Free Republic

Of the 2916 people who died in Massachusetts between 2013-2015 (and had complete toxicology reports): 1789 (61%) had heroin detected. 1322 (45%) had fentanyl detected. Only 39 (1.3%) of the decedents who had a prescription opioid detected in their body had an active (legal) prescription for that opioid on the day they died. In other words, 98.7% of the people who died and had a prescription drug in their body obtained that drug illegally (not by prescription). This confirms that it is (and has been) the abuse, not the use of opioids that is killing people. Properly managed pain patients...

PHILADELPHIA — When New Jersey lawmakers debated earlier this year whether to legalize recreational use of marijuana, the Garden State’s police organizations were adamantly against it. The cops said legal weed might lead to an explosion in the numbers of impaired drivers operating under the influence. And the police would be caught flatfooted trying to tell whether drivers they pulled over were high. “With alcohol, if you have over 0.08% in your blood, there’s the presumption that you’re intoxicated,” said Christopher Leusner, head of the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police. But because marijuana stays in the bloodstream...