The sillier part of adding acetaminophen to hydrocodone and other opiates is that it's easy to remove the acetaminophen via cold water extraction. Thus, anyone looking to seriously abuse Vicodin can avoid the damage with just a bit of work.
He mentions denatured alcohol which has been around for a century and includes chemicals to make it toxic or foul tasting.<p>He doesn't mention that during prohibition, the government attempted to discourage the redistilling of industrial alcohol by adding poison or upping the concentration of toxic denaturing chemicals, killing thousands of Americans.<p><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2245188/" rel="nofollow">http://www.slate.com/id/2245188/</a><p>Edit: I'm not sure what the entire story is. It seems as though 10% methanol is standard for denatured alcohol. Not sure if that was the case before prohibition.
Sad to see an HN thread full of conspiracy theories and so little actual science.<p>Believe it or not, acetaminophen is an effective analgesic, and combined with hydrocodone it provides synergistic pain relief without any increase in side effects over the use of either agent alone. Here's a peer-reviewed 1980 study from the UK showing just that:<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1430165/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1430165/</a><p>Private drug companies didn't pursue testing & selling hydrocodone/APAP in combined form because the government hates drug users. They did so because they can market a highly potent form of pain control. Not everything in life is a government conspiracy!
It's worth pointing out that the FDA has since voted to reduce the levels of acetaminophen in vicodin.<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=12607415" rel="nofollow">http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=12607415</a>
A bit like shooting someone who is attempting suicide. Prohibition v. 2 has proven to be just as disastrous as v. 1, when will there finally be enough political momentum behind ending it?
So total aside, inspired by the mention of denatured alcohol. How come you can buy bitters, which are up to 50% alcohol (i.e. 100 proof), without having to be of legal age?
In a hundred years from now. People will look back at the war on drugs and what else it's called in the various countries as a primitive and barbaric method.
Gah! I shared my concern with APAP with me doctor and she prescribed Norco which has a higher hydrocodone to APAP ratio. Not sure it's still Schedule III in the USA, but if so, there ARE alternatives which Gregory House (who should be dead by now) and those concerned with liver failure deaths should know about.
> Does anyone think cannabis is deadlier than Jim Beam?<p>I think the vast majority of the population of America thinks that, which is why cannabis is much more highly regulated. What he should have said was, "cannabis is less deadly than Jim Bean", and provided the evidence to back it up.
Not just opiates, cough syrup (with dextromethorphan) too. It's very dangerous for kids who heard of Robotripping but haven't had resources/time to learn that while DXM overdose will make you trip, acetaminophen overdose will slowly and painfully kill you.