Rush With Dignity
Limbaugh said he started taking painkillers "some years ago" after a doctor prescribed them following a spinal surgery. His back pain stemming from the surgery persisted, so Limbaugh said he started taking pills and became hooked. "Over the past several years I have tried to break my dependence on pain pills and, in fact, twice checked myself into medical facilities in an attempt to do so. I have recently agreed with my physician about the next steps." "... I am addicted to prescription pain medication." "Immediately following this broadcast, I am checking myself into a treatment center for the next 30 days to once and for all break the hold this highly addictive medication has on me," he added
No matter what one thinks about Rush -- and personally, I think he's an over-inflated publicity hound who loves the sound of his own voice and lives to have people agree with him; and who occasionally stumbles on a nugget of truth -- he did handle this one with dignity. The American perception of addiction to any drugs as being a moral failing is completely incorrect. Unfortunately, that erroneous impression is supported by a great deal of the behavior that tends to go along with addiction; the lying and covering up, the focus on the drug to the exclusion of family, work and friends, the self-absorption. Let's hope this experience and the things he will learn in rehab will encourage Mr Limbaugh to use his bully pulpit to educate his audience on the facts of addiction.
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