Impact of the Opioid Crisis
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
Impact
of The Opioid Crisis
“Drug
overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the US, with 52,404
lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this epidemic, with
20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers, and 12,990
overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015.” https://www.asam.org
As the US grapples with an escalating
opioid epidemic that is ravaging this nation, it is important we examine how
this happened and why it is such a huge problem. The opioid crisis is totally out
of control partly due to overzealous physicians prescribing addictive pain
killers such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, morphine, fentanyl coupled
with illicit street drugs like heroin and cocaine. It has been documented that
US physicians received kickbacks in the form of payments, speaking fees, food
and drink from pharmaceutical reps and companies to write prescriptions for
their products.
A study published in the American Journal of
Public Health revealed
US
doctors were on the take, big time.
“Objective:
To identify payments that involved opioid products from the pharmaceutical
industry to physicians.
Methods. We used the Open Payments program
database from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify
payments involving an opioid to physicians between August 2013 and December
2015. We used medians, interquartile ranges, and ranges as a result of heavily
skewed distributions to examine payments according to opioid product,
abuse-deterrent formulation, nature of payment, state, and physician specialty.
Results. During the study, 375 266 nonresearch opioid-related
payments were made to 68 177 physicians, totaling $46 158 388. The top 1% of
physicians received 82.5% of total payments in dollars. Abuse-deterrent
formulations constituted 20.3% of total payments, and buprenorphine marketed
for addiction treatment constituted 9.9%. Most payments were for speaking fees
or honoraria (63.2% of all dollars), whereas food and beverage payments were
the most frequent (93.9% of all payments). Physicians specializing in
anesthesiology received the most in total annual payments (median = $50;
interquartile range = $16–$151).”
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303982
People are hooked because their
doctors got paid to prescribe addictive medications and painkillers. Once the patients
became addicted they sought other means to maintain their high or pain free
status. The opioid menace has reached
crisis proportions in the white communities and this has spurred a totally new
approach to addiction and treatment.
When the US CIA with their organized
crime business associates were dumping heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in
the ghettos and barrios of America, the official response was to craft public
policy that used this situation to create a bogus War on Drugs that targeted, arrested and convicted users and small
time pushers while ignoring the major traffickers. The major players were
pumping tons of drugs on the streets and billions into the major banks to
launder the money and fuel off book secret operations (think the Iran Contra
scandal) so they received a pass because they were part of the plan.
Drug trafficking is big business! “The most frequently found figures in the
literature range from $300 billion to $500 billion a year and seem to be the
most reasonable estimates. One UNDCP estimate for 1995 reflecting global
illicit drug sales to consumers, gives a figure close to $400 billion. A
similar turnover was also estimated by the International Criminal Police
Organization/ Interpol. Such a turnover of the illicit drug industry would be
equivalent to approximately 8 per cent of total international trade. It would
be larger than the international trade in iron and steel and motor vehicles
(2.8 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively) and approximately the same size as
the international trade in textiles (7.5 per cent), oil and gas (8.6 per cent) and
world tourism.”
Drug trafficking became a big business as did
the prison industrial complex by incarcerating Black and Brown people, but that’s
another topic for another day. Now that opioid deaths and addiction is a white
thing and skyrocketing nationwide addiction is threatening major economic and
public health disruption, the politicians are singing a new tune. Now it’s not viewed
as an indication of moral depravity like when Black folks were caught in the
addiction cycle. Now it’s a public health issue/crisis because white folks are dying
from overdoses.
“Drug overdose is the leading cause
of accidental death in the
US,
with 52,404 lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Opioid addiction is driving this
epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers,
and 12,990 overdose deaths related to heroin in 2015. From 1999 to 2008,
overdose death rates, sales and substance use disorder treatment admissions
related to prescription pain relievers increased in parallel. The overdose
death rate in 2008 was nearly four times the 1999 rate; sales of prescription
pain relievers in 2010 were four times those in 1999; and the substance use
disorder treatment admission rate in 2009 was six times the 1999 rate.
In 2012, 259 million prescriptions were
written for opioids, which is more than enough to give every American adult
their own bottle of pills. Four in five new heroin users started out misusing
prescription painkillers. 94% of respondents in a 2014 survey of people in
treatment for opioid addiction said they chose to use heroin because
prescription opioids were ‘far more expensive and harder to obtain.’” Opioid
Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures
https://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf
Drug addiction is taking a massive
toll on American life and there seems to be no end in sight as the addicts are
younger and younger. “In 2015, an estimated 21,000 adolescents had used heroin
in the past year, and an estimated 5,000 were current heroin users.
Additionally, an estimated 6,000 adolescents had heroin a heroin use disorder
in 2014. People often share their unused pain relievers, unaware of the dangers
of nonmedical opioid use. Most adolescents who misuse prescription pain
relievers are given them for free by a friend or relative. The prescribing
rates for prescription opioids among adolescents and young adults nearly doubled
from 1994 to 2007.” Ibid
What must of us overlook is the
fact Western culture fosters addiction to a myriad of substances: caffeine,
sugar, alcohol, sex and drugs. To resolve this crisis will require a major
transformation of values and lifestyle. It will be difficult to take the profit
motive out of drug trafficking and prescription pushing, so better education
about our divine nature/potential, resilience and resourcefulness is needed. It
will not be enough to just say no or take a pill to make things better.
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Universal Basic Income
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Universal Basic Income
“Universal basic income (UBI) is a model for providing
all citizens of a country or other geographic area with a given sum of money,
regardless of their income, resources or employment status. The purpose of the
UBI is to prevent or reduce poverty and increase equality among citizens. UBI
is also known simply as basic income. According to the advocacy group Basic
Income Earth Network (BIEN), the essential principle behind basic income is the
idea that all citizens are entitled to a livable income, whether or not they
contribute to production and despite the particular circumstances into which
they are born.” http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/universal-basic-income-UBI
Due
to the rapid advances and application of technology, labor as we know it is
changing. With the increased uses of robotics, animation and Artificial
Intelligence, physical labor and intellectual skills labor will take totally new
forms not in the distant future but immediately. Many futurists and thinkers
realize we are on the cusp of a quantum shift in work, industry, technology,
lifestyle and economics. People like
inventor, entrepreneur, CEO and futurist Elon Musk and Facebook cofounder Chris
Hughes are saying society needs to prepare for the approaching phase out and
outright elimination of work as we presently know it and provide for people who
have been displaced by technology.
At
the 2017 World Government Summit in Dubai Elon Musk said, “I think we'll end up
doing universal basic income, it’s going to be necessary. There will be fewer
and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better. I want to be clear, these are not
things I wish will happen; these are things I think probably will happen. With
automation, there will come abundance. Almost everything will get very cheap.”
He also said some form of
merger between humans and computers is in the offing. “Over time I think
we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital
intelligence. It's mostly about the bandwidth, the speed of the connection
between your brain and the digital version of yourself, particularly output…
Some high bandwidth interface to the brain will be something that helps achieve
a symbiosis between human and machine intelligence and maybe solves the control
problem and the usefulness problem” This is what is being contemplated by some
of the driving minds of our time. When (not if) it materializes, most people
will not be prepared.
The more
immediate loss of job opportunities due to technology will cause major social
disruption especially in the so called developed world although some futurists
believe it will impact the so called developing world just as severely. An
article on the Futurism.com Website https://futurism.com/images/universal-basic-income-answer-automation/
includes a chart detailing the impact of robotics and automation around the
world. I highly recommend you read this article to get an idea just how
pervasive and disruptive the new technologies of Artificial Intelligence,
robotics and automation are becoming and will be even more so in the near
future.
The
article mentions the countries such as Finland,
Kenya, Switzerland and Netherlands that are considering,
planning for or actually implementing some form of Universal Basic Income. Go
to www.basicincome.com and see what
they are saying. The devastating impact of disruptive technology is not just
the concern of futurists. A March 9, 2018 Gallup Poll reveals more Americans
fear being displaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI), robots and automation
than they do immigrants or off shoring. http://news.gallup.com/poll/228923/seen-greater-job-threat-immigration-offshoring.aspx.
This is a huge revelation, it means contrary to what many may think there are
Americans who know what is happening in the world and they are fearful about
their future. Rightly so, because the mindset and historical pattern of
capitalists is to find and implement the cheapest labor and lowest production
costs (e.g. slavery, automation) possible. This is not going to change. So the
anxiety revealed in the Gallop Poll is understandable. But what would UBI look
like in the US?
On
the flip side, the 1% is worrying how the masses will respond to these seismic socio-economic
shifts. They are wondering which options Joe and Jane Sixpack will choose; will
they take the torches and pitchfork route or will they continue to passively
submit to their fate? The 1%’s solution in addition to pacification via the
mass media and police state coercion is Universal Basic Income.
Their
immediate problem is how to sell and implement it because both US political
parties have dogged welfare since the 1960’s and they are adamantly opposed to
reparations for Africans; so now they have to come up with a new marketing tool
to generate consensus to sell UBI. Notice in none of the discussions is cost averse
nor is how it will be paid for a major issue. I suspect it is because the 1%
fear the torch and pitchfork option.
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An Afrocentric Discussion of Black Panther
An Afrocentric Discussion of Black Panther
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
On Saturday
afternoon on March 10 the Molefi Kete Asante Institute and Afrocentricity
International held a discussion on the Black
Panther movie at their headquarters 5535 Germantown Avenue. The multi-generation
audience consisted of students, intellectuals, retirees and working folks.
The program included watching
trailers of the film, listening to written critiques of the film, how
propaganda is used and an open discussion regarding the positive and negative
aspects of the superhero movie which has grossed over one billion dollars world
wide in just four weeks.
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante the founder
of the Afrocentricty movement, whose institute owns and operates the building
where the program was held, began the program by reading critiques of the film
by Maulana Karenga and himself. Nabeelah Bey also distributed her critique of
the film. Dr Ama Mazamu began the open discussion about the film.
Dr. Mazamu began the dialogue by
asking the audience to share what they liked about the film and what they
thought were its most positive aspects. Comments ranged from how the film
provided awesome visuals and optics about a fictional African nation in a
manner never seen before in Hollywood productions.
Several attendees mentioned the impact the film was having on pop culture, how
it is generating interest in things African such as culture, history, fashions,
natural hair styles and providing a catalyst for envisioning Africans beyond
the stultifying Hollywood depictions of us by our
oppressors. The portrayal of the women in the film, the talented actresses,
richly hued strong females who did not acquiesce to Hollywood
stereotypical behavior was also mentioned by several members of the audience. A
few mentioned the film was spurring forums and discussions like this one that are
fostering media literacy and analysis. Several expressed their pleasure the
film is so successful.
When Dr. Mazamu asked about the
negative aspects of the film, there were numerous opinions and observations
shared and expressed by the attendees. One
criticism was the film was not a true depiction of African governance; some
disagreed with the film’s portrayal of leadership succession. They said the
film was not consistent with Africa’s history.
Several people felt the T’Challa
character was weak. Several mentioned how despite her brilliance the Shuri
character was disrespectful to her brother in one scene.
The most passionate conversation
centered around the films messages, how it depicted: nationalism,
self-determination, the role of Africans in the global liberation struggle
particularly which point of view was more correct: Prince N’Jobu’s of King
T’Chake. Prince N’Jobu was one of many spies Wakanda sent out
to monitor what is going on around the world who was living in Oakland
California (the home of the real life Black Panther Party) who witnessed the
suffering of Black people around the world and wants to intervene using
Wakandan technology, or King T’Chaka who wants to keep Wakanda inaccessible and
uninvolved. During a fight King T’Chaka kills his brother N’Jobu who has a son
Erik living in Oakland.
T’Chaka returns to Wakanda but doesn’t bring N’Jobu’s body to Wakanda denying
him a funeral and leaving his son abandoned. The unresolved options are
presented to a second generation. Erik
the son of N’Jobu has the same view as his father while T’Challa favors the
policy of T’Chaka.
All the men are complex but the
attendees expressed concerns regarding how N’Jobu and Erik’s
interventionist/liberation views were presented in the film. It was noted both
men were killed by family members: N’Jobu by his brother T’Chaka and Erik by
his cousin T’Challa. Some saw this as not just anti-liberation,
anti-nationalist propaganda but also a metaphor for the high levels of
fratricide we are experiencing in our communities in this country.
Another hot button issue was the
CIA agent Everett Ross character, one of only two whites in the film. It was
pointed out to be successful Marvel needed the two white characters to attract
white movie goers and they especially needed one of them to be a “good guy”.
Almost everyone took exception to the fact the “good guy” was a CIA agent given
the havoc the US CIA has wrecked on the continent of Africa.
Someone asked how was it possible the CIA agent could fly advanced Wakandan
airships?
It was a lively, respectful and
extremely informative discussion. We realized Marvel Studio and Disney are not
in the business of glorifying Africans, or telling our story. Their goal is to
make money and continue building their cinematic universe with the help of a
block buster film like Black Panther.
The final take away was African
people must make and market our own films and tell our stories by tapping into
the deep and rich reservoir of African history and culture for real models and
lessons we can use to empower and elevate our people.
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Oligarchy 101
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Oligarchy 101
Oligarchy: a
government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and
selfish purposes.
The United States of America
is and has always been an oligarchy: a nation ruled by a small faction of rich white
men despite its claims to be a republic or in recent years a “democracy”. When the
delegates went to Philadelphia in 1787 their charge was to revise The Articles of Confederation to make
governing more efficient because the government set up following the Revolution
was not strong enough to deal with the complex issues facing the new nation. At
that time the leaders, fearful of the tyranny of a monarch and a strong
centralized government set up a system whereby the states were sovereign and
the central government could not enforce anything against the states’ will even
if it was detrimental to the rest of the states. This lack of power exacerbated
existing interstate issues such as: commerce, toll roads and tariffs imposed by
one state against another state’s goods. The government was ineffective because
Congress the governing body had no power to tax to raise money and getting
legislation passed was cumbersome since it required a unanimous vote.
The states
soon realized they needed to fix some of these problems. However once the
delegates got to Philadelphia
they conspired to go against their mandate and create an entirely new form of
government that put themselves in charge. During the war for independence the
colonies were governed by the Continental Congress that was made up of the
rich. “The Continental Congress,
which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich men, linked
together in factions and compacts by business and family connections. These
links connected North and South, East and West. For instance, Richard Henry Lee
of Virginia
was connected with the Adamses of Massachusetts and the Shippens of
Pennsylvania. Delegates from middle and southern colonies were connected with
Robert Morris of Pennsylvania
through commerce and land speculation. Morris was superintendent of finance,
and his assistant was Gouverneur Morris.” History Is A Weapon, A People’s
History of The United States by Howard Zinn http:// historyisawewwwapon.com/defcon1/zinnkin5.html
Contrary to what we’ve been programmed
and brainwashed to believe, all the American colonialists didn’t support the
war for independence. There was a large segment that remained loyal to England (called
Tories) and a significant portion that remained neutral. Many viewed it as a
rich man’s war and wanted no part of it. Many were conscripted (drafted) into
the war and were forced to fight. Many fought (like the 5,000 or so enslaved Africans)
for an improvement in their status.
After the war was won and a treaty was signed, the same class
of leaders who today we would call the 1% who ran the Continental Congress
tended to hold sway in the political life in their respective states. “Edmund
Morgan sums up the class nature of the Revolution this way: ‘The fact that the
lower ranks were involved in the contest should not obscure the fact that the
contest itself was generally a struggle for office and power between members of
an upper class: the new against the established.’ Looking at the situation
after the Revolution, Richard Morris comments: ‘Everywhere one finds
inequality.’ He finds ‘the people’ of ‘We the people of the United States’
(a phrase coined by the very rich Gouverneur Morris) did not mean Indians or
blacks or women or white servants. In fact, there were more indentured servants
than ever, and the Revolution ‘did nothing to end and little to ameliorate
white bondage.’ Carl Degler says (Out of Our Past): ‘No new social class
came to power through the door of the American revolution. The men who
engineered the revolt were largely members of the colonial ruling class.’
George Washington was the richest man in America. John Hancock was a
prosperous Boston
merchant. Benjamin Franklin was a wealthy printer. And so on.” Ibid
These white men came to Philadelphia in September
of 1787 and conspired to craft a government that would cement their power and
control over the nation. They met in secret fashioning a government of the
rich, by the rich and for the rich that excluded all women, all indigenous
peoples, all Blacks, and poor white males. Even today we are taught this was a
revolutionary concept when in fact it was merely a continuation of the old
system with a new set of shot callers and check holders to use modern vocabulary.
A recent
study by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and
Northwestern University Prof Benjamin
corroborates what
author G. William Homhoff proved in his book Who Rules America and his Website http://whorulesamerica.net/ that this
country is run and ruled by a select few, a group of rich families
interconnected through business, shared interests and in some cases marriage.
Like it or not, this is the way it is in
America.
-30-
