Addiction to prescription Opioids does not discriminate. It usually starts when a person goes to their doctor for pain management. It can be a high school football player who was injured, a construction worker with years of labor, or a person suffering from chronic pain. This was the case for Carrie Mitchell. Carrie Mitchell had a full-time job, owned her own house, and was the proud mother of three children. She was supposed to have knee surgery to help her live her life with less complications, however she ended up nearly losing her life. After surgery, she was given a morphine pump to help reduce the pain. The morphine pump ran out, but Carrie was still in pain, so her doctor prescribed pain medication. When the prescriptions ran out and the doctor did not prescribe anymore, she began buying drugs off the street. Buying pain killers on the street became too expensive, so Carrie made the switch to heroin and her life quickly began falling apart. She began committing crimes, lost her job, lost her house, and lost custody of her children. She had tried detox several times, but always relapsed. Finally, her parole officer gave her the option of attending an intense in-patient program or staying in a women's prison. The in-patient treatment ultimately saved Carrie's life. Carrie recognizes that she is one of the lucky ones, and hopes that her story encourages other people to get the help they need when battling similar situations. 

Carrie is not alone. In the state of Wisconsin the rate of prescription painkiller overdose has increased by 238% among Wisconsinites age 10-24.

The goal of this petition is to raise awareness of how addictive prescription Opioid's can be and to encourage people to look for alternative methods to manage their pain. This petition is to also discourage medical providers from writing out prescriptions for opioids as the first approach to pain management. Some alternative methods are: Acupuncture, Massage, Mind-body therapy, dietary changes, yoga, and meditation. The alternative can be different for every person, but the individual should explore these options before choosing painkillers.