Last month President Trump declared it, "America's worst public health crisis in decades," pertaining to America’s recent rise in opioid overdoses.

But what is an, "opioid?"

Opioid(s) – “Some of the most commonly abused pescription drugs, often used as a pain treatment… including; codeine, Tylenol (1, 2, 3 and 4), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan), morphine and others.”

Whereby, opiod overdoses were responsible for 50,000 American deaths last year and these statistics are the byproduct of an industry which according to “PharmeceuticalCommerce.com” will be worth 1.12 TRILLION DOLLARS in 2022 alone. Furthermore, this statistic is relatively unknown to the general public and even more alarming is that the finances behind these drugs currently sits at the pinnacle of vast government spending. And this whole scenario pertaining to America's dependence on RX troubles me personally for a variety of reasons.

But again, these are re-stated facts and I have some very strong opinions regarding these issues. First of all, how do these numbers effect other issues? Have drug overdoses surpassed automobile deaths as the number 1 cause of death in America? And how do prescription drug suicides impact; universal health care, obesity, social security and government spending? Whereby, I’ve written prior articles on suicide statistics in conjunction with food stamps and housing reforms but in my opinion... this dilemma pin points the need for food and housing reforms today. How does America sit by and do nothing when there were 50,000 fatalities solely due to opioid overdoses just last year! And that means that out of 350 million Americans roughly 1/70,000 died last year from a suicidal opioid overdose. Whereby, this statistic indicates to me an immediate need for this entire country to re-examine our values. Also, I believe that these statistics are gravely indicative of massive depression within the US, as well as the need for our government to spend more cautiously on prescription health-care costs.

Regardless, what are the solutions? Surely some people have benefited from these types of medications? Is this rash of suicides… caused by the drugs themselves? Or is this an offshoot of social stress and anxiety that is being created by corporate America, particularly in terms of honest Americans running themselves into the ground for bosses who don't give a **** about them? Or do people just suck? And isn’t that what the news should be reporting on?

But in all seriousness... I pose these questions because what are the solutions? And personally, I believe that the foremost solution is to simply rename these drugs. Whereby, I believe that the title of these drugs, “namely pain killers,” could be a big part of the problem itself. And in particular the term, “pain killer,” which to me seems more like a nefarious marketing ploy than a medicinal title at all! So how about, “nerve agents?”

Just a thought.

-William Larsen, Civilians News