________  ________  ________
   2018-10-11                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                               /       __/         /_       _/
   So I  had to "renew my prescription",  as  /        _/         /         /
it  were,  I left  it for  probably a  month  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
because shit's expensive but I like  it  and    /        \/        \/    /   \
don't feel  like I need to give  it up. IDK,   /        _/         /_       _/
addicts always  have excuses I  guess but  I  /-        /        _/         /
come   and  go  from  it  pretty  easily  so  \________/\________/\___/____/
whatever, it is what it is.

   I went through a vendor  I trust and as a thank-you they  threw in a couple
free samples of their other products.

   The whole idea was so hilarious to  me, I've joked before about that  whole
space  just  being AliExpress with  a different product range but dang it's so
true. There's no shady street-corner deals, it's as normal as any other online
store. And even better  than most  of them  really, when  you think  about it.
Because all  the vendors trade on reputation it's in their best interest to do
right  by their customer and from a  customer  perspective, the nature of what
your  purchasing  makes it  essential  to  learn  at  least  a  little  online
discipline.

   The two samples were a generic Xanax, which I'm told is pretty common  as a
throw-in bonus and the other was Pregabalin, generic Lyrica.  I recognised the
name, though I couldn't remember from where, and a  quick cursory poke  around
the internet turned up  lots of fun recreational effects. A couple days passed
and it finally  clicked where  I remember the name Lyrica from; when I  was in
the States last there were frequent ads for it on the TV as an alternative  to
opioid pain treatment and, more interestingly, as a treatment to significantly
reduce opiate withdrawal symptoms in recovering addicts.

   It's quite interesting, I can't say whether it was intentional or not but I
have seen some other vendors in that space  with a  pretty strong "we can help
you kick opioids" message, particularly heroin  obviously. Either way  it made
me realize something; up until the recent changes, I've been buying stuff from
legitimate pharmacies and from qualified pharmacists for easily over a decade,
and not one  single  time  did any of  them mention  addiction  or ask me if I
needed any help or wanted  to talk to  someone. Not even a passive, low energy
flyer haha.

   It's interesting. The people  who should have cared  didn't. They were told
to care by  legislation and still didn't so in the end they were removed  from
the equation  completely  and the  responsibility  handballed to doctors.  The
people who  you  wouldn't  expect to care, the criminals, do. At least at face
value.



EOF