US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in pandemic last year

originally posted by: putnam6
This is just overdose deaths alone, now how many of those were actual suicides? Here is one place where if you know somebody needs assistance cause they are struggling try and talk to them about getting some help. My daughter lost a very close friend and her family is heartbroken they all feel like they should have known or should have been able to help in some way. Just ask those around you how they are doing? is everything ok?



NEW YORK (AP) — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday.

That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.

“This is a staggering loss of human life,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends.

The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly "COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added.

Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said.

Is there a vaccine for this?

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

This is a DEEP issue in the US.

Indeed it is.

link

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

The reality is: half of all gun deaths in the US are veterans killing themselves.

The numbers are truly through the roof and thought there was a very interesting documentary here exploring how psychiatric drugs are the causative factor.

Cheers.

originally posted by: karl 12

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

This is a DEEP issue in the US.

Indeed it is.

link

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

The reality is: half of all gun deaths in the US are veterans killing themselves.

The numbers are truly through the roof and thought there was a very interesting documentary here exploring how psychiatric drugs are the causative factor.

Cheers.

It's everywhere and in dozens of forms

www.yahoo.com...

A West Virginia county ravaged by the opioid crisis is having its day in court

Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. Those companies are accused of being responsible for shipping almost 90 per cent of the 109.8 million doses of hydrocodone and oxycodone to the county between 2006 and 2014.

To a community of 90,000 people... that's 1211 doses for every man woman and child of Cabell County

a reply to: putnam6


Seems all roads lead back to just two companies when it comes to big pharma (and big media) mate but regarding the opioid crisis there's a new book which traces it back to the Sackler family.

A new book traces the roots of the opioid crisis through the secretive Sackler family

link

In your title you misspelled "plandemic."

Just sayin' ...

My alcohol intake is skyrocketing

ill be dead soon lol

WELL YEAH, THE PANDEMIC/LOCK DOWNS DESTROYED LIVES, those already at wits ends prior to pandemic, simply give up and fked themselves up

its inevitable

but not really, could have just been open and honest about going to war with china, at-least told them to hold on were at war, but even then they were too cowardly to say thats what its all about

a reply to: putnam6

it might be because fentynol has hit an all time high ha since noone can get shipments across boarders. Noone can make money, transfer your economy. It legal, we arent at war with afghanastan which produces 80 percent of the worlds opium anymote. aka war was not for oil. why would we stay there anymore. for sure trooops gtn pulled out now. fentynol is legal & what we gon do really

originally posted by: chr0naut

originally posted by: putnam6
This is just overdose deaths alone, now how many of those were actual suicides? Here is one place where if you know somebody needs assistance cause they are struggling try and talk to them about getting some help. My daughter lost a very close friend and her family is heartbroken they all feel like they should have known or should have been able to help in some way. Just ask those around you how they are doing? is everything ok?

NEW YORK (AP) — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday.

That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.

“This is a staggering loss of human life,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends.

The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly "COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added.

Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said.

Perhaps the government should allocate more priority to mental health and the happiness of its people (it's mentioned in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence), instead of classifying its success in dollar terms?

But surely, also, drug problems would be better treated medically, rather than punitively.

Part of the issue with drugs is that the addicts hide their drug taking, for reasons that the drugs may be criminally obtained and held, and/or that there is often stigma associated with drug taking and its consequences.

If these people saw a doctor (I'm including Psychologists in this) about their problems, there could be harm mitigation and they could be weaned off the drugs in a controlled and caring manner responsive to their condition/s. They aren't going to get that sort of care elsewhere.

Also, there is an economic factor in the criminal supply of drugs. If the government decriminalized the drugs, and at the same time they could be offered under prescription, and cheaper that criminals could source them, that removes any criminal profit from drug dealing. Plus the drugs themselves would not be adulterated and would be administered in safer doses. This then feeds back into the medical care process of; harm minimization, dealing with the underlying causes for the need for drug taking, and weaning them off the drugs in a sensible and provably effective manner.

None of what you suggest works. Only thing that works is get them off the street, off of drugs entirely for a long long time. Drug addiction can take YEARS to beat. It's not going to happen in months. The drugs are ENGINEERED to be HIGHLY addictive. Anything like that is going to take an equal amount of ENGINEERING. Very strict enforcement with very strict measures and actions. China had this problem once. They blockcaded the ports of opium and threw it all in the water. Anyone caught with it was severely punished. And it worked. Still does.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

there are many drugs that are addictive tho. people say get nicotine patches for cigs. but its the aresnic they detox off of. or the guar gum foods. some of all people detox always usually

originally posted by: SatansPride1
a reply to: putnam6

it might be because fentynol has hit an all time high ha since noone can get shipments across boarders. Noone can make money, transfer your economy. It legal, we arent at war with afghanastan which produces 80 percent of the worlds opium anymote. aka war was not for oil. why would we stay there anymore. for sure trooops gtn pulled out now. fentynol is legal & what we gon do really

Fentanyl isn't legal without a prescription...#1

#2 its rise is due to its addictive nature supposedly 80 times as addictive as heroin

#3 many sell it as heroin....

#4 here in the US it's vastly overprescribed and should be used only in the direst of cases

#5 it's why hopefully MJ legalization will end at least some people from being exposed to that mess.

a reply to: putnam6

The covid lockdown saw illegal drug prices skyrocket. Noone could get anything across the boarders without a corrupt dea or cia team. Noone could afford the shipment costs of pure herion because of all the safety protocals of hauling it. the profits were plummeting so they had to do something which was lace it with fentynol. sure its addictive but it doesnt matter if something is addictive really for a sellers market. affordable easy to get all the time matters. & ideals. if someones gon do somethin they gon do it. if addiction matters to how people make choices then weed must be the most addictive drug in america cause so many people choose to do it repeatedly. which weed isnt unless constanly used for a long period of time. or alchohol would be more addictive than opium which it isnt. its just peoples ideas in what theyve been brought up to believe or how theyre perception on life is thats makes these semi addictive chemicals extremely addictive to the way it makes your pattern of thoughts go.

ya the u.s has always given out many drugs because thats freedom. illegal drugs only illegal because our technology became superior to natural medicine. so as we know, primitive technology is useless. doing primitive illegal drugs is like running a flipfone with no internet now. you cant get a job with it, you cant have the same social club, your practically a neanderthal that will leave you extict. the only time they are good for you is with the proper equipment. like if the flipfone has internet or opium is mixed with all those chemicals to make an oxycodone. or fentynol has a distribution device for safe treament of high.

this is just the beginning of our new & improved drug endeavors tho. in another 50 years the drugs will be awesomer & hopefully without all the side effects.

originally posted by: xuenchen
I wonder if the increased supply has anything to do with the increased deaths ? 😎

Cartels wouldn't take advantage of an overwhelmed border patrol would they? That wouldnt be fair!

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: SatansPride1
a reply to: putnam6

it might be because fentynol has hit an all time high ha since noone can get shipments across boarders. Noone can make money, transfer your economy. It legal, we arent at war with afghanastan which produces 80 percent of the worlds opium anymote. aka war was not for oil. why would we stay there anymore. for sure trooops gtn pulled out now. fentynol is legal & what we gon do really

Fentanyl isn't legal without a prescription...#1

#2 its rise is due to its addictive nature supposedly 80 times as addictive as heroin

#3 many sell it as heroin....

#4 here in the US it's vastly overprescribed and should be used only in the direst of cases

#5 it's why hopefully MJ legalization will end at least some people from being exposed to that mess.

#6 cartels are running large amounts of fentanyl across the overwhelmed border. Fentanyl is popular with the cartels because so small an amount is needed to get you high. So smaller packages worth far more $$$

originally posted by: dug88
a reply to: putnam6

I honestly think, and have thought for years, the fentynyl epidemic was intentionally done by China. It comes from Chinese pharmaceutical companies and gets shipped over on barges to gangsters who process and distribute it.

While it's true that China produces a lot of the chemicals that are used to produce or purify fentynyl, the actual epidemic is 100% domestic in origin. It was started by drugs companies that encouraged the over prescription of synthetic opioids to people with chronic pain. People took it without realizing how addictive it was so when they were cut off from official sources they went to the black market.

It's also been used by dealers to cut other drugs to give it more of a bite.

China came along afterwards and met the demand that had already been established.

China didn't try to get people hooked, they got hooked and the drugs cartels went to China to find the ingredients that the needed to meet the market.

I'm surprised that you didn't know this, there's a big lawsuit going on about it right now.

originally posted by: Stupidsecrets

originally posted by: chr0naut

originally posted by: putnam6
This is just overdose deaths alone, now how many of those were actual suicides? Here is one place where if you know somebody needs assistance cause they are struggling try and talk to them about getting some help. My daughter lost a very close friend and her family is heartbroken they all feel like they should have known or should have been able to help in some way. Just ask those around you how they are doing? is everything ok?

NEW YORK (AP) — Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday.

That estimate far eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.

“This is a staggering loss of human life,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends.

The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly "COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added.

Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said.

Perhaps the government should allocate more priority to mental health and the happiness of its people (it's mentioned in the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence), instead of classifying its success in dollar terms?

But surely, also, drug problems would be better treated medically, rather than punitively.

Part of the issue with drugs is that the addicts hide their drug taking, for reasons that the drugs may be criminally obtained and held, and/or that there is often stigma associated with drug taking and its consequences.

If these people saw a doctor (I'm including Psychologists in this) about their problems, there could be harm mitigation and they could be weaned off the drugs in a controlled and caring manner responsive to their condition/s. They aren't going to get that sort of care elsewhere.

Also, there is an economic factor in the criminal supply of drugs. If the government decriminalized the drugs, and at the same time they could be offered under prescription, and cheaper that criminals could source them, that removes any criminal profit from drug dealing. Plus the drugs themselves would not be adulterated and would be administered in safer doses. This then feeds back into the medical care process of; harm minimization, dealing with the underlying causes for the need for drug taking, and weaning them off the drugs in a sensible and provably effective manner.

None of what you suggest works. Only thing that works is get them off the street, off of drugs entirely for a long long time. Drug addiction can take YEARS to beat. It's not going to happen in months. The drugs are ENGINEERED to be HIGHLY addictive. Anything like that is going to take an equal amount of ENGINEERING. Very strict enforcement with very strict measures and actions. China had this problem once. They blockcaded the ports of opium and threw it all in the water. Anyone caught with it was severely punished. And it worked. Still does.

This may have worked for China (really, how could we actually know?), but the attempts to stop drugs by criminalization and arresting all involved and trying to breaking supply through confiscation and prosecution, is clearly not working in the USA, and other countries.

I believe that there needs to be different approaches, many of them simultaneous, to resolve the problem. Decriminalization alone can't work. Medical attention alone can't work. Pressure to make the illegal drug trade unprofitable alone won't work.

And decriminalization does not mean legalization, you could still crack down on illegal supply, but for users who have the drug under prescription, they would not be prosecuted for that. Also, the prescription supply of drugs should, at the same time, be carefully monitored for abuse, and strong medical guidelines for prescription should be established.

a reply to: putnam6

WHO CARES!

We don't have time for those tiny numbers, we need to put fear in the hearts of every weak American by constantly talking about fake coronavirus deaths and calling those deaths direct causes of coronavirus!

originally posted by: TritonTaranis
My alcohol intake is skyrocketing

ill be dead soon lol

Mine began doing that....had to put a check on it before it became a weekday thing. The thing is, bourbon tastes really good. If i could find a decent bourbon that was nonalcoholic, i'd be happy to enjoy that. But thats impossible.

It also doesn't help that bourbon is just as fattening as anything out there. I lost 10 lbs the first 2 weeks after quitting, and i'd only been drinking on weekends for about 3 months.

a reply to: TritonTaranis

In far too many cases, that was exactly why. Not all of them by any stretch, but a significant number of them.

When you see your life's work go down the tubes, because Covid, while giant Boxstores stay open...that couldn't be easy to deal with.

Churches, theatres, restaurants, etc...all closed because Covid...four walls can begin to close in pretty damned quick.

Your rent is far past due, and the so-called "grace period" is, ultimately, useless--because eventually you're going to have to pay the landlord...with what? You no longer have a business, or your employer went out of business. What good is a grace period, ultimately??

Those pills, or that handgun begin to look more and more like a solution. Then they become one. Sort of...

All because of unnecessary panic.