[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Koapaka

I am amazed no one even considered the obvious given the age group that most of these deaths are occurring in. Drugs pouring across our borders that are killing more people per year than the Vietnam war did. In a SINGLE year, yet no one seems interested in addressing or even acknowledging this issue.
Drug overdoses killed more Americans last year than the Vietnam War - CBS News

China, Mexico, and India are the three primary sources for one specific drug that causes lethal overdoses: fentanyl. As of my last trip to the google map, only one of those three countries shares a border with the USA. Thankfully, the DEA has seized more of this drug this past year, than it has in the last decade that the drug has been a problem.

That tells me the DEA is doing a good job. If it weren't, they wouldn't be seizing it. It'd be killing even MORE people.

Eliminate the demand, and the supply will dwindle. It's Americans who are overdosing - because it's Americans who insist on taking the stuff.

It's not even the only opioid killing Americans. It's just the one with the most press recently. Other opioids are legally and appropriately prescribed to patients for pain management and recovery from surgery. Just because some people are happy to "bite the bullet" and take the pain, doesn't mean everyone can, or should, do the same. When I have my hip surgery (hopefully this coming year) you better believe I'll be asking for a few days' worth of Vikoden. Unapologetically.

Everyone is addressing and acknowledging this issue, it's a HUGE issue, and complex, and there is no singular solution to it. There is a singular cause: People want these drugs. For whatever reason, they want it. Legally or illegally, they want it. To manage/treat pain or to get high, they want it. That's the cause. Until/unless you can come up with an alternative to treating/managing pain, people will continue wanting it for legitimate purposes. And as long as it's available legitimately, there will be people who get hooked. When the doctor stops prescribing it, they will seek it through illegal channels.

But - you can't trust Big Pharma, supposedly. So good luck finding an alternative to severe pain caused by cancer or major surgery recovery, or severe injury, or 3rd degree burns that take months to heal. Good luck telling those folks they can no longer minimize their agony because Johnny got his fix from China. Because that just makes SO much sense.