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The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

nytimes.com

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Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#181

Post by microcolonel »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #117

I just don't see this issue the way others do. "Capitalism" or profit motive certainly is interacting problematically with the issue. But profiteers are not, per se, why we have an opiod epidemic to begin with. The roots of that look pretty complicated. One of the roots is hopelessness. We need to pass universal basic healthcare and solve the affordable housing crisis to make headway on that. Another is, frankly, the…

> We need to pass universal basic healthcare and solve the affordable housing crisis to make headway on that.

Just like them, you jump to your own conclusions.

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#182

Post by cletus »

Puritanical drug policy in response to the anti-war and hippie movements on the 1960s has a lot to answer for and is a huge contributing factor to this current crisis.

- Under Nixon, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 inexplicably made cannabis a Schedule 1 drug. Cocaine, by comparison, is Schedule 2.

- Cannabis became harder to get and more expensive than both cocaine and opiate based drugs.

- In 2016, a bill sailed through Congress and was signed into law by Obama with little discussion or concern. It was the result of pharma lobbyists. The bill made it nigh-on-impossible for the DEA to investigate and penalize drug companies of suspicious shipments of drugs [1].

An example of this is shipping NINE MILLION hydrocodone pills over a two year period to a single pharmacy in Kermit, WV with a population of 392 [2].

- A large number of people get onto heroin after becoming addicted to prescription opiates [3], which seem to be dispensed far more frequently in the US than in other developed nations [4].

- Not only does cannabis seem to reduce the rate of opiate addiction, it seems like it might help treat opiate addiction too [5].

I choose to be an optimist here. I see Trumpism as a desperate last gasp for a declining but increasingly militant religious conservative minority in the United States. As much as these short-term policy decisions hurt, I look forward to the day when Puritan ideals will no longer blindly dictate policy with no basis in fact whatsoever.

[1] http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-pharma-bill-20...

[2] https://qz.com/866771/drug-wholesalers-shipped-9-million-opi...

[3] https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/rela...

[4] https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/27/americans-consume-almost-all...

[5] http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/addiction-cannabis-...

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#184

Post by DoreenMichele »

microcolonel wrote: post #181
DoreenMichele wrote: post #117

I just don't see this issue the way others do. "Capitalism" or profit motive certainly is interacting problematically with the issue. But profiteers are not, per se, why we have an opiod epidemic to begin with. The roots of that look pretty complicated. One of the roots is hopelessness. We need to pass universal basic healthcare and solve the affordable housing crisis to make headway on that. Another is, frankly, the…

> We need to pass universal basic healthcare and solve the affordable housing crisis to make headway on that. Just like them, you jump to your own conclusions.

Just like them,

Them? To whom are you comparing me?

you jump to your own conclusions.

I am not jumping to anything. I have spent a lot of years studying and contemplating certain problem spaces.

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#185

Post by AlwaysBCoding »

kevin_b_er wrote: post #46
jijji wrote: post #9

Heroin is a Schedule I (in the US) which means no medical benefit, and its a 20 year felony for distributing it. There is also the Federal Analogue Act, 21 U.S.C. § 813, which is supposed to group similar drugs in the same category. So, how do these companies get away with selling analogs of heroin? Shouldn't the people who work there and make money off these opioid drugs be arrested? Why haven't they?

All forms of cannabis (marijuana) are also Schedule I in the US of "no medical benefit". The Schedule I is also a political tool.

MDMA is Schedule I also even though it's proven to be a breakthrough treatment for PTSD at dosages that are completely harmless to the body. "No medical benefit" is a complete clown.

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#186

Post by Buge »

nwah1 wrote: post #165
highd wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Investors that investigate companies, identify hidden problems and report on them to the public help enable more accurate price discovery. This wouldn't happen at all if they couldn't trade against it. For instance, I recall a story where a hedge fund sent PIs to determine that a factory reported running was actually closed down. They can't just trade against that info - it also has to be made public for them to real…

I wasn't criticizing the act of short selling itself. I was criticizing the concept of an individual writing what amounts to a hit piece that was later retracted, and yet profiting off it despite the fact. Or, in the first case, alleging that a company led to the death of an individual, when later the charge of murder was dropped. It piqued my interest that in both cases, the meat of his allegations are at least high…

Just because a murder charge was dropped, doesn't mean that a murder didn't happen. The justice system doesn't convict 100% of murderers.

This is illustrated in the quote

"It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer"

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#187

Post by icantdrive55 »

macintux wrote: post #78
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely yes. We don't want to go back to a world without drugs for chronic and severe pain. For all the hoopla around the addiction problem, we must never forget there are real people who need these things. With some of the treatment options, as I understand it, it's even possible to be an addict and a functioning member of society. I start worrying in public discussions when people ascribe too much good or evil t…

> With some of the treatment options, as I understand it, it's even possible to be an addict and a functioning member of society. Absolutely. Unfortunately it's often very hard to get good treatment options. A close friend of mine has to travel 45 minutes each way, each day, to get to a clinic where she pays $20 each day. ...and she's fortunate that she was able to get a spot there after spending months buying suboxo…

1. Suboxone (generic) should be offered free of charge to any addict. The government could stop most opioid addiction overnight. Yes--there will be those that are destined to kill themselfs. My point is we can help most people right now.

2. 99% of the addicts only need 2 mgs./day. They are fooling themselfs if they can't get down to 2 mgs. Bupenorpine has a long half life.

3. Bupenorpine is regulated weirdly. Doctors have to take a class. Which is rediculious. If a doctor can't comprehend the use/abuse of bupenorpine; they should not be practicing. Some, vary rare, doctors will prescribe off label. They are allowed 100 patients--I believe. (FDA makes them take the class. The FDA only allows 100 patients. I don't think the FDA makes the patent come in for a mandatory office visit, for a f---ing pill, but maybe I'm wrong?)

That clinic is making $2000 plus insurance/daily for making patients drive to the clinic, and watch the patient take the sublingual tab.

4. At this point we don't need to regulate the drug companies, we need to regulate doctors/treatment centers that feed-greed off their patients! I hate degreed parasites--who prey off their most vulnerable patients.

Sorry--the post above me just caught me off guard. I'm just picturing this women driving 45 minutes to take a pill.

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#188

Post by chiefalchemist »

sidcool wrote: post #7

I cannot understand why the Government is not acting against the pharmas profiting from this crisis. And why people are not revolting. There is a clear nexus between pharmas and doctors. Something should be done.

Keep in mind, as you watch this, 60 Minutes never asks "Why wasn't the lack of receiving data a red flag?" Sure the DEA is supposed to get various things submitted to it. But does it have to be so trusting? (Hint: No not at all.)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-dea-agent-opioid-crisis-fuel...

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#189

Post by unabst »

baq wrote: post #113
mjfl wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not capitalism, it's people. People do this. Stop absolving them with college-freshman-level ideological appeals.

People play the game and the rules are capitalism, sort of. You can and should blame both.

Exactly.

People shoot guns. But guns being available is half the problem.

Capitalism has it's unique characteristics when paired with people.

Re: The lucrative business of America’s opioid crisis

#190

Post by unabst »

StreamBright wrote: post #57
unabst wrote: post #52

Capitalism is sinister like this. It doesn't intentionally do it, because capitalism isn't a person, but when everything is monetized by our creative entrepreneurs, it grows; our problems being no exception. Once someone makes money, they want more of it. Capitalism demands more of it. And we stretch every line of the law, even cross it, just to get more from where that came from. Unfortunately one person suppressing…

Actually the opposite. Government regulations outlaw cheap non-dangerous alternatives (like cannabis) and create a monopoly by granting patents to a single entity. https://qz.com/1125690/big-pharma-is-taking-advantage-of-pat... http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/outdated-treatments-and-dr... The solution is to make cannabis legal for everybody in every state for medical use and since it cannot be patented there will b…

Opposite of what?

I agree with legalization. And with a freer market for growers and sellers and entrepreneurs.

Our government is plenty sinister too. And government is actually "people".

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