[zeestephen]

Re: “The opioid epidemic does not discriminate.”

False.

Almost 70% of opioid-related Emergency Room visits are billed to Medicaid.

Most of these folks are very poor.

Also, about half of prescription pill opioid deaths are suicides, and the other half of prescription pill deaths are caused by the certifiably insane decision to consume opioid pills with alcohol and other narcotics.

Also, the “opioid epidemic” that has suddenly emerged from nowhere is bogus.

The number of opioid deaths has been incrementally increasing for more than 10 years.

In my opinion, this is a politically manufactured “epidemic.”

When the death rate (from all causes) did not decrease after ObamaCare began, and the death rate fractionally increased in 2016, the Democrats and the MSM reached for the first good excuse they could find - the “opioid epidemic,” which, of course, requires MORE ObamaCare!

[spintreebob]

Bingo. The US does not have any crisis. Like many words in the English language, the word crisis has been re-defined to mean

I am addicted to money and want to get money from you by using the addiction of others to opiods as a tug at your heartstrings.

[GrannyAnn]

Manufactured crisis? I'm thinking that may be true. Obamacare policies have to cover drug addiction counseling. If obamacare goes south, the drug rehab/counseling industry stands to lose big bucks. Just a thought.