How The DEA Made Me Get A Haircut (long)

How could the Drug Enforcement Agency be at all involved in me radically changing my hair?
Like all of my simple photos, they do paint a thousand words.

The important factor of this tale is this: I live in a one county and my controlled substance prescribing pain doctor is in another county. The other thing everyone needs to know is this: the laws regarding medication dispensing in this country are based entirely on the criminals and not on the needs of the patients.

Normally when I see my pain doctor, before I leave the Marina del Rey hospital center, I have the prescriptions for controlled substances prescribed that day, filled by the pharmacy on premises. On my last visit, however, I was in a hurry.

When I got home I went to CVS. I hand them my legally written prescription and they verify that the medication is in stock.

Now the hitch: their policy is that they cannot fill a prescription for a controlled substance that was written "out of the area". When asked to explain "out of the area", they go on to elaborate with "out of the county." Checking elsewhere, I hear that this is supposedly a DEA regulation.

Now I'm pissed. It's a Friday and the beginning of a three day weekend. There is no way I'll be fighting holiday traffic that day to drive to LA to get my fentynal.

I need to make a plan.

I am scheduled to change my patch on Saturday (the next day)! It's a better idea to drive to LA on Saturday. The Marina hospital pharmacy is closed on Saturday. (It's an out patient pharmacy.) Thus, I will have to go to CVS in Marina del Rey. I call the pain clinic and inform them. This DEA regulation is a surprise to them. I just need the doctor to know I'll be getting the narcotics at a different pharmacy than usual. This is a condition of my pain contract. There are many rules to follow inns pain program, so I'm not excited about this new one.

I call CVS in Marina del Rey to verify that they have the medication. Fentynal isn't something that all pharmacies carry. It's a liability to have sitting about, it's kept under lock and key. They can't even tell me on the phone if they have it. This sets them up as prey of drug seekers. A helpful pharmacy employee says if I have a legal, written prescription it wouldn't be a bad idea to come up. Yay! Thank you!

I got home to find 2 patches hiding at the back of my drawer. Whew! I could wait until my usual weekly Thursday trip to LA to fill the prescriptions.

I promise, the haircut is coming.

I make my usual trip in Thursday to Brentwood and then make it to CVS at 3PM. I'm told it will take an hour.
Holy Hell!

So why not get a haircut next door? Honestly, I have not had a haircut in a year. Maybe longer. I could use the pick me up for sure. I'd like to thank the DEA for forcing my hand in this one.
I had a wonderful time getting a new look. I was able to tell the hairdresser about the Chronically Awesome Foundation. The biggest surprise was when she showed me the hair she removed that was green. She believed it was most likely due to my medications. I just let her do whatever she wants to do. Sometimes you have to have some faith. And it's hair, it grows back. Take a risk!

My hair took exactly an hour, and surprise surprise: my medication still wasn't ready!
Damn!

I get out of CVS at 4:30. Now it's rush hour, and I have to drive 50 miles home.
SHIT!

I'm #ChronicallyAwesome and I am going to flip this, I am going to turn this into something better. I feel better with a great haircut. I got a better brand of fentynal patches (smaller, more discreet, based on how I feel I think the delivery is more effective.) I learned that I have to fill before I go home, so I'll chill out and have lunch before I drive, and every six weeks I'll get my hair done. I found out that my meds have turned the lighter color of my hair green, need to pay attention to that.

I now have a new cause to add to my list of advocacy issues. So, I'm going to be ok. There are problems and there are inconveniences. This was an inconvenience.

After further research: this is not a law. This is an intimidation tactic based on the abuse of Vicodin products which fentynal is not. What they all did to me is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Some research so far (I am not done):
Why Are Pain Patients Being Treated Like Criminals
How To File A Complaint If A patient Is Denied Timely Access To Legitimate Prescription Pain Medication

I need to find information that directly refers to this distance issue. If it turns out to be a "policy" and not an actual DEA regulation, I'll be filing a complaint. I am a chronic pain patient which is only one of a few things that I have that qualify me under protections of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This may be an inconvenience for me but it could be a problem for others. If I am granted fine money for any complaint I file and win, that money will go to the #ChronicallyAwesomeFoundation to continue our support groups, podcast, and Facebook outreach.