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Congress fueled The So-Called U.S. Opioid Epidemic

By de Andréa

Opinion Editorialist for

‘THE BOTTOM LINE’

Posted August 27, 2019

If you would like to write me direct with a question or a comment on this or other articles, you can email me at writedeandrea@hotmail.com

With the so-called opioid epidemic back in the news, this is of particular interest to me because I survive day to day on opioids, without them I would be unable to function and take care of myself.

But first, opioids are not the larger problem, it’s the synthetics like Meth amphetamines and Fentanyl, a synthetic Morphine an analgesic 100 times more potent that Morphine is not technically an opioid, but is so dangerous to overdosing, killing far more people than prescription opioids. Moreover, the street versions are illegally manufactured and/or being smuggled in from China through Mexico, and the Communist democrat Congress is turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the problem because they want the illegal votes that are produced by open and uncontrolled borders. And just maybe it may be part of the DeepState agenda to destroy the fabric of America.

Second, real prescription opioids were approved by the government Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mainly Oxy Condon and Hydrocodone Bitartrate which I have used several times daily for the past 12 years. Actually the acetaminophen/Tylenol which is added to these drugs can be more dangerous than the opioid itself causing irreversible liver damage.

Then thirdly, there is the question of responsibility. Who is responsible for opioid addiction and overdoses? Is it the legitimate drug manufacturers such as Johnson & Johnson who was recently fined a half billion dollars for knowingly manufacturing an addictive drug and filling orders for the product. That’s the same as blaming gun manufacturers for mass shootings or automobile manufacturers for hit and run deaths or liquor manufacturers for DUI’s.

And fourth, the doctor who prescribes all these drugs, sometimes unnecessarily, or even in some cases - criminally.

The lobbyist for the drug companies who could be considered sophisticated drug pushers who convinced certain members of Congress to allow the free flow of prescription drugs to pharmacies unabated tying the hands of the DEA, for a large contribution to their reelection campaign.

Then there is the Congress who knowingly passed a law which Obama signed that made it near impossible for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to investigate or stop the incredible amount of prescription drugs being sold to pharmacies all across the country as I will go into more detail later in this article.

And then most importantly the responsibility of the end user, people like me. Alcohol and drug abuse has been referred to as a disease instead of a responsibility. I mean after all, no one is responsible for getting a disease, it’s just not their fault. Just as it’s not the fault of the mass shooter, it’s the fault of the gun or manufacturer or the gun itself.

The drug epidemic of the 1980s and ‘90s was horrific. It led to draconian laws that helped break already vulnerable families, killed thousands of people, devastated communities and created an image of zombie-like addicts and unrepentant pushers that made it harder for Americans not directly affected by the scourge to empathize with those suffering.

That period is no longer considered the worst drug epidemic in the nation’s history.

Today’s ongoing opioid crisis has unfortunately, taken that title — because no one was lobbying Congress on behalf of crack cocaine dealers the way they have for large drug companies.

As usual the government goes from one extreme to the other and is highly susceptible to graft and payola. The Congress can be as criminal as the drug lords they pretend to fight against.

They went from almost no control in the 80’s and 90’s to so much control that people who needed pain killing meds couldn’t get them and then back again in the opposite direction with The Controlled Substances Act in 2016 that flooded the streets with totally uncontrolled pain killers.

Between 2014 and 2016, the drug industry spent $106 million lobbying Congress for a law that makes it virtually impossible for the DEA to freeze suspicious narcotic shipments from pharmaceutical companies.

By the time the law passed in early 2016, about 200,000 Americans had lost their lives due to overdoses. The number of deaths has risen every year since 2000. That means that at the height of a well-known epidemic that was lowering the life expectancy of working-class Americans for the first time in decades, Congress decided to follow the whims of the drug manufacturers to make it more difficult for the Drug Enforcement Agency to stop the problem at the source.

“With drug abuse raging, the new law imposed a dramatic reduction of the agency’s authority,” DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II wrote.

The law seemed to be largely the result of a relentless push by Republican Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania — on the short list to be the nation’s next drug czar — with strong assists from Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah and Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee. A Republican-led Congress passed it on voice vote and the Obama administration signed it into law— after years of relentless lobbying apparently wore it down.

The law came after large drug companies hiring dozens of former DEA investigators and lawyers who knew just how to craft legislation that would make effective enforcement tougher to come by.

It’s the latest example of laws and deregulation designed to make it easier for corporations to make more profits while hurting everyday Americans. And this time, the costs can’t be counted only in dollars — but in lives.

This hurts just about everyone in every state in the union. Congress must rectify the mess it created by repealing the law. The Controlled Substances Act of 2016.

THE BOTTOM LINE: While I am not letting Big Pharma of the hook, it’s not as simple as just blaming the manufacturer. After all they are in business to make a profit, and Congress allows themselves to be lobbied and accept payola for their accommodations to Big Pharma. Shady doctors are not immune from tremendous profits from millions of unnecessary prescriptions. And then the ball lands in the hands of users like me to be responsible for the use of these magical drugs that enable one to function somewhat normally.

Drug addiction is not a disease as they try to indoctrinate the public with my friend, it’s about ignorance, and about responsibility…

Think about it…

Thanks for listening my friend. Now go do the right thing, pray and fight for truth and freedom.

- de Andréa

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The Bottom Line

Tuesday, August 27, 2019