That's staggering. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. These companies were absolutely aware that their products were being abused and destroying lives. It's heartbreaking to...
the companies distributed enough pills to supply every adult and child in the country with 36 each year.
That's staggering. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. These companies were absolutely aware that their products were being abused and destroying lives. It's heartbreaking to think of how much suffering has been caused by their greed.
Our own DEA has been relatively toothless on this as well, though some of that is because their wings were clipped by legislation limiting their power that was written by a former DEA lawyer who went to work for the drug industry. We can't attribute it all to that as our opioid issue goes back well before 2017, but it's a salient reminder of how corporation-friendly our government is and how that benefits the few at the expense of the many. It's amazing to me how many of our worst, most shameful national issues have that same, fundamental root. We need to get companies out of our governance. They're eating this country and its people alive.
If you're like me and you want a longer answer to the question of how the opioid crisis got this bad, then I highly recommend the book Dreamland by Sam Quinones.
It tells a two-sided story. One is about a specific drug cartel and the savvy business decisions they've made in order to develop methods for very efficient and successful heroin sales. The other story dives into pain treatment and the rise of oxycodone as a heavily prescribed drug, in part because its risks were shielded and downplayed. The two stories intersect when the heroin dealers learn that oxy users represent pre-primed, untapped markets that they can capitalize on.
It's an unsentimental book that takes a top-down perspective You won't get many stories about the people affected by the drugs, but you'll learn a lot about the people selling them, which is where this whole issue starts.
That's staggering. I knew it was bad, but I didn't know it was that bad. These companies were absolutely aware that their products were being abused and destroying lives. It's heartbreaking to think of how much suffering has been caused by their greed.
Our own DEA has been relatively toothless on this as well, though some of that is because their wings were clipped by legislation limiting their power that was written by a former DEA lawyer who went to work for the drug industry. We can't attribute it all to that as our opioid issue goes back well before 2017, but it's a salient reminder of how corporation-friendly our government is and how that benefits the few at the expense of the many. It's amazing to me how many of our worst, most shameful national issues have that same, fundamental root. We need to get companies out of our governance. They're eating this country and its people alive.
If you're like me and you want a longer answer to the question of how the opioid crisis got this bad, then I highly recommend the book Dreamland by Sam Quinones.
It tells a two-sided story. One is about a specific drug cartel and the savvy business decisions they've made in order to develop methods for very efficient and successful heroin sales. The other story dives into pain treatment and the rise of oxycodone as a heavily prescribed drug, in part because its risks were shielded and downplayed. The two stories intersect when the heroin dealers learn that oxy users represent pre-primed, untapped markets that they can capitalize on.
It's an unsentimental book that takes a top-down perspective You won't get many stories about the people affected by the drugs, but you'll learn a lot about the people selling them, which is where this whole issue starts.
Drug dealing at its finest. And no one will see jail time out of this I bet.