LOIE
Gold Member
- May 11, 2017
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I have seen posts by those who believe white people are in danger. That they should be fighting for their very existence in an increasingly diverse country. I thought about these posts when I read an article in the August 21st issue of People Magazine. Here are some excerpts:
“According to the CDC, drug overdoses now kill more Americans than either guns or car accidents, a staggering 52,000 in 2015. Experts attribute the rising death toll to increased use of prescription painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. People become addicted to the drugs while being treated for a medical condition and then seek out more pills – or heroin – on the street when their prescriptions run out. It starts with the misuse and abuse of prescription opioid painkillers.
The death rate from overdoses of heroin and prescription painkillers has more than quadrupled since 1999. The vast majority of those deaths – approximately 80% - have taken place in white communities, in part, because white Americans have better access to healthcare in general and are more likely to be prescribed narcotics by their physicians. We’ve never seen anything like this before. The severity of this addiction epidemic is far greater than the heroin epidemic of the 70s and the crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s and 90s. The number of people dying and addicted today is not comparable.”
The history of opioids in this country is fascinating to read and, I think, clearly lays the blame for this epidemic in the laps of doctors and pharmaceutical companies. But here’s why I’ve posted this in the race relations forum. We are so quick to tell black people to stop killing each other – to behave like civilized people- to stop acting like animals. But do we see these white deaths as somehow different? A person dies of a gunshot wound immediately. The addict dies a slow death, affecting his entire life and the lives of everyone around him. Do we somehow rationalize the killing of these people because it is slowly, systematically done by doctors and pharmaceutical companies and not "thugs" on the street? Do we somehow not want to talk about this because the doctors and pharmaceutical companies are civilized members of society? (you know, nothing like the savages in the inner cities).
What's really threatening the health and welfare of white people?
“According to the CDC, drug overdoses now kill more Americans than either guns or car accidents, a staggering 52,000 in 2015. Experts attribute the rising death toll to increased use of prescription painkillers such as Vicodin, Percocet and OxyContin. People become addicted to the drugs while being treated for a medical condition and then seek out more pills – or heroin – on the street when their prescriptions run out. It starts with the misuse and abuse of prescription opioid painkillers.
The death rate from overdoses of heroin and prescription painkillers has more than quadrupled since 1999. The vast majority of those deaths – approximately 80% - have taken place in white communities, in part, because white Americans have better access to healthcare in general and are more likely to be prescribed narcotics by their physicians. We’ve never seen anything like this before. The severity of this addiction epidemic is far greater than the heroin epidemic of the 70s and the crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s and 90s. The number of people dying and addicted today is not comparable.”
The history of opioids in this country is fascinating to read and, I think, clearly lays the blame for this epidemic in the laps of doctors and pharmaceutical companies. But here’s why I’ve posted this in the race relations forum. We are so quick to tell black people to stop killing each other – to behave like civilized people- to stop acting like animals. But do we see these white deaths as somehow different? A person dies of a gunshot wound immediately. The addict dies a slow death, affecting his entire life and the lives of everyone around him. Do we somehow rationalize the killing of these people because it is slowly, systematically done by doctors and pharmaceutical companies and not "thugs" on the street? Do we somehow not want to talk about this because the doctors and pharmaceutical companies are civilized members of society? (you know, nothing like the savages in the inner cities).
What's really threatening the health and welfare of white people?
