As a “House” fan, I can tell you that this article is untrue. I think the DEA reference is gratuitous bullshit, as House has had “repercussions” from his drug use from the first episode. Several seasons back, a cop tried to get his license pulled by constantly hassling him for his drug use, and he has always been portrayed as a highly flawed, if brilliant, character.
I know this is an excuse for all those who want squeal about ‘the nanny state” to do some more squealing, but it’s a hoax, IMO. The DEA “link”, I mean.
The character of House is a dark, angry, very flawed character, and not to be admired in any way but for his brilliant skills as a diagnostician.

“You being a pro-big-government hypocrite is no lie.”

It is a vicious lie. You use this lie as an excuse to avoid debating the issue of expansion of drug use with me.
Speaking of hypocrisy, Rob: you advocate increasing the use of pot in our society, by lowering the cost, and yet you don’t use it yourself. Please explain.
Is this the typical big govt “do as I say, not as I do” BS?

NLP:

Why do people get so hung up on thinking “addiction” is the absolutely worse thing in the world? You’d rather see a person tortured by his pain?

That’s been one of the primary tensions in the show from the start, whether the treatment is worse than the disorder.

“But, unlike you, I don’t let my personal preferences translate into me
pushing those preferences onto others.”

Another lie from you, Rob; like you, I express my personal preferences as an individual, but unlike you, I don’t want to use the courts to impose anything on the people of this country. I have always favored voting, and you know it.

BTW, thanks for sharing your views; until you started lying about me, it was good.

What you hate about me is that I have factual and logical arguments against your ideological positions.

House is definitely in pain, but his drug use goes way beyond what is needed for pain management. That’s clear on the show.

The whole DEA claim was a hoax.

So, even after you have been proved wrong, and I have been proved right, you still try to smear me with a lie. It is you who want the govt to impose homo marriage on us through the courts, Rob. You are the big govt hypocrite here.
I favor voting on these issues, you want the govt to impose your ideology on us.

Too bad your personal animus for me gets in the way of your being able to perceive the truth, Rob. I feel sorry for you.
The inaccurate narrative of the author of the article just fits into your prejudices, that’s all.
Not a good reason to smear those who disagree with your ideological stance on drug use.
The facts are not on your side here, and yet your angry pride leads you to escalate your mistaken personal attack.
Pride goeth before a fall.

Uh, no, Kenny. You can’t have been watching the show very closely. They never indicated in any way “that House has no medical need for the pills.” Nor could they, because it’s undisputed that he’s in chronic pain which needs to be treated. Why do people get so hung up on thinking “addiction” is the absolutely worse thing in the world? You’d rather see a person tortured by his pain?

Besides, Rob, if I really am the person you keep trying to convince yourself I am, why would I be a fan of that show? If it is really pro-drug, and if the DEA is really trying to censor it, why wouldn’t I be cheering them on? Instead, I’m a fan. How does that fit into your smear campaign? I would really like to hear your rationalization of these facts.
The truth is, “House” is very anti-drug, which isn’t the only reason I like it, but it tells the truth about the stupidity and destructiveness of drug use, which is a good thing, in my book.
If you knew the facts, Rob, you would have dismissed the raving about the DEA as typical of “truther” mentality. Pure delusion.

Sounds like the Rush Limbaugh show.

Rob: I’m really sorry for you that you have no counterargument, and choose to reply with lying smear. Nothing that was said in the article about the character of House was true, which calls into doubt the DEA claim. Since there was no favorable treatment of drug addiction in the show, there is no reason for the DEA to step in, and so it’s not credible that the article contains any truth at all.
You have no evidence of any “govt thuggery” about this show, and my “personal taste” is to tell the truth. Too bad it’s not yours, as well.
When I harpoon your sacred cow of drug license, you try to smear me with lies, rather than deal with the subject matter.
You have already admitted you don’t know anything about the program, so you might defer to those of us who do.
None of your squealing about “nanny state” or “thuggish govt” changes the fact that drug use is stupid and destructive. The TV show “House” agrees with me and the majority of Americans on that, as you would know, if you knew anything about it.

You’re changing the debate Rob. You claimed I’m in favor of censorship, yet that’s clearly bogus. So how about an apology for that shot at me, eh?

I did? I don’t remember doing that. I’m looking through this thread and I don’t see it, but if I did I misspoke and I apologize.

And of course the government has the right of free speech. You’re being silly now.

The line for abuse is when the government ENFORCES something it shouldn’t. The DEA can say that drug use on tv is bad all they want. But they cannot enforce or threaten to enforce a ban on drug use on tv.

The government is, by its very nature, intimidating. Maybe they don’t take direct action, but even so. The government shouldn’t even be pressuring them.

And what is a letter if not pressure?

It’s the will of the people, Kenny. Not the will of the government.

so its ok for the dea to intimidate the show writers…as long as they don’t send in the storm troopers.

That’s wonderful Kenny.

Again, we don’t know that the DEA even sent letters, but if they did that is wrong. Period. No excuses.

Its amazing to me how many conservatives get lured into approving big government in the name of the “war on drugs”.

So, even after you have been proved wrong, and I have been proved right, you still try to smear me with a lie

You being a pro-big-government hypocrite is no lie.

We can argue about whether or not the House plot shows realistic repercussions for the main character’s drug use, but the idea that the DEA would send a letter demanding plot changes is entirely inappropriate.

Chilling, in fact.

Whoever wrote the letter, if the letters exist, should be reprimanded and fired.

Rob, the idea that the DEA is intimidating people is based on extremely thin evidence.

Fair enough, though I was certainly clear in the post that there was no smoking gun here.

Nobody here is saying that it’s OK if they did

Uh, Kenny and Robert108 are.

And perhaps the argument is preposterous to those who watch the show. I was assuming that the folks who originally posted on it, as well as Brent who sent it to me, watch the show and that it made sense to them. Shame on me for not being a bit more skeptical, I guess, but now my problem is with Kenny and Robert thinking this sort of thing is ok if it happened.

“Uh Kenny and R108 are.”

No. I said that the DEA agents have the same right as everyone else to complain about what they don’t like. Not to use legal force to apply that.

Moreover, both R108 and I exposed that this was bunk.

Being ok with the DEA voicing their displeasure doesn’t mean I’m in favor of the war on drugs. Just that I like freedom of speech. Even if the speech is stupid, wrong, or insulting.

Rob – Do you believe everything you read on the internet? You’ve taken a ridiculous-sounding accusation from some anonymous internet commentator, somehow decided that this anonymous person is “in the know,” and that you needed no further proof regarding the accuracy of the story before presenting this garbage to your trusting audience.

Apparently, you don’t want to make any effort to verify the accuracy of the story, so you claim there’s “no smoking gun to prove this is true.” In fact, there are supposedly letters that could prove the accuracy of this story, but it looks like you haven’t found, linked, and as far as I know, haven’t requested any letters from the DEA.

And did you ignore the last paragraph of your hero’s comment?:

“They gave the DEA final script approval over all episodes of House. Talk about big brother. Then again, “big brother” is the very essence of drug prohibition.”

The idea that the DEA has “final script approval” is absurd and should make any reasonable person doubt the rest of the post.

You’re going to let a single denial from House’s producer sway your opinion? You were so sure before! Come on… isn’t it more plausible that the DEA won’t let Mr. Yaitanes admit to DEA’s control over the show?

*shrugs*

I’m not perfect, and I correct my posts when I’m wrong.

Given the DEA’s other abuses, and the arrogance of big government in general, this wasn’t hard to believe. Perhaps I should have been a bit more skeptical and let my inherent distaste for government in general cloud my better judgment.

I was clear that there was no smoking gun evidence for this out side of a seemingly (to me anyway) credible internet posting. I was wrong. I’ve corrected the record.

You’re going to let a single denial from House’s producer sway your opinion? You were so sure before! Come on… isn’t it more plausible that the DEA won’t let Mr. Yaitanes admit to DEA’s control over the show?

I was wrong, Morr, and I’ve admitted it. I’m not sure what else you want?

You’re changing the debate Rob. You claimed I’m in favor of censorship, yet that’s clearly bogus. So how about an apology for that shot at me, eh?

And of course the government has the right of free speech. You’re being silly now.

The line for abuse is when the government ENFORCES something it shouldn’t. The DEA can say that drug use on tv is bad all they want. But they cannot enforce or threaten to enforce a ban on drug use on tv.

Brent, the DEA can bitch and piss and moan like anyone else.

The Keratine treatment that you refer to had nothing to do with pain (as he still took Vicodin with it), but was related to him getting shot and losing function in his legs. Indeed, later in that same season, he gets investigated by a cop and is forced by the hospital to give up the Vicodin.

Several times they’ve alluded to the fact that House is fully functional without his pills, and he’s even switched before. And it is common among addicts to have phantom pains long after the actual ones have ceased. Indeed, they say that his addiction doesn’t even take care of the pain he does supposedly have.

Sorry, Brent. I’m not a House addict, and I miss episodes on occasion, but House is a normal drug addict, who excuses his drug addiction because he’s in pain. It’s not a stretch either in the story, or realistically, for his pain to be a symptom of his addiction, not real.

I’ve never watched house but Brent, who I trust a great deal more than you, has watched and vouches for the description of the story.

And in any case that is irrelevant in the larger picture of the dea taking any interest in this at all.

It is simply none of their business, and if you weren’t such an ardent proponent of big government when it suits you you’d know better.

Now give me another “lying smear” declaration so I can chuckle at how predictable you are.

Except they explained two seasons ago that House has no medical need for the pills, and he takes them even after they’re no longer helpful because he’s an addict. Far from being given “no reason”, an entire season revolved around it. And in several episodes, he not only took no meds, but suffered no pain.

The above quote is innaccurate.

And considering he’s in rehab because of his addiction spiraling out of control, the idea that they dropped the story for the DEA is clearly bogus.

Dude Rob, Robert is right here. House almost went to jail for his behavior, was effectively fired, has faced constant scrutiny for his use, and, in addition to some nasty side affects, was finally pushed into rehab.

This idea that he’s living a carefree fun life while on drugs is utter horsecrap. It has been a major focus of the series since episode one, and has CONSTANTLY been a sticking point with Cutty.

We know for a fact that the story hasn’t been changed for the DEA. Why do we know this? Because it is on the same story arc that it’s been from the beginning. As far back as the first season, they’ve been saying House has no pain, that he’s simply an addict, and that it impacts his work. And it’s been building from there.

As far as…

“No, Kenny, I’m sorry but it is highly inappropriate for a government agency to intimidate a media outlet like this.”

The difference between ok and not is the use of force. While I think the DEA should never have been formed, they are as well within their rights as anyone to say “We disapprove of this,” Where they cross the line is when they use force to achieve that. Even as the story above says…they have not done that. And given that Hugh Laurie has often said that House’s drug use would come to a head, this seems like where they were going all along.

Sorry, Rob. This is bunk, and you’re backing a side that doesn’t exist.

The risks of prescription drug addiction is depend on how you react to the drug. People who become addicted to prescription painkillers clearly experience a high, but most people find that the drug makes them feel unwell or nauseated. Other frequent side effects include mild dizziness, sedation, and confusion. According to some of Zacny’s research, the majority of people who try the drug don’t like the effects and would rather not take it again. So the risks of addiction may be higher in those who, for physiological reasons not understood, have a more positive reaction to the drug’s effects. 
Dextromethorphan Addiction