Updated: 11/10/2020

We first posted this in 2017.  The Opioid epidemic has not calmed down at all and new data on drug overdoes from the CDC shows that we have a long hard road ahead to deal with this crisis.  

Overdose Statistics USA 2020 CDC

I was at a conference on addiction and one of the presenters showed a graphic on opioid deaths which shook me to the core.  I know its bad anybody involved in treatment of addiction or law enforcement know how bad it is but this image from the CDC speaks 100,000 words.  I hear lots of rhetoric from Washington but when will we see progress? The pharmaceutical industry keeps making these drugs and although there are steps in place to curb prescribing by doctor’s who were also duped by the pharmaceutical industry the deaths keep rising.  When will we see the class actions law suits against the pharmaceutical industry that we saw against the tobacco companies.  The absolute tragedy of this is that it could have been avoided if we did not live in a capitalist society where profits trumps everything.

Its time for action, these avoidable deaths are a disgrace to our nation and its time to do stop talking and take action.