On the assembly line to addiction

Fentanyl is a street drug that continues to kill people across the North State.

Recently the news has been about drug companies having to pay billions of dollars in fines for their conspiracies with some well-known pharmacies and doctors to “assist” millions of Americans to become addicted. And for years the Veterans Administration had a policy — the Vets suffering PTSD, prescribe them Opioids.

Humans are vulnerable to addictions. Teenagers are very vulnerable. Someone who is 18 or over who makes the decision to start using a drug, many dying in a hospital or on the streets, some will claim that it is their own fault. However, the North State and the rest of America have too few drug rehabilitation facilities. At least some communities have Methadone Clinics that replace heroin allowing people to function in daily lives. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars to go after drug cartels and community dealers but that dents little.

Most fentanyl comes into America via regular border check points by American citizens. And the drug addiction in America which leads to the death of almost 500,000 Americans annually is tobacco. Alcohol addiction is the highest and like opioids each kill close to 100,000 Americans annually. You can purchase tobacco and alcohol anywhere. While society preaches not to drink and drive most bars have parking lots.

Disposable vapes are the latest addiction toy by the tobacco industry to get kids on the “Assembly” line of decades of using tobacco.

— Bob Mulholland, Chico