Posted on 05/14/2016 7:52:46 AM PDT by Kaslin
Nearly every 12 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies of a drug overdose. People in communities across America are abusing both prescription pain killers and heroin. It is an epidemic. No one is immune; it is a sad reality that is playing out across the country, including in my own district in Southwest Michigan.
There were 13 suspected overdoses in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the first quarter of 2013, up from 9 in the first quarter of 2012. Behind these numbers are real folks, and their families, suffering. In 2008, we lost Amy Bousfield, an 18 year-old graduate of Portage Central High School. In 2012, Marissa King died at 21 years of age. She began using heroin in 2009, despite having lost two friends to the drug - one of them being Amy Bousfield.
This crisis does not discriminate between large and small, urban and rural, rich and poor. A recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that one in five Americans say they have a family member who's been addicted to prescription painkillers.
It's a frightening prospect, and we must face the opioid epidemic head on. House Republicans are committed to doing just that, working to advance meaningful legislation to combat this scourge.
At the Energy and Commerce Committee, which I chair, we've held a number of hearings over the last year with testimony from many experts on the frontlines. What we've learned has been eye opening. Federal policies toward opioid addiction in the past have often overemphasized a one-size-fits all law enforcement approach. It's clear through our listening sessions that this is a public health crisis, and that our strategy should reflect the complex dynamic between public health and criminal activity. We now know we cannot simply arrest our way out of this epidemic.
So we've worked to advance bipartisan solutions that address this public health crisis. From helping newborns who are born into addiction, and promoting state prescription drug monitoring programs. Additionally, just last month we passed 11 more bipartisan bills to address this crisis that are now ready for consideration by the full House of Representatives.
Our work will continue. We owe this effort to the past, present, and sadly, future victims of the opioid epidemic - our neighbors, friends, and family, across every part of the country and every demographic group. We owe it to the families of Amy Bousfield and Marissa King. We owe it to all of those in our communities who are suffering from addiction.
>>It’s a frightening prospect, and we must face the opioid epidemic head on. House Republicans are committed to doing just that, working to advance meaningful legislation to combat this scourge.”
Yeah, I’m SURE that will solve the problem...
The end result of govt meddling will be, among other things, more pain and suffering for innocent people, especially people who are in physical pain.
According to reports 12 Americans are killed every day by illegals.Where’s the committee....
America has destroyed its culture, its churches, its civil society, the family and local government in exchange for some magic beans of top-down statism and top-down economic planning and financialization of our economy.
We can and should expect 1) we will increase the underclass greatly and 2) the lowest rungs of the underclass and the most defenseless will be cast adrift and suffer great harm.
Prescription painkillers also carry the risk of addiction, of course, but overdoses are much less common, since the user knows exactly what they're working with.
As is often the case, when shortcuts are taken, the problem only becomes worse.
Nobody belongs in prison for possessing or using the wrong plant, liquid spirits, or medicine.
Anyone who will tolerate contraband law can't complain when other bullies impose their arbitrary laws regarding their pet nanny-state causes.
Education, not legislation, is the best way to address such issues.
If someone decides to pursue happiness by drinking, smoking tobacco or weed, or medicating themselves, that's their Right.
And if they commit actual crimes in order to facilitate their bad habit, I say "nail them to the wall".
Contraband law is Tyrannical and the ridiculous, un-American justifications for its imposition are what leads to disregard for the 4th Amendment, no-knock warrants, asset forfeiture, and every other Tyrannical adjunct that we see in the modern day.
Education, not legislation.
The Prohibitionist mind doesn't care about Liberty. In its nanny-state hysteria, Freedom is undermined for everyone.
True Freedom carries many challenges with it, and I, for one, will never embrace Tyrannical shortcuts, no matter how much emotional manipulation is employed.
End rant. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Vote Trump!
Think of it as evolution in action.
More idiot “solutions” from the drug warriors.
L
I take it the problem is they get hooked on opioid/benzos and get their supply cut off or it becomes too expensive. Like you said the pills are supposedly cheaper than heroin because you know what you are getting with pills. So they turn to heroin, which has flooded the market from Mexico due to the demand.
Freegards
You got it.
Through the people I know, I have only heard of one heroin overdose death (and it was a mix with another drug). I have heard of multiple OD’s from pills, including one fresh from his first prescription from the hospital (technically, it was the liquid version prescribed, not the pill, but in this case, it was legal, accidental, and more likely more pain killer than he needed for his condition).
More people are killed every year by illegal aliens from Mexico than died on 9/11, yet, we wage no war with Mexico.
Another intentional consequence of the “open border” policy of this regime. Bring the cost of smack way down and enslave as many as possible. It is working. Pure evil.
The issue isn't material. I probably does not have sufficient direct impact on our culture for the reason that for the most part, the threatened group of individuals consists of people who have already committed to divorce themselves from our national culture.
Are there exceptions? Sure. We will hear about a lot of them as the establishment promotes this issue as significant.
But even as to the exceptions, they generally originate with adult behavior intended to encourage departure of the affected person from our cultural norms.
The baby born addicted is a tragic case. Addicted drug users should be sterilized--doubt these legislative proposals include anything that looks like that.
We had it in our family and I observed that the problem really took off when demon Doctors gave out scripts to anyone who showed up at their office for a $100 appointment. Often there were lines out the door at 7 am. These Docs should be shut down and there is zero impact on patients who need them. The states were reluctant to shut these guys down. I made a police complaint about one demon doc in FL and they knew about him, but they didn’t shut him down.
I've only heard personally about two OD deaths, but times it was prescription barbiturates in combination with alcohol.
Ditto what you said!
Had the pleasure of serving on a jury for a heroin dealer on trial a few weeks ago.
Convicted the bastard.
Yes, let’s hire my government parasites. That’s the ticket. It solves everything.
Good, they deserve to be convicted.
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