Posted on 10/28/2019 11:52:47 AM PDT by ransomnote
October 26 marked National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, which provided Americans an opportunity to prevent drug misuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. One of the most tangible examples of the dangers of misusing prescription drugs comes from the opioid crisis, which the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) estimates cost $696 billion in 2018—or 3.4 percent of GDP—and more than $2.5 trillion for the four-year period from 2015 to 2018. These massive costs point to the nationwide economic destruction from America’s very human “crisis next door.”
In 2017, CEA published a report that measured the full cost of the opioid crisis by considering the value of lost lives, as well as increases in healthcare and substance abuse treatment costs, increases in criminal justice costs, and reductions in productivity. The updated estimates for 2018 were calculated using a similar methodology as the 2017 report.
CEA’s cost estimates are more than three times higher than the findings from a recent Society of Actuaries study, because CEA accounts for the value of a statistical life (VSL). VSLs are commonly used by regulators for benefit-cost analyses and regulatory impact analyses. CEA prefers this comprehensive measure because the opioid crisis not only increases costs and lowers productivity throughout the economy, it also prematurely ends lives, which have value beyond their effect on economic output. (For more information on calculating VSL, see Section 2 of CEA’s 2017 report.)
Overdose deaths involving opioids are coming down during the Trump Administration, reversing the upward trend that has persisted since at least 1999. As displayed in Figure 1, monthly opioid-involved overdose deaths stopped their steep upward nationwide growth starting in January 2017.
Compared to the previous trend for monthly opioid-related overdose deaths, CEA estimates that almost 30,000 lives were saved from January 2017 through March 2019 (the latest available provisional data). Had this trend continued its upward trajectory, CEA estimates that the cost of the opioid crisis would have been $326 billion higher between January 2017 and March 2019.
Just as the start and growth of the opioid crisis had many causes, ending the crisis requires many solutions. Increased funding for treatment, enhanced education about the dangers of opioids, and improved security to stop the flow of illicit drugs are all necessary tools to fight the crisis. Thankfully, last year Congress passed and President Trump signed the SUPPORT Act, which is the largest legislative package addressing a single drug crisis in U.S. history.
In fiscal years 2018 and 2019, $6 billion in new funding was secured to fight opioid abuse, including to expand access to medication-assisted treatment. According to estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), from 2016 to 2019, the number of Americans receiving medication-assisted treatment rose 38 percent, from approximately 921,000 to 1.27 million..
Aided by better education for healthcare providers and patients, there has been a nearly one-third decline in the total amount of opioids prescribed since President Trump took office through June 2019, according to HHS estimates. Importantly, nearly 60 percent fewer young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 began using heroin in 2018 than in 2016.
Another necessary component to solving the opioid crisis is securing the border to limit deadly drugs from flowing into the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nationwide seizures of fentanyl are up 265 percent over the last three fiscal years. And CBP seized enough fentanyl in fiscal year 2019 to support 10,000 fentanyl users for more than 200 years, based on typical usage. In a promising sign that these coordinated efforts are working, as of March 2019, preliminary data show year-over-year drug overdose deaths in Pennsylvania and Ohio—two of the states hit hardest by the crisis—were down from their peak levels by more than 23 percent.
Even with the decrease in opioid-related deaths under President Trump, the $696 billion cost in 2018 shows that this crisis is far from over. To help the public and policymakers understand the economic causes and costs of the opioid crisis, CEA will continue publishing reports on this critically important policy priority.
(For further reading about the economic causes of the opioid crisis, see CEA’s 2019 report The Role of Opioid Prices in the Evolving Opioid Crisis.)
The graph clearly shows that most of the deaths are due to the continuation of the “War on Drugs”.
The importers now import fentanyl because it is harder to detect by law enforcement.
The war on drugs needs to come to an end.
Like alcohol prohibition, recreational drug prohibition doesn’t work.
If you think Mexico can stop drugs, you will be joining the bunch of fools who think domestic gun prohibition will work.
The demand for recreational drugs needs to be met by FDA supervised production of relatively safe forms of drug solution intoxicates along the lines of the original cola beverage.
I know of no one who died from Dr. Pemberton’s product.
The graph clearly shows that most of the deaths are due to the continuation of the “War on Drugs”.
The importers now import fentanyl because it is harder to detect by law enforcement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The graph clearly shows open borders and intentional lack of enforcement and frankly, China’s intention of reducing our population through laced Fentanyl overdoses. There are cities who’ve had multiple simultaneous overdoses. There’ve been drug busts of enough fentanyl to kill millions of Americans. It ain’t recreation when it kills.
Fentanyl (and related opioids) v Rx deaths:
https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates
“CEA accounts for the value of a statistical life (VSL).”
IMO, trying to put a monetary value on the cost of a human life is absurd.
What a BS study...
fentanyl
accounts for a major portion of the deaths, not Rxs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
There’ve been multiple massive (mind boggling scale) arrests and convictions for rx’s of opioids on the DOJ website. Just one articles I’ve seen from the DOJ website:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ohio-doctor-pleads-guilty-unlawful-distribution-opioids
Since its inception in October 2018, the ARPO Strike Force, which operates in 10 districts, has charged more than 70 defendants who are collectively responsible for distributing more than 40 million pills. The Health Care Fraud Unit, in general, maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, and has charged nearly 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $15 billion.
Seeds of Terror
How heroin is bankrolling the Taliban and al Qaeda.
http://failuremag.com/feature/article/seeds_of_terror/#ixzz35QhbgQ8K
Drug shipments off of Africa have “significantly increased since 2009”
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/international/2014/June/international_June26.xml§ion=international
Drug trafficking, kidnapping fund al Qaeda
By Rachel Ehrenfeld, Special to CNN -May 4, 2011
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/03/ehrenfeld.al.qaeda.funding/
Qatar used as transit point by drug traffickers: Expert 2013
http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/qatar/253421/qatar-used-as-transit-point-by-drug-traffickers-expert-
Obama secretly released high risk Taliban terrorists to the care of Qatar. (Qatar is where the US established for Taliban headquarters in 2011.)
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-offers-the-taliban-a-new-mideast-headquarters-2011-9
Islamic Revolutionaries under any name you google are tied to the Heroin trade along with most other drugs, as well as human trafficking.
http://www.newsweek.com/2013/06/12/talibans-new-role-afghanistans-drug-mafia-237524.html
Heroin production hits record levels in Afghanistan - study
http://rt.com/news/156128-afghanistan-drugs-usa-heroin/
Drug War? American Troops Are Protecting Afghan Opium. U.S. Occupation Leads to All-Time High Heroin Production
http://www.globalresearch.ca/drug-war-american-troops-are-protecting-afghan-opium-u-s-occupation-leads-to-all-time-high-heroin-production/5358053
Terrorists in “Americas Back Yard”
State Department Reports Hezbollah Increasing Drug and Terrorism in South America 2013
http://interamericansecuritywatch.com/exporting-terror-in-americas-backyard/
“There has indeed been a “marked resurgence” of Iranian state sponsorship of terrorism over the past 18 months. But as the new Nisman report drives home, here’s an even more disturbing fact — Iran has run intelligence networks in the United States’ backyard to “sponsor, foster and execute terrorist attacks” for decades.”
“Criminal plans” by Iran could be under way in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, the report said.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/03/world/americas/iran-latin-america/
Mexican Cartels Buying Afghan Heroin
http://www.banderasnews.com/1101/nr-afghanheroin.htm
Obama’s America:
“The horrific toll of America’s heroin ‘epidemic”
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26672422
America’s Heroin Epidemic -BBC 2014
The SEC sees no evil while Wall Street banks launder $BILLIONS in cartel
money. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/03/us-bank-mexico-drug-gangs
Hedge Fund Manager, Banker, and the largest Individual donor to Obama’s coiffeurs, continues to pour $Millions into thenDrug Legalization Campaign, made to look like citizen activism. George Soros 2/2014
http://www.hightimes.com/read/how-one-percent-will-legalize-marijuana
As “medical marijuana” legalization spreads across the country, police and other industry warnings about the dangers of legalizing marijuana ignored by media
http://www.flsheriffs.org/newsroom/entry/florida-sheriffs-pass-resolution-to-oppose-the-legalization-of-marijuana
DEA has been caught laundering money as well, “Agency officials declined to publicly discuss details of their work, citing concerns about compromising their investigations.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/world/americas/us-drug-agents-launder-profits-of-mexican-cartels.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&;;
Mexican Diplomat Says America Pretty Much Invited The Sinaloa Drug Cartel Across The Border
http://www.businessinsider.com/stratfor-the-us-works-with-cartels-2012-9#ixzz36vAJbBpS
Obama shut down the NDIC in 2012, the itelligence agency dedicated to tracking terrorism funded by drug trafficking.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/tag/national-drug-intelligence-center/
“Mexican cartel violence is at an all-time high along the increasingly porous southern border yet the Obama Administration has shut down a critical intelligence agency dedicated to identifying, tracking and severing the nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism.”
CONFIRMED: The DEA Struck A Deal With SINALOA Mexico’s Most Notorious Drug Cartel (They claimed feds agreed they could traffic into Chicago) JAN. 13, 2014
more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-government-and-the-sinaloa-cartel-2014-1#ixzz30wXEcHSl
U.S. Government and Top Mexican Drug Cartel Exposed as Partners
Written by Alex Newman Jan. 2014
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/north-america/item/17396-u-s-government-and-top-mexican-drug-cartel-exposed-as-partners
The link between drugs and crime, including violent crime, would be hard to overstate in Chicago. Eighty-six percent of adult males arrested in Chicago last year tested positive for drug use. Chicago, with a population of 2.7 million, had 506 murders in 2012, the highest per capita among the four most populous U.S. cities.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-17/heroin-pushed-on-chicago-by-cartel-fueling-gang-murders.html
The Truth About Chicago’s Crime Rates (cooking the books)
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/May-2014/Chicago-crime-rates/
Dirty doctors, Russian mafia fueling prescription drug and heroin abuse in N.J., investigation finds
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/07/nj_state_commission_of_investigation_prescription_drug_heroin_abuse.html
Opiates are now the leading cause of accidental deaths, surpassing car crashes and alcohol. http://elitedaily.com/news/world/prescription-painkillers-overtake-car-crashes-leading-accidental-death-us/
Banks Laundering Cartel Drug Money -Rampant
http://www.globalresearch.ca/money-laundering-and-the-drug-trade-the-role-of-the-banks/5334205
BORDER CRISIS: CONGRESSMAN SAYS FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ‘CAUSING HUMAN TRAFFICKING’
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/07/05/Congressman-Illegls-Aliens-Rise-Obama-Advertises-If%20you-Come-You-Can-Stay
Cartels Exploit Immigration Crisis To Smuggle More Drugs Across Border
By Frank Diez July 03, 2014
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/07/03/cartels-exploit-immigration-crisis-to-smuggle-more-drugs-across-border/
Mexican Cartels are Behind Border Crisis -2014
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/23/how-mexico-s-cartels-are-behind-the-border-kid-crisis.html
Drug dealing, informant get border pass -2014
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/informant-gets-free-border-pass-675432
EXCLUSIVE: Photos Show Drugs Pouring Over Southern Arizona Border as Agent Resources are Overwhelmed Jul 08, 2014
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/07/08/exclusive-photos-show-drugs-pouring-over-southern-arizona-border-n1859982
The Obama Administration’s Human Trafficking
July 11, 2014 by Arnold
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arnold-ahlert/the-obama-administrations-human-trafficking/
Good links. All are from Obama’s drug reign. The Deep State sells people and drugs for money and it was in full swing on Obama’s watch. Thank you for the post!
Side note: The medical marijuana link and the “leading cause of death” link are dead.
Fifty years of the dea and this is their progress report? dea is very corrupt; they need to be investigated like the fbi. Evidence fabrication, bonuses for targets. Money laundering by HBSC.
https://www.pbs.org/video/painful-truth-painful-truth/ http://nationalpainreport.com/a-good-man-speaks-truth-to-power-8838268.
Money laundering:
https://tragedyandhope.com/hsbc-whistleblower-john-cruz/
Fed agencies become swampy because of secrecy and lack of accountability (can’t vote them out, can’t get them fired, can’t get government documents)
Time to strip dea of police powers against US citizens operating in US. Let the states do it
Narcan has reduced OD deaths because police and other first responders have it and are using it. However, ODs I believe are still going up.
Saved me about 3yrs ago when I took Rx Oxycodene 30mg and Rx Lorezapam 2mg, too close together.
Most opioid deaths are poly substance deaths. It’s on your link one of the graphs showing benzos and opioids with ODs.
In fact, it’s the poly substance use that’s the big problem. Pharmacists should really be more vigilant here because they usually have the data from all prescribers at the time they dispense.
Alcohol, benzos and opioids together are more dangerous that high dose opioids alone.
$2.5T over 4 years is complete BS.
Right you are.
You have FRmail.
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