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Impact of The Opioid Crisis (1528 hits)


From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Impact of The Opioid Crisis

“Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015.” https://www.asam.org

As the US grapples with an escalating opioid epidemic that is ravaging this nation, it is important we examine how this happened and why it is such a huge problem. The opioid crisis is totally out of control partly due to overzealous physicians prescribing addictive pain killers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl coupled with illicit street drugs like heroin and cocaine. It has been documented that US physicians received kickbacks in the form of payments, speaking fees, food and drink from pharmaceutical reps and companies to write prescriptions for their products.
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health revealed
US doctors were on the take, big time. “Objective: To identify payments that involved opioid products from the pharmaceutical industry to physicians. Methods. We used the Open Payments program database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify payments involving an opioid to physicians between August 2013 and December 2015. We used medians, interquartile ranges, and ranges as a result of heavily skewed distributions to examine payments according to opioid product, abuse-deterrent formulation, nature of payment, state, and physician specialty. Results. During the study, 375 266 nonresearch opioid-related payments were made to 68 177 physicians, totaling $46 158 388. The top 1% of physicians received 82.5% of total payments in dollars. Abuse-deterrent formulations constituted 20.3% of total payments, and buprenorphine marketed for addiction treatment constituted 9.9%. Most payments were for speaking fees or honoraria (63.2% of all dollars), whereas food and beverage payments were the most frequent (93.9% of all payments). Physicians specializing in anesthesiology received the most in total annual payments (median = $50; interquartile range = $16–$151).” http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.21...
People are hooked because their doctors got paid to prescribe addictive medications and painkillers. Once the patients became addicted they sought other means to maintain their high or pain free status. The opioid menace has reached crisis proportions in the white communities and this has spurred a totally new approach to addiction and treatment.
When the US CIA with their organized crime business associates were dumping heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in the ghettos and barrios of America, the official response was to craft public policy that used this situation to create a bogus War on Drugs that targeted, arrested and convicted users and small time pushers while ignoring the major traffickers. The major players were pumping tons of drugs on the streets and billions into the major banks to launder the money and fuel off book secret operations (think the Iran Contra scandal) so they received a pass because they were part of the plan.
Drug trafficking is big business! “The most frequently found figures in the literature range from $300 billion to $500 billion a year and seem to be the most reasonable estimates. One UNDCP estimate for 1995 reflecting global illicit drug sales to consumers, gives a figure close to $400 billion. A similar turnover was also estimated by the International Criminal Police Organization/ Interpol. Such a turnover of the illicit drug industry would be equivalent to approximately 8 per cent of total international trade. It would be larger than the international trade in iron and steel and motor vehicles (2.8 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively) and approximately the same size as the international trade in textiles (7.5 per cent), oil and gas (8.6 per cent) and world tourism.”
https://www.unodc.org/pdf/technical_series...
Drug trafficking became a big business as did the prison industrial complex by incarcerating Black and Brown people, but that’s another topic for another day. Now that opioid deaths and addiction is a white thing and skyrocketing nationwide addiction is threatening major economic and public health disruption, the politicians are singing a new tune. Now it’s not viewed as an indication of moral depravity like when Black folks were caught in the addiction cycle. Now it’s a public health issue/crisis because white folks are dying from overdoses.
“Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. From 1999 to 2008, overdose death rates, sales and substance use disorder treatment admissions related to prescription pain relievers increased in parallel. The overdose death rate in 2008 was nearly four times the 1999 rate; sales of prescription pain relievers in 2010 were four times those in 1999; and the substance use disorder treatment admission rate in 2009 was six times the 1999 rate. In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioids, which is more than enough to give every American adult their own bottle of pills. Four in five new heroin users started out misusing prescription painkillers. 94% of respondents in a 2014 survey of people in treatment for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because prescription opioids were ‘far more expensive and harder to obtain.’” Opioid Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/a...
Drug addiction is taking a massive toll on American life and there seems to be no end in sight as the addicts are younger and younger. “In 2015, an estimated 21,000 adolescents had used heroin in the past year, and an estimated 5,000 were current heroin users. Additionally, an estimated 6,000 adolescents had heroin a heroin use disorder in 2014. People often share their unused pain relievers, unaware of the dangers of nonmedical opioid use. Most adolescents who misuse prescription pain relievers are given them for free by a friend or relative. The prescribing rates for prescription opioids among adolescents and young adults nearly doubled from 1994 to 2007.” Ibid
What must of us overlook is the fact Western culture fosters addiction to a myriad of substances: caffeine, sugar, alcohol, s*x and drugs. To resolve this crisis will require a major transformation of values and lifestyle. It will be difficult to take the profit motive out of drug trafficking and prescription pushing, so better education about our divine nature/potential, resilience and resourcefulness is needed. It will not be enough to just say no or take a pill to make things better.

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Posted By: Junious Stanton
Monday, March 26th 2018 at 1:47PM
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Brother Doctor Junious Stanton, I would like to take this time, to say Thank You for this post which, confirms a long standing believe that ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE AND ILLICIT TRAFFICKING is real.

I am going back to that PDF report but I just wanted stop now just to say "Thank You."


Monday, March 26th 2018 at 2:59PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
But nobody talks about the victims, those that need pain medication but the doctors are now afraid to prescribe it.
Monday, March 26th 2018 at 3:15PM
Steve Williams
This is the singular failure of President Trump, to wage this fake war on prescription pain medication. Much as it pains me to say it.
Monday, March 26th 2018 at 4:57PM
Steve Williams
As users and consumers of "health care", people have options. There are alternatives to the strong addictive drugs doctors were getting kickbacks to prescribe. There are homeopathic or naturopathic treatments available, hypnosis https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arth... and acupuncture https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pa... are being used to reduce chronic pain as is Cannabis. Allopathic medicine is the third leading cause of death in the US. People do have the opportunity to get second opinions and seek alternative treatment, they should take advantage of it.
Monday, March 26th 2018 at 6:47PM
Junious Stanton
Have you ever tried these alternative treatments? I have and they don’t work. The problem with our modern American neo-democracy is that it’s not at all democratic. People simply project their own individual conditions onto society as a whole.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 12:59AM
Steve Williams
I almost forgot. Prescription pain medications are not addictive.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 1:17AM
Steve Williams
WOW!!!

Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 4:56AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
What wow?
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 8:06AM
Steve Williams
Don't you understand that Opioids are a class of drugs made from opium, as well as synthetic or semi-synthetic drugs that resemble these opium-based drugs. Many opioids are available by prescription. Examples include oxycodone, codeine, morphine, and fentanyl. Heroin is one of these drugs that is illegal. These drugs are often referred to as narcotics.

Steve, this is what to look for in a person who is a addicted on opioids.

The common signs of opiate addiction that you should pay attention to include:

Track marks or needle marks – these come from shooting heroin or other opiates intravenously.
Lethargic or heavy limbs –heroin and other opiates can make the limbs seem heavy and long.

For you to say that you almost forgot that Prescription pain medications are not addictive is not true at all, that is why I said WOW!!!

Can you show me evidence that opioids prescribed by doctors for extreme pain, is not addictive?

Refute this information on this blog, will you do that?

Since you almost forgot.


Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 8:46AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
I know that Vicodin for instance isn’t addictive, because I took it for years and never became addicted.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 9:14AM
Steve Williams
Health is not a one size fits all. Everyone is different because we are unique. I had bulging disks twenty years ago and was in excruciating pain. WHen I went to the emergency room (I was out of town when it happened) they prescribed oxycodone. I didn't like the way it made me feel so when I return home I stopped using it. I went to a naturopath she told me about homeopathic medicines and suggested several. I took them they worked I didn't have the side effects but they didn't dull the pain like the oxycodone.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 9:49AM
Junious Stanton
Can you show me evidence that opioids prescribed by doctors for extreme pain, side effects, is not addictive?

FENTANYL, is the prescribe drug of choice that is in the news causing DEATH to middle and low classes of people and it is teenagers in the small towns are most effected.

Now, according to the DEA, 1 out of every 10 teens reported using prescription pain medications to get high at least once in the last year. From 2004 to 2010, emergency room visits resulting from prescription medication abuse in children younger than 20 years old rose by 45%.3 Clearly, the lives of America’s teenagers are increasingly endangered when they unknowingly purchase counterfeit medications on the streets that contain fentanyl, since it can be fatal in frighteningly small doses. Understanding what fentanyl is and how it lands in teenagers’ hands, then, is of utmost importance in protecting them from its dangers.

Steve, did you see the KEY WORDS: "USING PRESCIPTION PAIN MEDICATIONS?"

Refute this information on this blog, will you do that?

Since you almost forgot.

Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 10:39AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Junious, I agree health is not one size fits all. That’s the reason I object to government involvement in my health, which should be strictly between me and my doctor. But my doctors in the last 4 years, have only become more and more fearful of government retribution were they to prescribe me Vicodin. Currently my only remedy for pain is to do my best to ignore it.

Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 12:36PM
Steve Williams
One should NEVER use prescription pain medications to get high Ron. ALWAYS follow the instructions the doctor wrote on the prescription.

Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 1:21PM
Steve Williams
Hey Steve, I would like to share this information of Most Addictive Painkillers

This is a list of ten of some of the most addictive painkillers on the market today. They are all synthetic or semi-synthetic opiates. Most are usually prescribed for the treatment of chronic pain. Please note, this is not a complete list, and many more addictive painkillers and other prescription medications are on the market. If you want to know about whether a medication is addictive, talk to your physician or pharmacist.

1. Fentanyl More potent than morphine, Fentanyl is used most often to treat patients with severe pain or post-surgical pain, as well as those who have become physically tolerant of opiates. It's available as a lozenge, injectable solution, or skin patch.

2. Stadol Available as a nasal spray or injectable solution, Stadol belongs to a class of medications known as opioid agonist-antagonists. It works by altering the way your body senses pain.


3. OxyContin is used as an around-the-clock treatment for patients with moderate to severe pain expected to last for an extended period of time. It's available as a tablet.

Opioids prescribed for pain, like Oxycontin, Roxicodone, Vicodin, Lortab and Norco, among others — The presence of pain at increasingly higher doses may indicate abuse and/or addiction, as well as other symptoms such as constipation, nausea, poor coordination and/or a sense of euphoria.

This was the drug of your choice and it rank Number 3 of the most Addictive Pain Relievers.

In addition, there are a number of different drugs that can ease pain. Many of these fall into the opioid category, also known as narcotic pain relievers. These drugs include morphine and codeine, as well as many synthetic modifications of these drugs.

However, it's important to be cautious when taking pain relief medications. The treatment may be more dangerous than the underlying cause of the pain. While people are less likely to become addicted to pain-relieving drugs when they take them as prescribed for their intended purpose—to relieve pain—many of these medications also produce a "high" that can become addicting to some patients. For this reason, pain medication over-use (sometimes unfortunately called medication abuse or narcotic abuse) has become one of the most prevalent forms of drug abuse in the United States.

Steve, I am sure you do not fit that character and life style but with that said, their are so many people did and they lost their life, trying to have fun in getting high.

So don't tell anyone that Vicodin is not addictive, because you took it for years. You used Vicodin as prescribed and that is your blessing and you should be thankful you did not fall into that temptation.





Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 1:34PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
“The presence of pain at increasingly higher doses may indicate abuse and/or addiction...”

I’m only responsible for my own actions Ron. Others are responsible for theirs and if they are not responsible for their own actions I sure as hell am not. Why penalize ME?

Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 3:53PM
Steve Williams
For what Steve?


Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 6:07PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
The penalty for me is that I haven’t been able to get a prescription for Vicodin in about 3 years, not for any medical reason but because the politicians have decreed that Vicodin is at the root of “the opioid crisis”.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 9:03PM
Steve Williams
My doctor himself confirmed this to me. He has since retired and I’ll ask my new doctor when I see her shortly for the first time, but I have no hope the answer will be any different.
Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 9:12PM
Steve Williams
That my friend is between you and your doctor Steve, I have not penalize you at all. I hope that you don't call this statement of mime PENALIZING you:

Steve, I am sure you do not fit that character and life style but with that said, their are so many people did and they lost their life, trying to have fun in getting high.


So don't tell anyone that Vicodin is not addictive, because you took it for years. You used Vicodin as prescribed and that is your blessing and you should be thankful you did not fall into that temptation.



Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 9:37AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
I didn’t say you penalized me Ron. The penalty on me is imposed by the politicians who are forcing doctors to violate their ethic to “do no harm” to their patients.
Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 9:46AM
Steve Williams
Physicians are understandably conflicted about how, when, and whether to prescribe opioids. On the one hand, relief from suffering is a primary obligation of physicians, and pain remains undertreated after decades of improvement efforts.2 The inadequate treatment of pain was the subject of significant clinical and policy efforts in the 1990s;3 among those efforts were the increased use of opioids for acute pain and the use of long-term opioid therapy for patients with chronic pain.4 Although opioid prescriptions are only one aspect of effective pain treatment, the failure to utilize opioids in appropriate circumstances causes suffering and creates a barrier to effective pain care.5 According to Cheatle and Savage, “[o]ne of the barriers to effective pain management across the spectrum of pain conditions … is the clinician’s fear of prescribing opioids beyond that merited by the actual risks.”6 Efforts in 1990s to lessen barriers to appropriate opioid use did result in decreased suffering for some patients.7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/...

Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 9:57AM
Steve Williams
OH!!! It is the politicians. See Steve you mentioned my name in that statement of yours: I’m only responsible for my own actions Ron. Others are responsible for theirs and if they are not responsible for their own actions I sure as hell am not. Why penalize ME? Tuesday, March 27th 2018 at 3:53PM Like I had something to do with your Doctor and your prescription.

Now that you said you was referring to politicians, that cleared that issue up for me.



Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 10:00AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
So that’s the situation Ron. The innocent victims of pain are made to suffer for the reckless, lawless actions of the dissolute.

Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 10:37AM
Steve Williams
May you have good communications between you and your doctor.


Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 10:52AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Thank you Ron.
Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 11:03AM
Steve Williams
You are welcome Steve.

Brother Doctor Junious Ricardo Stanton, I can see the truth in this statement: The opioid menace has reached crisis proportions in the white communities and this has spurred a totally new approach to addiction and treatment.

When the US CIA with their organized crime business associates were dumping heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in the ghettos and barrios of America, the official response was to craft public policy that used this situation to create a bogus War on Drugs that targeted, arrested and convicted users and small time pushers while ignoring the major traffickers.

The major players were pumping tons of drugs on the streets and billions into the major banks to launder the money and fuel off book secret operations (think the Iran Contra scandal) so they received a pass because they were part of the plan.

This was the war on drugs and I say that this is a war on the poor.


Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 11:19AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
The bogus War on Drugs was really a war against Black, Brown and poor people. To get a better perspective of the nexus between the 1% their government lackeys and the banks see Catherine Austin Fitts series on Narco Dollars at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0202/S000...
Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 4:00PM
Junious Stanton
Now you know, I clicked on that link and as the article got interesting, I was at the end. So what I did was to bookmark that page because I would like to see more.

Thank You My Brother,


Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 4:45PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
No problem. We have been duped deceived, distracted and discombobulated to prevent us from knowing the real deal just how criminal this government and system actually are.
Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 6:58PM
Junious Stanton

Impact of The Opioid Crisis

SUBJECT

There has been an Opioid Crisis or Opium Crisis SINCE colonialismAfrica Asia.......!

**********************************************************************************************

No problem. We have been duped deceived, distracted and discombobulated to prevent us from knowing the real deal just how criminal this government and system actually are.
Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 6:58PM
Junious Stanton

************************************************************************

"......The bogus War on Drugs was really a war against Black, Brown and poor people...."

Wednesday, March 28th 2018 at 4:00PM
Junious Stanton

****************************************************************************************************

.....when you write 'poor people' does that mean COLORED 'whitePeople'?

OR COLORED 'yellowPeople'?

OR COLORED 'olivePeople'?

OR COLORED 'redPeople'?

And are you .....Mr.Stanton

junior ... the duper, deceiver, distractor, diacombolbulater that prevents USA from know REAL DEAL?


Friday, March 30th 2018 at 10:48AM
robert powell
There was not any mentioned or no specify the race of the poor. If you don't have that green power, it makes no difference:

If you are a yellow SKIN PERSON, olive SKIN PERSON, red SKIN PERSON, or what ever your skin tone happens to be.

When drugs was only effecting The Ghettos and Slums, their was a WAR ON DRUGS, private prisons needed to be filled, it's was a war on it's CITIZENS.

NOW that the illegal drugs are now outside of it's designated perimeters, it is a now called a epidemic. HOW INTERESTING...


Friday, March 30th 2018 at 12:27PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Do YOU call it an epidemic Ron?
Friday, March 30th 2018 at 12:33PM
Steve Williams

'blackHebrewIsraelite'

When I ask a Question on juniorsBlag.....deaconGray ANSWERS the Question, as best he can.....

BUT

When I ask a Question on deaconBlag.....deaconGray NEVER, EVER ANSWERS , as best he can....

----Is that because Mr.Stanton or deacon, or 'blackHebrewIsraelites' are the......

the duper, deceiver, distractor, diacombolbulater that prevents From KNOWING THE REAL DEAL?



Friday, March 30th 2018 at 12:44PM
robert powell
Are you denying the FACT of the Impact of The Opioid Crisis in this country "SMOKEY"?

I don't...

Steve, This so-called Drug Epidemic is part of a plan to keep the messes of the people divided so that rich can made legislation to take our freedoms and safety net away from the poor and the middle classes in America and it is happening right before your very eye's and you act like you don't see it.

Who was it who said something like?

They came for the gypsies and nothing was said. When they came for the Jews I said nothing, I was'nt a Jew
When they came for the Gypsies I said nothing,I was'nt a Gypsy
When they came for the homos*xuals I said nothing, I was not a homos*xual.
When they came for the Catholics I said nothing, I was not a Catholic.
When they came for me there was nobody to speak

Now who are "THEY"?




Friday, March 30th 2018 at 1:20PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
You rightly call it a “so-called” epidemic Ron. That 6 billion dollars in the budget is a complete waste.
Friday, March 30th 2018 at 3:14PM
Steve Williams
You call saving American life's a complete waste. I think that American life is golden and the money spent on good health is a plus and not a waste of resources. Who knows, that money spent may be their to save your own LIFE Steve.





Friday, March 30th 2018 at 11:05PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
The justification for 6 billion dollars is THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC. Either it’s real or it’s not Ron. Make up your mind.

Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 12:37AM
Steve Williams

Impact of The Opioid Crisis

SUBJECT

There has been an Opioid Crisis or Opium Crisis SINCE colonialismAfrica Asia.......!

**********************************************************************************************

Mind Altering usage IS PREVELANT in USA because of MIND ALTERING.....

1. People LIVE and they DIE

2. Hearts, Livers, Lungs and MINDS deteriorate ...... We DIE

3. Living is NOT an EPIDEMIC

4. Dying is NOT an EPIDEMIC

racistIgnorance.... though, in my opinion, is ALTERING the MIND of the Family of Adaam(as)

COLORED 'NONSENSE' belief is an EPIDEMIC of clean, healthy Living......



Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 8:58AM
robert powell
Steve, American people are dying in the streets and alley ways because of these DRUGS, don't you give a damn about that?




Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 10:55AM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Sure I care Ron, but throwing money at the problem won't fix it. Individuals make their decisions and individuals receive their recompense. If you think you can save them then go into their lairs and convince them to change their ways. All that takes is your individual time and effort. Don't put it on the American taxpayer, don't run up the debt for future American generations.

Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 12:24PM
Steve Williams
If we as Americans can't take care of nations sick, then how can the U.S. can care about and finance the issues in The Middle East, Ukrainian, Russia, North Korea, China and the developing countries in Africa?

Trump ran on his claim of Americans first, don't you remember that? Then hold him to his word Steve, don't give him a "MULLIGAN" on taking care of All Americans.



Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 12:42PM
Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Opioid addicts aren't the nation's sick. They're on their own.
Saturday, March 31st 2018 at 4:09PM
Steve Williams
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