Parents on Opiates - how long?

As I understand it, many people in the U.S. are on opioids, legally prescribed by a licensed physician for chronic pain, such as pain resulting from serious accidents, surgical procedures, chronic diseases, and advanced stages of cancer.There are efforts being made to discourage doctors from prescribing opioids too liberally, because too many people are becoming addicted, but at this time, there is no law preventing a licensed doctor from prescribing them for a good reason and, especially, for a relatively short period of time. The CDC came out with recommendations on the subject back in March, but the recommendations don't have the force of law. If a doctor doesn't prescribe tons of them, keeps good records, can document his/her patients' medical indications, and so on, there shouldn't be a problem. The users of such drugs will always fail urine tests, because they are taking the drugs, but it doesn't mean that they are abusing them.It is quite possible that the parents whose child is in your care are not addicts in the classic sense They may have been put on opioids for a good reason and by a licensed physician. They may be habituated to them, but not abusing them by taking more of them than the doctor told them to take. They may have been aware that the drugs have some side effects, but may not have realized how much the drugs have affected things like their reflexes. Frankly, driving a motor vehicle under the influence of a drug like Percocet or Oxycodone, two very common opioids, isn't a very smart idea. I've had to take Percocet after breaking bones and having surgery, for a couple of days, and there is absolutely no way that I'd have gotten behind the wheel of a car; my brain gets way too slow and fuzzy.Police and Child Protective Services are often a little too quick to jump to conclusions, when it comes to removing a child from people suspected of endangering him/her, but you can understand that they would rather be safe than sorry, when it comes to child welfare. In cases where children were removed because the parents were found to have opioids in their system, if the parents can prove that they are under the care of a respected physician, taking opioids only in the amounts prescribed, and so on, they will probably get their children back fairly quickly, especially if they have a good lawyer, who can convince a court that they did not realize how impaired the medication made them and that they will be more careful about things like driving in the future. However, they may be cited for driving erratically under the influence of prescribed opioids, and face the same sort of penalty as someone driving while drunk.On the other hand, many people who take opioids for more than a very short period of time DO become addicted, crave more and more, resort to obtaining the drugs from shady characters, and fall into typical addict behaviors, which can include child neglect and child endangerment. In such cases, the children could be removed for longer periods of time, or even permanently if the parent can't be weaned off the drugs and live a sober life.Without knowing the facts of the case, I don't think that any of us can tell what will happen to the children in your care. The fact that the children have clearly not experienced neglect, and that the parents have held steady jobs, suggests that either they are using the drugs appropriately, or are very early in a possible downward spiral. However, as with alcoholics, some opioid addicts manage to avoid detection for a surprisingly long time, making excuses to explain absences from work, blaming mistakes on fatigue, and so on.Sharon

I agree with Sharon. I would expect some type of Relative to appear at or prior to the next Court Date, or the Parents to have some type of plan in mind. Alot of states like mine have easy ' Drug Reducement ' Programs as well also... Most states Advocate under the age of 8 reunification with either the Parents or some other type of extended Family...

I would ask their Case Management . How many priors they have received or is this the only Criminal Offense?? That would bring alot of Court's determination and factoring into ' play ' as well also...