It was recently revealed that Walter Payton, Hall of Fame running back for the Chicago Bears, died of liver and bile duct cancer caused by pain medications. The Chicago Bears said Payton was a cherished part of the Bears family regardless of his drug use.

After a decade of playing in the National Football League, Payton’s body was torn up with arthritic knees, shoulders, back, hips and ankles. He was in chronic pain, and that chronic pain was not properly treated. So Payton, no doubt, took way too much acetaminophen, and acetaminophen may be one of the most dangerous legal drugs.

Payton’s doctors probably were reluctant to prescribe pain medications to help with his pain because the state starts asking questions when pain meds are prescribed for a long term.

In short, Payton likely died because of our culture’s lack of understanding about chronic pain treatment.

Our governments have no understanding about drugs and drug use. Drug treatment programs in our jails and our communities describe marijuana as the drug of entry for other illegal drugs; this is not true.

Alcohol is the entry drug to hard drugs, and alcohol is the biggest drug problem in our culture. Tobacco is also a big drug problem and kills hundreds of thousands of people a year.

Prescription drugs are also a problem but not when they are properly prescribed and used.

The state could save a lot of money by doing away with drug rehabilitation programs in our jails that don’t deliver the truth and that don’t work.

To understand the treatment of chronic pain, people should read the report on the subject from the specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School’s report on marijuana.

Judson Duncan

Monmouth