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The opioid epidemic tightens its grip on America
New York Post ^ | March 20,2017 | Salena Zito

Posted on 05/22/2017 8:10:51 AM PDT by Hojczyk

“We feel it necessary to show the other side of this horrible drug,” East Liverpool police officials wrote in a caption on the photo. “We feel we need to be a voice for the children caught up in this horrible mess.”

The photo caused the country to shudder.

And, then, the country forgot.

Politicians forgot, too, said Lane. “Governor John Kasich said he was going to come to town and get to the bottom of this. He never did.”

Meanwhile, the problems in East Liverpool are deepening.

People are dying, yes, “but the broader dangers are ignored,” Lane said. “Think of the potency of the fentanyl that almost killed my officer. What if a kid had hugged him in the grocery store? Or an elderly person? They’d all be dead.”

And what if someone with larger, more devious plans in mind used such a toxic substance in an act of terrorism, he wonders. “Imagine if someone put that in the water system. Or tossed it on a crowd. Now think about that, the dangers are unlimited.”

And these deadly drugs? Well, they are pretty easy to get, Lane explains. “Just go on the Internet and order them from China. They deliver them to your door.”

Lane is dissatisfied with Kasich, who has cut funding and hurt the chief’s ability to go after dealers and track down the sources.

He’s hopeful that President Trump will make good on his promises to solve the epidemic.

Opiate abuse kills 91 people a day in the US, according to the CDC, and much of the problem is concentrated in Rust Belt counties where Trump won

Many voters in these states switched their support from Barack Obama and the Democrats to Trump, hoping to shock the political class into noticing the problems in their communities.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addiction; darwinawards; drugs; karma; naturallaw; opioids; victimlesscrime; wod
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To: fwdude

“We should legalize it (all drugs, in fact) so that people would magically become unaddicted to it”

It becomes more of a Darwinian test case if all drugs are legalized. Those who choose to kill themselves will kill themselves while the rest of us who do not choose to partake in potentially deadly activities will probably not partake in those deadly habits. Cigarettes and alcohol are legal, yet not everybody smokes or drinks.

I have heard that With drugs you don’t really realize how deep of a ditch your are sliding into with the habitual use until it is too late. At that point apathy either takes over or a very difficult battle of survival ensues, which is not always successful to win. But you never really win it as every day as you lay your head upon the pillow is yet one more day you have won. Just that one day... and then the inner struggle repeats itself upon waking. It would a terrible circumstance to live through that day after day after day. Many don’t and relapse and essentially kill themselves, and perhaps others as a result.

The libertarian (we all have a bit of it) in me says that perhaps all drugs should be legal. But my pragmatic side tells me that there would be blood on our civic hands if it were so. Some would argue, to which I lament “because human nature is too darned predictable and the flesh is weak.”


41 posted on 05/22/2017 9:26:43 AM PDT by Clutch Martin (Hot sauce aside, every culture has its pancake, just as every culture has its noodle.)
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To: EinNYC

BTW-—I do NOT mean the unfortunate people who have a terrible disease like cancer or chronic horribly painful diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, where the painkillers are absolutely necessary. I am referring to the recreational use of drugs only.


42 posted on 05/22/2017 9:29:16 AM PDT by EinNYC
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To: 9YearLurker

Heroin users almost always start as people who are over-Rx’d opioids for a legit illness or injury and get hooked. Heroin is super cheap and satisfies the craving.

If we start sentencing dealers to death, fewer people will sell it for a living, the supply will dwindle and the economics of subbing heroin for Oxy will dwindle.


43 posted on 05/22/2017 9:31:40 AM PDT by MountainWalker
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To: Hojczyk

Lash the users, hang the dealers.

If you’re not serious about it, don’t expect things to change.


44 posted on 05/22/2017 9:33:33 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Die Gedanken sind Frei)
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To: sargon
I personally know of several OD deaths here in South Florida, and they have ALL been due to street drugs like heroin laced with fentanyl, etc.

You'd think the pushers wouldn't want to kill off their customer base...

45 posted on 05/22/2017 9:39:28 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees! - Kipling)
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To: 9YearLurker
"How many dealers, I wonder are themselves addicted?"

Good question. I have a 30 year old nephew in rust belt Ohio. He is a meth addict but he appears to fund himself through the manufacture and sale of the drug. Sad to say that despite the success of Trump's jobs agenda, employment and hope will not come to these areas as there are few who could pass drug screening.

46 posted on 05/22/2017 9:40:36 AM PDT by buckalfa (Slip sliding away towards senility.)
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To: wardaddy
You forgot Doriden (gluthethamide).

One of my most famous overdoses was in 1977. A beautiful 17 year old was pimped out by her stepfather into some shocking videos, and she took 30 Doridens to kill herself. We got her back.

So, she went to the library and read about it. She figured out that the capsules got gelled together in her stomach and turned into one giant pill, which released Doriden too slowly to kill her.

Next week, she took 100 Doriden dissolved in hot water.

That worked.

47 posted on 05/22/2017 9:40:41 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Die Gedanken sind Frei)
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To: henkster; central_va
There used to be one or two small factories in those towns that provided employment, but now there are no factories there. No jobs, no future, no reason to NOT do drugs for a lot of these people.

Bingo.

48 posted on 05/22/2017 9:42:54 AM PDT by Jim Noble (Die Gedanken sind Frei)
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To: sargon
"People who are on pain management aren't the ones OD'ing, in general. OD's occur to extremely irresponsible abuse by people in the black market."

To use your phrase, balderdash! A lot of what's happening is that people get legal opiates and at some point, the doctor no longer prescribes them but these people are addicted. So people start going the illegal route to get them. Heroin is a lot cheaper to get on the street than illegal oxy. Unfortunately, the heroin is being cut with the far stronger and cheaper types of fentynal. So you're counting on a drug dealer now to properly mix that fentynal and not give you a lethal dose....
49 posted on 05/22/2017 9:53:03 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Alberta's Child
"In terms of political and moral principles, it’s very hard to generate a lot of public interest in addressing an “epidemic” that is largely based in self-destructive behavior."

Not sure if you read the article or not. However, one story in it talks of an officer who OD'd by handling the drug. It doesn't state it in the story, but the drug they are talking about is called carfentanil. This fentanyl is so powerful that just touching it you get it absorbed through your skin. That is why all police officers are now doing searches with latex gloves on. It is affecting far more lives than just the ones that overdose.
50 posted on 05/22/2017 9:58:18 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Old Teufel Hunden
Yes -- I read it. I understand that side of the story, and to be honest with you that is the ONLY angle of the so-called "epidemic" that gives most people any interest in it at all.

I have said for years that this country doesn't have a problem with so many people who are unemployed. It really has a problem with so many people who are unemployable.

51 posted on 05/22/2017 10:03:26 AM PDT by Alberta's Child
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To: eyedigress
" I take nothing today but the government has no right to say I cannot have it when I am in pain."

I am conservative but lean libertarian. I realize that it is a libertarian position to live and let live and for the most part I believe in that. However, we live in society, as such we have to give up some of our freedoms in order for society to properly function.

Did you see the picture in the story of the two adults OD'd with the little boy in the backseat? This is where theory hits reality. Do we as a society say this is enough? Do we not as a society try to intervene and stop this epidemic so that the innocents like that boy and so many more don't have to go through that hell in his life? Are you willing to put the burden on society of raising all of these innocent children because their parents made bad choices and died, or perhaps help the parents? I stand on the side of giving up a little of my freedom that I can't choose the drug I want and when I want it for the greater good of society and the millions of people like that little boy this is affecting.
52 posted on 05/22/2017 10:05:55 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: Alberta's Child
"to be honest with you that is the ONLY angle of the so-called "epidemic" that gives most people any interest in it at all."

As I posted to eyedigress, there is also all of the innocents like that little boy in the backseat of the two adults od'd to consider. There are a lot of lives affected by these overdoses, not just the individual.
53 posted on 05/22/2017 10:09:16 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: fwdude

I absolutely disagree. The addict faces two possibilities - a jail cell or a grave. Remove the jail cell possibility and only the grave remains.


54 posted on 05/22/2017 10:11:47 AM PDT by Emmett McCarthy
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To: Hojczyk

This is all by design! Obama dumped the so-called non-violent drug dealers into our Communities and the States followed! Pennsylvania has released thousands of State inmates into our Communities using the same language! In the past 5 years there has been an Heroine OD spike and with that comes the crime that they do to feed their fix! Gov Wolf has stated that he needs to change the Crime codes! Who does that benefit? Not those that obey the laws. This lowers the chance of the crooks getting picked up for infractions! Once again, all by design!


55 posted on 05/22/2017 10:12:46 AM PDT by Busko (The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain.)
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To: Old Teufel Hunden

My point is that the little kid in the back seat of the car isn’t a victim of a “drug epidemic.” He’s a victim of fouled-up parents/guardians. Spending time, energy and money to deal with the drug problem is a waste of time if the core of the problem — huge numbers of Americans who are spiritually dead — isn’t going to do a damn thing for the kid in the back seat.


56 posted on 05/22/2017 10:17:33 AM PDT by Alberta's Child
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To: Alberta's Child

He’s a victim of parents who have some serious issues. My point is that we’ll be paying one way or another. We can pay to try to help his parents/guardians to get over their demons or we as a society can pay to raise that kid until he’s 18 through the foster family system. I guess you have to ask which one is better. Overall, I think the ones that will truly care the most about the kid is their own parents, no matter how messed up they are.


57 posted on 05/22/2017 10:26:31 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: IYAS9YAS

Once you get on heroin laced with other more powerful drugs I guess regular unlaced heroin doesn’t cut it any more, you have to go back to the dealer with the laced stuff. The cartel would rather have more hidden labs and less poppy fields and poppy harvesters, that means less overhead and exposure.

To some extent the cartels are probably relying on narcan provided by tax dollars to keep their customers coming back for repeat business.

Freegards


58 posted on 05/22/2017 10:27:08 AM PDT by Ransomed
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To: Alberta's Child

its a tough situation either way, there’s no denying.


59 posted on 05/22/2017 10:27:26 AM PDT by Old Teufel Hunden
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To: 9YearLurker
How many dealers, I wonder are themselves addicted

After having worked for many years in a big city ER I couldn't care less.Pass a Federal law that makes the DP mandatory (first offense) for dealers as well as 1 to 15 years in prison for users.Then you catch a user and offer him a deal..."give us your dealer and you get a year.Refuse and you get fifteen".

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how such a policy would affect suppliers.

60 posted on 05/22/2017 10:27:41 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Deplorables' Lives Matter)
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