Day: 12/19/2014

10/7/14, The Nation’s Shame: The Injustice of Mandatory Minimums

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-nations-shame-the-injustice-of-mandatory-minimums-20141007?page=5

“In March 2009, Jenifer Lockwood paid for a one-month prescription of the pain reliever Lortab at a pharmacy in Pensacola, Florida. Her two sons were playing video games up front when state narcotics investigators approached the counter with handcuffs.”

10/15/14, Painkiller deaths drop for first time since 1999

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/15/painkiller-deaths-drop-for-the-first-time-since-1999/17262383/

Clamping down on one drug doesn’t drive people to another, Botticelli says. [Seriously, who else believes this crap?]

Fewer than 5% of prescription painkiller abusers move on to heroin, and the proportion of deaths from the drug is much smaller, he says. “We know we clearly have some work to do in intervening with people who are progressing from prescription narcotics to heroin,” he said.

[This is the first time that I’m reading “fewer than 5% of prescription painkiller abusers move on to heroin, and the proportion of deaths from the drug is much smaller.” Does this sound like an “epidemic”? Please, someone explain why pain patients have become criminals.]

Mark Publicker, an addiction medicine specialist in Portland, Maine, and president of the Northern New England Society of Addiction Medicine, says he’s seen a striking shift from prescription painkillers to heroin that “is growing every year.” “My patients tell me that as prescription opioids become less available and more expensive, that heroin has rushed into that breach,” Publicker says. “It was as if somebody flipped a switch.”

[The media loves to quote “addiction specialists,” without even questioning what that industry actually does. Or how the addiction and rehabilitation industry obtains their business — how most of their clients are forced to spend boat-loads of money through the criminal injustice system, for treatments that are as effective as placebos.]

10/8/2014, Maine getting $7.5 million to help fight opioid abuse

http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/08/7-5-million-federal-grant-to-help-maine-fight-opioid-abuse/

Botticelli, who battled alcoholism years ago, is the first person in recovery from addiction to hold this position in government. His office says he’s determined to confront the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In remarks made Wednesday ahead of the town hall meeting, Botticelli said the nationwide trend toward legalization of marijuana is making it harder for health care and law enforcement officials to fight the nation’s most dangerous drug problem – rampant abuse of prescription opioids.

“It’s hard to say at one level that we want to think about prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse without looking at how to prevent kids from starting to use other substances from an early age,” he said.

Botticelli’s visit to the state came less than a month before voters in South Portland and Lewiston will decide whether to join Maine’s largest city in legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults.

Botticelli said prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse are intertwined. Many substance abusers start with prescription drugs before moving onto heroin, so that where officials need to focus their efforts, he said.

Washington’s drug czar appears to have begun traveling the country, handing out millions of federal dollars for more of those failed anti-drug programs. And, oh no, he’s a recovering alcoholic… preaching the same tune… it’s about the children. Comparing heroin and prescription drugs to cannabis just shows how ignorant this guy is.

10/13/14, Morrisey had lobbying ties to drug distributor he’s now investigating

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141013/GZ01/141019896/1419

In 2012, McKesson Corp. paid $151 million to 29 states, including West Virginia, to settle a lawsuit alleging the company inflated prices of hundreds of prescription drugs, causing state Medicaid programs to overpay millions of dollars in reimbursement. An investigation by state and federal agencies found that McKesson overbilled for more than 1,400 brand-name drugs from 2001 to 2009.

In August, McKesson agreed to pay $18 million to settle a case over temperature monitors used to ship vaccines under a contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.