Norco.

“Have you ever heard of Norco?” I looked at my dentist with a faked look of confusion, and replied back, “Ummm…not sure? I don’t think so?” “Well, they will help with the pain from the root canal, if you like I can write you a script? Any allergies to medicine you are aware of?” At that moment, I felt like the world stood still. I almost felt the sensation of the drug hitting my bloodstream and just forgetting everything for a while.

The truth is I knew what Norco was. In fact, hydrocodone was my first real experience with drugs, and I could even say my first true love. As early as I can remember, I would get a bottle of vikes and go to town, two-by-two, until I passed out, usually around 10 or so pills. By the time I was a teen-ager, I could get pills from any doctor for any illness, and the go-to was always Norco for poor people.

So I had been in this place a hundred times before, slowly leading the doctor to decide on their own to give me drugs, and it was working like a charm. The poor dentist didn’t know what hit him, he was getting hustled by an addict.

But then in that moment when the world stopped and he was asking me the question, “Can I prescribe you some Norco for the pain?” I snapped out of it, came to my senses, and thought of my family who counted on me. I thought of my four boys who needed a dad who is alive and a wife I promised to spend my life with.

Then I looked my friend the dentist right in the eyes and said “No thanks man, I’m good.” He was amazed, probably because nobody turns down drugs, and asked, “What will you do for pain?” He knew I was in real pain, as the x-ray revealed a huge abscess tooth he just drilled out with a 5 mm file! So yeah, it freaking hurts!

I wish I was honest with him at this point and told him, “Doctor, I know our kids go to school together and you think I’m a normal great guy, but truth is I’m an ex-pill junky, and I cant take pills without fucking up my life! Instead I stopped at the dispensary on my way here and bought legal medical cannabis concentrate to treat the pain when I get home. I’m good!” But I lied to him instead, mainly to protect the reputation of my kids, because they really do go to school with his kids.

The dentist is a great guy. He just doesn’t know that I am a pill popper. So I told him a lie instead and brushed it off, “I’ll just take Tylenol and Ibuprofen, I’ll be okay.” “You sure?” He asked again, and I actually thought about it again, or at least pretended to. “No thanks doc, I’m good.”

I made it out of there without losing my sobriety barely, and the crazy thing is, I was ready for it! I knew I was going to need an emergency root canal, I have had four in my life and received a big bottle of pills every time. That is why I went to my neighborhood dispensary right before the dentist to get really strong cannabis concentrate for the pain.

I even talked to the bud tenders at the dispensary about how I was buying these meds to avoid taking the Vicodin. They assured me, “Na, the dentist doesn’t give out pain killers anymore.” I was relieved and said “Really? They used to hand that shit out like candy! Every time any of our friends had a tooth worked on when I was a kid, that meant it was time to party!”

They again promised me, “No way! Not since the opioid epidemic. They have totally cracked down. You have to be dying to get narcotics anymore.” I was still skeptical, but thought that since it had been over ten years since I’ve had any major dental work, maybe I was in the clear. I thanked them for my meds and went to the dentist.

So as it turns out I was right and I was about to face a major temptation. I knew the dentist would offer me Norco, the current system almost requires him to! Now I understand there are times when you need to treat severe pain and that requires stronger drugs. As I have written previously, I fractured my hip in three places in a road bike accident, so I know all about pain management.

I wanted to share this quick story to show you how cannabis is helping me stay off harder drugs. In the past, I either had to just endure the pain or else take a plunge off the deep-end with a bottle of pills. Every single time I have ever had major dental work done, I spent the next three days in a black-out because I took the pills non-stop until they were gone. I know I am so lucky I am not dead, and if it were not for my wife and the grace of God I would be.

I lost a close friend that I used to pop vikes and other easy-to-get pills with who is now dead because of an accidental overdose. I hope my honesty will maybe prevent the next person from an overdose. We should not be prescribing these hard drugs to people when there is an alternative. We need to create a culture where we can be honest about addiction so a random trip to a dentist does not end a person in the drug rehab, or dead.

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