Bard.

Via: Flaunt Magazine

[junkieicarus]

heavy world, pills light in my pocket

[...] a woman well versed in the ancient science of the stars she said the world is too heavy for me i can’t handle reality, and i also can’t take bars but somas seem to be plenty

[somatheking]

soma my left eye is hanging out my heart is on my foot my boob is broken my ear is through my eye ball and i hurt my foot on my railing and i see hot buff older men with tattoos and piercings 😟

Okay, Narumi, do you see the boxes of pills lining up my wall? The ones that I sometimes give to people?

They are meant for literally anyone but you.

Also please don't chase the... looks at notes buff hot older men with tattoos and piercings. Chase the less buff still hot younger men that will be less likely to feed into your daddy issues.

[nursingwriter]

Prescription Drug Abuse The overall point of conversation when speaking of prescription drugs in the public and political sphere has usually focused on cost and/or ease of access among all Americans. The overall points of conversation relating to drug has often centered on drugs like heroin, cocaine, crack and marijuana. However, as time and trends have shifted, the primary focus of both overall topics has centered on the use and abuse of prescription drugs, usually certain classes of drugs such as sedatives, opiates and anti-anxiety drugs. Common drugs focused on include Xanax, any narcotic-based painkiller such as Oxycontin and sedatives or muscle relaxers such as Valium and Soma. While prescription drugs are very important to have at the ready, the likelihood and propensity towards abuse of the drugs and other legal behavior is significant and this is even true among people who obtain the drugs legally at the onset. Analysis As noted in the introduction, much of the "War on Drugs" debate has centered on drugs that are never legal, or at least not legal in the form in which they are produced and sold. After all, there is not a whole lot of difference between the street drug methamphetamine and drugs like Ritalin nor is there a ton of difference between heroin and Oxycontin in terms of the base components and effects of the drug. However, of those combinations, one is produced in filthy to dangerous ways and the other has a legitimate use with certain kinds of medical patients and in certain situations. However, the lines have become blurred because now prescription drugs are being used by people to get their proverbial fix. It can be as simple as someone giving a friend a pill such as an Adderall or a Xanax to supposedly give them focus or calm their anxiety, just as two example. It can mushroom to something such as someone filling their legal prescription and then selling some or all of the pills. It can get even worse when a person gets multiple prescriptions from different doctors for drugs such as Xanax or any opiate painkiller. The way in which the drugs are used changes with the day as well. Some people just take one or more pills in a regular fashion but some people go to the lengths of crushing and snorting the pills or shooting them using a syringe after submerging the drug in a liquid. This report looks at this ever-growing problem that knows no racial lines and is affecting a lot of people from all walks of life. While the drugs in question are a lot safer than common street drugs, the manner and quantity in which they are being taken is not remotely safe and the laws that make the simple mislabeling, incorrect carrying or distribution of one bill alone a felony is not deterring people that are seeking their fix. The problem of prescription drug abuse is a wide-spread problem that touches all demographics but focus can also be put on specific demographics within society such as women and teenagers. As far as looking at things from a high-level standpoint, the drug problem is especially strong in the state of Ohio. The state of Ohio ranks among the highest in terms of overdose rates in the United States and unintentional drug poisoning in general has risen by nearly four times over just from 1999 to 2010. This has cost the state nearly $4 billion in budget money and this amount alone is half of the state's budget deficit. Part of the problem, at least in the eyes as many, is the areas that are dispensing of millions of ostensibly legal doses in such a small geographical area. One such example was Scioto County in Ohio. That county alone dispensed nearly ten million doses of pain medication in just 2009 alone. Such a pervasive amount of "legal" drugs being present in such a small area no doubt leads to the fact that more than a fifth of all children born in Scioto County have tested positive for opioids at birth (Winstanley et al., 2012). Drug overdoses overall account for about 100 deaths a day in the United States as of 2007. This is triple the rate of the same metric in 1991. In 2009, there was 1.2 million visits to the emergency room for drug overdoses and this was a doubling of th e rate from 2004. Those visits were specifically for the misuse of pharmaceuticals and this number actually exceeded, although not by much, the amount of ER visits for street drugs such as heroin and cocaine. To paint an even more sober picture, in 2010 there were enough opioid drugs prescribed to give every single person in the United States a 5 milligram dose every four hours for an entire month. This is a 300% increase in just 11 years. As far as an impact on women, deaths are more common with men but visits to the ER and/or hospital are higher with women when looking at the same event (Vital Signs, 2013). When looking at teenagers, the picture is dire as well. Every day, more than two thousand kids from age 12 to 17 take a prescription painkiller for the first time. The aforementioned instance of unintentional drug poisoning is now the second-leading cause of death in the United States and this is true among all age groups. When looking at teens in particular, prescription drugs are second only to marijuana when looking at the drugs that are used and abused the most. The notable rub as far as prescription drugs go is that many of them have legitimate uses and there are obviously instances where a drug is used legitimately at least initially but is later abused. Even over-the-counter drugs like dextromethorphan, normally just used as a cough suppressant, are subject to being abused when the wrong knowledge and wrong intentions are involved. At least when dealing with teenagers, the use of youth-based interventions and community groups plays a huge part in eliminating or at least reducing drug abuse amongst teens. Teens that are involved in such groups are 81% more likely to be aware of the dangers of prescription drug abuse, are 87% more likely to not shrae prescription drugs, are 89% less likely to use drugs that are not prescribe to them and are 90% more likely to understand that using the drugs of others is not right or safe for them. The same approach can also make it more than 90% likely that the children are more knowledgeable about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, are more likely to store their drugs in a secure and safe location, will dispose of their unneeded or expired prescription drugs in a safe way and that they will connect with a professional or trusted person if they feel they are abusing prescription drugs (Wade-Mdivanian, 2012). As far as other and more general ways to address and quantify the issue, the research undertaken by this author found some other points of action and thought that can and should be undertaken. The Centers for Disease Control, contrary to the verbiage and summaries above, has stated that they feel that non-medical use of powerful drugs could very well be the leading cause of death in the United States, rather than just being the second-worse. Car accidents could very well still be in the lead but drug-related deaths are at least catching up and could have surpassed car-related incidents already. The CDC had a survey done in 2010 that found that sixteen million people in this country, about four percent of the overall United States population, have used psychotherapeutic drugs for non-prescription and/or non-medical reasons in the past year. Of those, more than half got the drug they used from a friend or relative, nearly a fifth said they got it from a doctor and less than five percent got it from an actual drug dealer. Of those drugs obtained from a relative or friend, those drugs were typically only obtained from one doctor. In other words, the people that are using drugs for non-medical reasons are typically not getting the drug from drug dealers or other expected sources of illicit drugs or illicitly-used drugs in general. Indeed, most of them are coming from legitimate doctors and are just being used for non-medical purposes and/or they are coming from family and friends a good portion of the time. This fact makes enforcement and prevention of misuse exceedingly difficult to police and prevent except through means such as education and information-spreading (Kirschner, 2014). The problem that is easy to see in the above is the fact that there is a thin line between using drugs as intended to cure maladies and abusing them. Since the frequenting of a drug dealer or other illegal distributor of drugs is often not needed and since the drugs are often legally prescribed, the question becomes how it can be stopped without hurting people who legitimately need the drugs. Measures that have been undertaken thus far are the aforementioned laws banning not having a drug in the bottle it was issued in, making giving out of drugs a felony and so forth. Other drugs, including many over-the-counter drugs are tracked and must be sold, literally, over the counter by a pharmacist even though a prescription is not required (such as any drug with pseudoephedrine) and those purchase are often tracked by the state to ensure that too much of that drug or other precursors for methamphetamine or other drugs are not bought abusively. Age restrictions on over-the-counter medications are used as well (Garcia, 2013). Another step that has been taken is the more heavy regulation and control of pain-management clinics that have been seen as a rubber-stamp way for people to get painkillers from "legal" sources. States that have been focused on the most are Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee and West Virginia. Clinics in those states are required to maintain databases and make sure that a patient has not gotten similar or the same drug at another clinic in too short a time period. Limitations on the dosage and frequency of prescriptions being renewed is another tactic that has been used, such as in the state of Washington. Since the epidemic of the pill abuse epidemic is still in some ways in its nascent stages and the reactionary countermeasures are evne more so, it will take some time to see what effects, good or bad, these efforts will have on preventing the over-use and abuse of prescription drugs (Garcia, 2013). As noted earlier, the use of public outreach and educational campaigns has worked wonders with teenagers and the same could and should be said of the same efforts with adults. Much like similar campaigns for things like battling obesity, it should be laid bare that the use of prescription drugs in non-medical applications can kill and/or ruin lives due to things like felony convictions and other extremely bad outcomes. Child custody can be stripped, people can go to jail and people can become junkies overnight given the wrong circumstances and outcomes. There is some good news, however. The use of pill identifier phone numbers and websites has encountered extremely heavy use and this is a good thing. Social workers fielded a total of more than 17,000 calls over a twenty month period. The average caller was 33 years old and Caucasian but the overall pool of people calling spanned all races and from the age of 18 to 93. More than a third of the calls helped to identify and prevent problems with drug overdoses or interactions due to poly-drug use. Resources for obtaining treatment of any source were delivered to just over a fifth of the callers. However, the battle is still in full swing and the drug use is currently winning as the amount of fatal drug overdoses jumped from 4000 in 1999 to 13,800 in 2006. However, the fact that were over a million calls to United States poison control centers in 2009 is a good thing as it is clear that people are indeed trying to make a strong effort overall to remain safe while still using their drugs as needed and with the proper amount of care and foresight (Doyon et al., 2013). However, other research lays bare that may patients are not trying to be careful and are lying in a brazen fashion to doctors and other health professionals as a means to get multiple prescriptions for their drug of choice. The aforementioned use of databases can be used to fetter out whether a prospective or current patient is lying. The state-wide or even nation-wide tracking of what drugs a person has gotten and when can make it clear when a patient is trying to game the system and get drugs for abuse-related purposes. However, it is not just patients that are part of the problem as many doctors either do not do enough investigation before prescribing drugs and/or they are basically a rubber stamp that people use to get drugs when they really do not need them and a quick investigation of the patient's symptoms and drug history would easily disqualify them from getting more drugs. The main tactic to undertake is to use records and databases to trip up a patient that is clearly using deceit and deception to get more drugs through ostensibly legal means. One of the major tools used to combat this abuse are prescription drug monitoring programs, often referred to as PDMP's. The drugs are tracked based on what "schedule" they are with schedule five being the least risky and schedule one being very rife with potential abuse. However, schedule one drugs would always be illegal drugs such as heroin, ecstasy and LSD. The highest legal drugs on the scale would be schedule two drugs like stimulants (Adderall, Ritalin, etc.) and pain killers such as Oxycontin. Dilaudid and Demerol are also on the list. Schedule three drugs include Vicodin, Tylenol with Codeine, Suboxone, steroids and such. Drugs such as lorazepam, diazepam sleeping pills and cough suppressants are actually pretty far down the list but are possible sources of abuse as well (Worley, 2012). The presence of "data silos" is a condition where the data to prevent abuse if were simply organized and/or shared is quite common. Basically, all of the information necessary to stay ahead of drug peddlers and abusers is out there but it is often not made available to practitioners and/or is not required to be used. As such, doctors that are not required to be more dililgent and careful are not doing so and/or they are not allowed/permitted to do so. Either way, drugs end up getting to people that should nto be getting them either because they do not have a condition that requires the drug and/or they are using the drug or drugs in an unapproved way. However, efforts are getting better. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that they have a database called ARCOS that has 30 million transactions running through it every year, with a focus being applied to schedule I and II drugs in particular being the main things tracked and schedule I always being illegal (Traynor, 2012)(Schacther, 2012). Reaction Striking a balance between allowing people to get the treatment they need while at the same preventing abuse is often pretty clear-cut. However, there definitely shades of gray that have to be known and respected. For example, a person who comes home from war with a damaged spine may very well get patched enough to walk and function but they will be in some amount of pain, if not a lot of pain, all of their life. As such, narcotic pain killers are necessary or at least optimal to care for that. However, the problem with that is that narcotic painkillers users often build up a resistance over time and getting them off that high and onto a drug that actually takes effect well can be difficult to impossible and the patient suffers when a switch is made. It is not all that different from an alcohol user that has to drink more and more to get the same effect but the difference with a painkiller is that the drug is necessary on some level at least some of the time. As such, while cutting someone off cold turkey is not an option, it is also not wise just let them have what they want. A moderate and varied approach is necessary to keep pain to a minimum while not allowing addiction and over-use to take hold. However, a lot of people that are using and abusing narcotic and other addictive drugs are not nearly as valorous or honest. Quite often, people just want their fix and will lie to and deceive anyone that stands in the way of that including family, friends, nurses, doctors and others. To deal with such people, the use of databases and other tracking is necessary. While some may say this reeks of "Big Brother," relying on the honesty of the people in the system is simply not an option and doing so really endangers the public in the form of people getting drugs illegally when it easily could have been prevented with just a cursory amount of research and due diligence. In addition, people using drugs in a thoughtful and on an "as needed" basis will not have any problem getting the drugs they need a lot of the time. Some misunderstandings can occur, but many to most of those can be avoided with a little planning and realization of what appearances can occur, even if unintentional, if drugs are not purchases or procured in the right way. Stockpiling of drugs and/or purchasing over-the-counter drugs for someone else may seem thoughtful, but it can be dangerous in many case and can raise red flags even if no ill intent or illegal behavior is going on. For example, someone buying some Mucinex-D would seem like a good favor for someone else that is home sick but if that same person gets sick themselves and needs their own supply, they may be prevented due to the laws on the books. Government having to step in and regulate things in such a way is not an optimal set of circumstances. This is especially true given that the people causing the problems make up roughly five percent of the United States population. However, leaving everything as a free-for-all is simply not going to work and there are some reasonable proactive and reactive steps that can be taken to protect people that truly need help and have no ulterior motives to speak of. Conclusion Even so, innocent people can be put in a state of inconvenience or frustration even when they are not doing anything wrong. This, however, seems to be a necessary evil as the amount of deaths and overdoses happening is a burden to society in a number of ways and must be stopped whenever possible or practical. People driving while under the influence of prescription drugs must be stopped but throwing people in jail when they're addicts is not going to be a viable solution except in the most extreme of cases. Rehabilitation and treatment are good options but prevention is by far the more cost-effective and safety-conscious decision as there is a way to allow people to get what they need while not abusing the system or society as a whole. In the end, a preventative and proactive approach is far better than a reactive one and the loss of life from both users/abusers and innocent bystanders including children is something that can and should be avoided at any reasonable cost. References Doyon, S., Klein-Schwartz, W., Anderson, B.A., & Welsh, C. (2013). A Novel Approach to Informing the Public about the Risks of Overdose and Nonmedical Use of Prescription Medications. American Journal on Addictions, 22(2), 108-112. Garcia, A.M. (2013). State Laws Regulating Prescribing of Controlled Substances: Balancing the Public Health Problems of Chronic Pain and Prescription Painkiller Abuse and Overdose. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 4142-45. Kirschner, N., Ginsburg, J., & Snyder Sulmasy, L. (2014). Prescription Drug Abuse: Executive Summary of a Policy Position Paper From the American College of Physicians. Annals of Internal Medicine, 160(3), 198-200. Schachter, R. (2012). A New Prescription for Fighting Drug Abuse. District Administration, 48(2), 41-42, Traynor, K. (2012). Data silos impede progress against prescription drug abuse. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 69(8), 628-632. Read the full article

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Chapter 10

Why do you think Huxley chooses to juxtaposition the description of the process of human fertilization in labs at the Bloomsbury Centre at the beginning of Chapter 10 with the scene between John and the sleeping Lenina at the end of Chapter 9?

The end of chapter 9 portrays an emotionally vulnerable scene, as John is torn between his attraction to Linda and his desire to touch her, and his morals telling him not to give into this temptation. This is contrasted with a highly unemotional scene of artificial fertilisation in the labs, where no feelings are involved in the creation of life. 

What are the connotations of the term “pasteurized external secretion” (147)? Based on context clues, what is pasteurized external secretion?

The words make it seem highly artificial, unnatural, something mass produced in an industrial setting, however based on the context the reader can assume it is a milk substitute which is given to the embryos. 

According to the director, what is the worst offense a person can commit? Explain the reason that he believes this. Do you agree with him?

The worst offence a citizen of the World State can commit is not to conform to societal norms, to express individuality and seek time alone. This is what the director notices in Bernard, and is deeply alarmed by due to his conditioning teaching him to find comfort in conformity. Any behaviour which deviates from the norm is seen as undermining the system. I agree with the director that to a conditioned mind showing individuality can be perceived as a terrible crime, however there are a lot of crimes which should be deemed a worse offence. 

Why has the Director called Bernard Marx in for a public meeting? Why does he want to accuse Bernard in front of upper-caste workers? What charges does he make against Bernard? How does Bernard answer the Director’s accusations?

The confrontation of Bernard is set in a public setting in order to embarrass and humiliate him in front of upper-caste members od society. The director points out his anti-social behaviour, his tendency to spend time alone rather than in a group setting, and his refusal to have casual sexual relations with women or taking soma pills. Bernard doesn’t directly answer the Director’s accusations, instead he shifts the focus from him onto the director by bringing Linda and John.

What does Linda accuse Tomakin of doing to her? What details suggest that there may be truth to her accusation?

She accuses him of abandoning her in the savage reservation even though he knew she was pregnant, which is proved though the existence of John, who was born naturally by Linda and not created inn a bottle. 

In retrospect, what was ironic about the Director’s choice of the Fertilizing Room for his meeting with Bernard Shaw?

It was ironic that he would learn about his son in the room where children are “created” in bottles, especially during a tour which is meant to showcase the efficiency of the reproductive system.