Liberal response fueled heroin, opioid epidemic

Editor:

Over the past couple of years, New York State and in particular, Central and Western NY, have become overwhelmed by the heroin overdoses and are scrambling daily to contain it.

It’s hard not to notice articles in the newspapers about drug overdose deaths, usually heroin/fentanyl related, exclaiming the horror of the increase in these overdoses – especially when they mention that people, some in their late 40s and early 60s, are for the first time in their lives, being convicted of drug related offenses involving opiates.

Mothers write obits now flagging their 20-30-year-old children as another “case of addiction-related death from the heroin” they became hooked on. (Remember when scores of suburban kids were dying from overdosing on cocaine in the 70s? Neither can I, and that’s my point*).

I have been steeling myself for months before finally having had enough of the nonsense finger pointing, cause and effect relationship (erroneously) between these deaths and the doctors who “started it all”  with their willy-nilly kneejerk reaction to prescription painkillers.

Somehow, these doctors who have been prescribing these pills for decades are now to blame for the “Opiate Epidemic” plaguing our communities.

Please allow me to retaliate on their behalf as I’ve grown sickened by the blame game and the policies of our government, which has “valiantly” come to the forefront of public health, to address this opiate crisis they themselves have created.

Ever since the liberals began to control our country in 2008, the prescription drug problem has gotten worse.  It has less to do with prescription pain medicine than the abundance of heroin flowing across our southern border. They claimed that heroin addiction starts with painkillers and then patients look for a better high in illegal narcotics.

These self-enlightened “know-it-alls” decided that they knew better than the medical community, put together barely comprehensible “evidence” tying the two together, and over the last 7 years or so, accomplished only one thing:  They created a heroin problem.

They put forth “usage” dose laws prohibiting the prescriber from tending to the same patients they’ve been seeing for years for chronic pain, putting some of them out of business or reversing their ability to prescribe, because they loosely tied the sadistic drug, heroin to the innocuous hydrocodone.

And what do they have to show for their interference in doctor/patient care?  An out-of control drug epidemic.  And as always, these liberal control freaks are like the kid in the dam trying to plug his fingers and toes into the cracks to stop the leaking.

Because liberal thinkers are always right, and they always know what is best for society due to their “incredible brilliance,” they are kicking in denial of the fact that they themselves broke the dam in the first place; They hamstrung doctors, wagging their academic fingers at chronic pain patients, demoralizing them of their dignity by accusing both the doctors of being drug pushers and the patients of being drug addicts.

I have older friends, some in their 70s who have survived crippling car wrecks, debilitating injuries and even cancer, who have been told in the past 2-6 years that, despite their chronic pain, they have to “wean off” their low dose Percocet & Vicodin because, well, the Glorious State of New York Said So… And not only did our ever-so sophisticated lawmakers SAY so, they instituted concrete, no-nonsense dosing guidelines that do not take into account the human person’s needs (I can’t help but think that this is how Socialism starts).  Indeed, regardless of age, issue or circumstance, our doctors are being threatened from the liberal left government; That they are now under the watch-full eye of Big Brother;  Self-righteous torch bearers of the old “Just Say No!’ marching  band of the ’80s. And by golly, if you prescribe one more Hydro, you better watch out because Uncle Sam will revoke your license to practice medicine.

I know of an old woman in her 80s, who has taken low dose hydrocodone for years for her arthritis, and was kicked off her meds because the “doctors were overprescribing.”

And the 70-year-old person I referred to earlier? She valiantly battled cancer almost a decade ago, and despite still having chronic pain, was told by her internist that she needs to wean off her 5mg Percocet and move to the kidney killing Motrin (a cousin of ibuprofen) for her lingering pain…   I mean, C’mon.

So now the local, state and national newspapers are littered with stats of people being:

1) Addicted to heroin in middle to old age,

2) Dying from heroin in middle to old age, and/or

3) Being convicted of a drug offence for the first time in their lives because they grabbed an opiate painkiller from a small time dealer or even a friend, because their doctors have been forced to cut them off of their legal prescriptions; and the replacement pain relievers are doing NOTHING to stop real pain.

Henceforth, the liberal left are now trying to desperately not acknowledge that they caused this epidemic by opening up 800 number call centers and day rehabs to deal with opiate addicted addicts, both heroin and Rx related.

“Why is heroin so popular?!?” Our smart, liberal friends exclaim, beating their breasts with convincing bewilderment. “Why,” they scream, “are record numbers of opiate based products coming over our boarders in 2016 and into the New Year?!?” “Why” (tsk, tsk) “are so many people dying from ADDICTION???”

… And the Left is so busy organizing night courses on distributing Narcan, they can’t face the writing on the wall, or are too stupid to recognize what the Nanny State has done yet again:  Made a small problem a super big, killer one which is out of control.

Well now, our dear destructive liberals in La La Land, Ivy League educated and idealistically driven, guess what: You thought you knew better than the doctors and hospitals. And as always, you knew how to keep society safe using someone else’s money (i.e.: the taxpayer’s). And as always, you were 100% WRONG.

Nice going, Liberals… You are killing off the most vulnerable of Middle America.

*Cocaine wasn’t flooding the streets killing thousands in rural areas in the 70s, like heroin is doing so today thanks to the demand vacuum filled by older folks getting kicked off their painkillers and looking for an alternative.

Kimberly Kennedy

Medina