3 ms·

Attacking the supply doesn't work and never has worked. Even worse, it sentences a large number of people to die in agony because they cannot get pain relief.

x0x0 9y ago
The companies were very aware that opioids were being trafficked. For example, in Kermit, Kentucky (pop 392), drug companies shipped 9 million opioid doses over 2 years [1]. You don't have to be particularly analytical to figure out they were being resold into the black market with that order of sales numbers. [1] http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-health/20161217/drug-firms-poured-780m-painkillers-into-wv-amid-rise-of-overdoses http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-health/20161217/drug-firms...
- refurb 9y ago
  drug companies shipped 9 million opioid doses over 2 years Drug companies didn't ship anything. Drug wholesalers did that. They're the ones that sell to end customers (pharmacies).
jonknee 9y ago
What are you talking about? We have successfully gone after numerous companies/industries who knowingly sold products they knew were dangerous and said were safe. Examples include tobacco, lead paint and asbestos. Last time I checked it was pretty hard to install asbestos in your house...
- nv-vn 9y ago
  That's an awful analogy. Opioids are a medicine, asbestos are not.
  - jonknee 9y ago
    OK, well plenty of medicines have been withdrawn from the market because of safety concerns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs#Significant_withdrawals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs#Signif...
    - nv-vn 9y ago
      You're still trying to apply this same analogy in a case it doesn't fit. A medicine can have negative effects and still be useful (withdrawn drugs are only withdrawn when their are no longer needed, usually because of a safer alternative). However, if a drug that cured cancer but resulted in birth defects existed, it would not be banned very easily. Putting asbestos in your body will not cure cancer, and so taking them out of the market doesn't leave anyone in a worse position ("dying in agony" in the words of the GGGP). Attacking the supply may work when it is an industrial material, but outlawing opioids completely would be much more catastrophic. Not only would it not work (why does heroin exist? or why did non-alcoholics still purchase alcohol during prohibition?), but it would also cause specific harm to patients who are in need of the medicine.

x0x0 9y ago

The companies were very aware that opioids were being trafficked. For example, in Kermit, Kentucky (pop 392), drug companies shipped 9 million opioid doses over 2 years [1]. You don't have to be particularly analytical to figure out they were being resold into the black market with that order of sales numbers. [1] http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-health/20161217/drug-firms-poured-780m-painkillers-into-wv-amid-rise-of-overdoses http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-health/20161217/drug-firms...

refurb 9y ago
drug companies shipped 9 million opioid doses over 2 years Drug companies didn't ship anything. Drug wholesalers did that. They're the ones that sell to end customers (pharmacies).

jonknee 9y ago

What are you talking about? We have successfully gone after numerous companies/industries who knowingly sold products they knew were dangerous and said were safe. Examples include tobacco, lead paint and asbestos. Last time I checked it was pretty hard to install asbestos in your house...

nv-vn 9y ago
That's an awful analogy. Opioids are a medicine, asbestos are not.
- jonknee 9y ago
  OK, well plenty of medicines have been withdrawn from the market because of safety concerns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs#Significant_withdrawals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_withdrawn_drugs#Signif...
  - nv-vn 9y ago
    You're still trying to apply this same analogy in a case it doesn't fit. A medicine can have negative effects and still be useful (withdrawn drugs are only withdrawn when their are no longer needed, usually because of a safer alternative). However, if a drug that cured cancer but resulted in birth defects existed, it would not be banned very easily. Putting asbestos in your body will not cure cancer, and so taking them out of the market doesn't leave anyone in a worse position ("dying in agony" in the words of the GGGP). Attacking the supply may work when it is an industrial material, but outlawing opioids completely would be much more catastrophic. Not only would it not work (why does heroin exist? or why did non-alcoholics still purchase alcohol during prohibition?), but it would also cause specific harm to patients who are in need of the medicine.