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Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective

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On Fri, 03 Nov 2017 15:48:30 -0700, Checkmate, DoW Numero Uno wrote:

> Warning! Always wear ANSI approved safety goggles when reading posts by
> Checkmate!  In article <wcydnXwTIuEYT2HEnZ2dnUU7-
> QWdnZ2d@scnresearch.com>, pandora@peak.org says...
> 
> 
> 
>> On Thu, 02 Nov 2017 21:57:26 -0700, Checkmate, DoW Numero Uno wrote:
>> 
>> > "Our people are dying. One hundred seventy-five people a day, every
>> > day,
>> > are dying in the United States from this (opioid) epidemic," said
>> > commission chairman Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, one of five
>> > politicians who served on (Trump's) six member panel.
>> > 
>> > "If a terrorist organization was killing 175 Americans every day on
>> > American soil, what would you be willing to pay to make it stop? I
>> > think we'd be willing to do anything and everything to make it stop.
>> > And that's the way we now need to see this, because this is an attack
>> > from within. We are killing ourselves."
>> > 
>> > Oh, really?
>> 
>> It's the old "war on drugs" surfacing once more.  And I don't think
>> these characters can tell the difference between legitimate use and
>> illegitimate and illegal use.
> 
> They don't care.  

That's for certain! 

It's about politics and money, and keeping those
> prisons overflowing, and giving people a criminal record guaranteed to
> keep them poor and unemployed for a lifetime.  Comparing 175 deaths a
> day to the urgency of terrorist acts, when smoking kills 1315 people a
> day, obesity kills 822 people a day, and alcohol directly killing 241
> people a day plus another 30 from alcohol-related car crashes (thought
> that would be higher), why all the outrage and self righteous
> indignation being directed at legitimate chronic pain patients who just
> want a functional life?

I have no idea.  It boggles my mind.
 
> I wish I had statistics on how many of those 175 are actually chronic
> pain patients under the supervision of a doctor, and how many are
> druggies that just want to get high, because they've lumped them all
> together... a guy like me who breaks pills in half and only takes the
> minimal amount to stay functional and work for a living, versus junkies
> who are shooting up heroin or misusing Fentanyl... a VERY potent and
> scary drug.  Why do they fail to differentiate between those two
> extremes?  My idea of an opioid "high," is simply to not feel as much
> pain so I can get through my day.  I never actually feel "high," because
> I titrate my allotted amount during the day to fit my pain level.

Exactly.  They never do differentiate between the two very different uses 
of the drugs.  For a while I actually thought there was a real problem 
with how the drugs were prescribed.  Then I began to get a clue and 
realized they were lumping legitimate uses with those who were obtaining 
the drugs illegally and not being supervised by a physician.  
 
> 
>> > The NIH estimates that nearly 34 percent of U.S. adults can be
>> > classified as "obese," meaning they have a body mass index of more
>> > than 30. By this standard, a man who stands 5-foot-11, Christie's
>> > reported height, would be obese if his weight reached 215 pounds.
>> > While Christie does not disclose his weight, it appears to exceed the
>> > 286 pounds that would place him among the 5.7 percent of American
>> > adults whom NIH classifies as "extremely obese."
>> > 
>> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/chris-christies-big-
>> > problem/2011/09/29/gIQAAL7J8K_story.html?utm_term=.26746c6da25d
>> > 
>> > 
>> > 
>> > "According to the National Institutes of Health, obesity and
>> > overweight together are the second leading cause of preventable death
>> > in the United States, close behind tobacco use. An estimated 300,000
>> > deaths per year are due to the obesity epidemic."
>> > 
>> > https://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/obesity/mortality.htm
>> > 
>> > That's 822 per day... almost FIVE TIMES as many as all opioid
>> > users... both legitimate and illegal, and Chris Christie is in that
>> > group.
>> 
>> Indeed.
>>  
>> > Would it not be equally fair to use the Governor's own words to refer
>> > to the obesity epidemic, by merely changing the number of "victims"
>> > from 175 to 822?  Let's try it:
>> > 
>> > "Our people are dying. Eight hundred twenty-two people a day, every
>> > day,
>> > are dying in the United States from this (obesity) epidemic,"
>> > 
>> > "If a terrorist organization was killing 822 Americans every day on
>> > American soil, what would you be willing to pay to make it stop? I
>> > think we'd be willing to do anything and everything to make it stop.
>> > And that's the way we now need to see this (obesity problem), because
>> > this is an attack from within. We are killing ourselves."
>> > 
>> > Is there anybody in Trump's Whitehouse who can see the flaws in this
>> > thinking?  Even if you take the 175 people a day who are allegedly
>> > dying from the "opioid epidemic," how many of them do you suppose are
>> > long term chronic pain sufferers who have a long history of
>> > successfully managing opioid usage in a responsible manner, and how
>> > many are likely to be junkies making Fentanyl tea, injecting heroin,
>> > or buying legitimate opioids illegitimately on the street with no
>> > medical supervision?  Even if chronic pain sufferers had to choose
>> > between a long life of constant misery or a shorter life with at
>> > least enough pain reduction to remain functional rather than
>> > bedridden, how many people would choose a longer, more painful life? 
>> > I think all of us who have to live this way know the answer to that
>> > one.
>> >
>> Again, indeed.
>> 
>> 
>> > ALSO according to the CDC:
>> > 
>> > "Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per
>> > year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths
>> > resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five
>> > deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day."
>> > 
>> > YES!  1,300 people die every day from smoking cigarettes, but Chris
>> > Christie thinks we need to go to war over 175 people dying every day
>> > from opioid use, yet tobacco use is legal, and merely an optional
>> > lifestyle choice that has absolutely no redeeming value, like
>> > relieving the chronic pain that legitimate opioid users need to
>> > alleviate just to have something close to a normal, functional life.
>> > 
>> > https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/
>> index.
>> > htm
>> > 
>> > 
>> > ALSO, 241 people are dying from alcohol abuse every day, 30 people
>> > are dying from alcohol-related car crashes... every day, and 1315 are
>> > dying from tobacco use... every day.  Is it too much to ask, to
>> > choose our battles a little more wisely?
>> 
>> I would think so but then *they* don't listen to the likes of us.
> 
> I've been listening to the news all day.  Everybody in Government seems
> to be getting caught lying to congress, lying to the public, doing their
> dirty little deals behind closed doors... and we get THIS.  One of my
> favorite quotes of all time came from Will Rogers:
> 
> "Thank God we don't get all the Government we pay for!"

Well, we certainly seem to be getting the government we deserve.

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Thread

The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective "Checkmate, DoW Numero Uno" <ricksabian1@gmail.corn> - 2017-11-02 21:57 -0700
  Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective pandora <pandora@peak.org> - 2017-11-03 15:33 -0500
    Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective % <persent@gmail.com> - 2017-11-03 13:39 -0700
    Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective "Checkmate, DoW Numero Uno" <ricksabian1@gmail.corn> - 2017-11-03 15:48 -0700
      Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective pandora <pandora@peak.org> - 2017-11-04 00:56 -0500
        Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective "Checkmate, DoW Numero Uno" <ricksabian1@gmail.corn> - 2017-11-04 00:04 -0700
          Re: The "opioid epidemic"... keeping things in perspective pandora <pandora@peak.org> - 2017-11-04 10:56 -0500

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