Street Value

So I'm curious...when a doctor is prescribing you pain medicine and gives you some options to choose from, depending on the level of pain you are experiencing...is it kosher to ask him what the "street value" is of his listed pain medicine?

I did that once after my appendectomy a few years ago, only as a joke mind you, and surprisingly enough the doctor didn't find it funny. He almost seemed perturbed about it. (I really love the word perturbed, the way it sounds, its meaning, everything. It's such a strong word in my opinion...a real anchor to a sentence.)

In fact his reaction was similar to a time when a buddy of mine and I were standing in the security line at the airport before a flight. As we were loading our bags onto the conveyer belt to be scanned, my buddy turned to me and said loud enough for everyone to hear, "you did make sure to pack the guns, right?" He and I, being 17, thought it was funny...security, however, did not. Let's just say that it was a good thing we had arrived super early for our flight because we had a nice long visit with some very stern looking men in a back room of the airport, and this was over 15 years ago before September 11 even happened.

So back to my earlier question, I guess I didn't see what the big deal was. I just wanted to know the real "street value" for the pain medicine I would be taking. Is that wrong? I mean, there's only one sure way to know whether I'm getting the good stuff...rely on capitalism at its finest and the experts on the street.