Topics in the News: Opioid
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Provide mental health care with two-cent opioid tax
Q: One in five Americans have some sort of mental illness. Many do not seek help due to stigma, cost, and lack of available services. What is your plan to address mental health? KLOBUCHAR: Number one, when you have insurance, we want to make sure
that mental health parity rules are in place. Secondly, I would make sure that we're investing in mental health. We have seen a 30% increase in suicides in this country in the last 15 years. Very, very sad. What does this mean? It means counselors
in school. It means having more mental health beds. And the way I would pay for all this, you know this big opioid settlement is coming in, I would put a two cents per milligram tax on opioids and use that money to pay for mental health, as
well as some other very set ways to pay for this. We can get this done with bipartisan support, but you need to have a president that isn't afraid to talk about it. And I'm talking about this all over the country, and I can't wait to get it done.
Click for Amy Klobuchar on other issues.
Source: CNN S. C. Town Hall for 2020 Presidential primary
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 7, 2020)
I sent drug users to jail, but the only answer is treatment
I led one of the most successful drug courts in the country. We didn't want to see repeat customers. If you don't want to see repeat customers, the only answer is treatment. Maybe you're referring to people who were dealing big time in drugs.
I felt that we should prosecute those people, but we owe it to the people of New Hampshire, had one of the biggest addiction rates in the countries and death rates when it comes to opioids, to explain how we will pay for the treatment and the bed.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 7, 2020)
Two-cent per milligram tax on opioids to fund treatment
There's going to be a federal settlement against opioid manufacturers. The evidence is overwhelming. We will get $40 billion in from that settlement, we can put a 2 cents per milligram tax on opioids that brings in another 40 billion.
Then you can close a hedge fund loophole that brings in $18 billion. And just like every other policy I've proposed, I have shown how I'm going to pay for it.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 7, 2020)
Take opioid profits and funnel them into treatment
I've heard heartbreaking stories from families here in New Hampshire that have been destroyed, torn apart by the opioid epidemic and you have to look at the companies that profited to the tune of tens of billions of dollars in profits of essentially
blood money. As President, we will take back those profits and put them to work right here in New Hampshire so that if you are seeking treatment, you have resources to be able to pursue it.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 7, 2020)
Safe injection centers & safe treatment centers for opioids
The government allowed this opioid epidemic to spread and we have to do everything in our power to make sure that if you are seeking treatment, you're not going to be sent to jail. We have safe injection and safe consumption sites for you.
If you have a family member who's struggling, you can refer them and know that they're not going to have criminal penalties as a result.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Joe Biden on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 7, 2020)
I got drug courts signed into law
I'm the guy that set up drug courts. I wrote it into law and it never got funded. On opioids, I'm the guy who's already begun to make a down payment.
In the Cures Act, I put in $1 billion to fight opioid addiction. Here's the deal. Those Chief Executive Officer of drug companies, they should not only be fined, they should go to jail.
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Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Elizabeth Warren on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 5, 2020)
Opioid crisis has stigma like AIDS & needs increased funding
q: How do you plan to address the opioid problem?WARREN: The estimate I've seen is that 193 people die every day from addiction and overdoses. [I realized two parts about] the opioid crisis and how much it looked like the AIDS crisis. One is a lot of
stigma, so people don't like to talk about it; people don't come for help. And the other part is, the resources we need, our federal government, was always just an hour late and a dollar short.
Q: N.H. has twice the national average of opioid deaths.
What is your plan?
WARREN: A little boy named Ryan White said that he had AIDS and Congress said, "This is it." We put the resources into the research, and brought down the number of deaths. Why not do the same thing with the opioid crisis?
And that is put in the real resources. It will take a lot of money, about $10 billion a year for the next 10 years. But think of what we're losing every day. The best estimate is it's costing us $50 billion a year, this crisis. Put the money in.
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Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 5, 2020)
Take billions from drug companies to fix opioid crisis
This opioid epidemic is a plague that our government facilitated, essentially. Purdue Pharma dispensed millions of OxyContin prescriptions, marketing as a non-addictive wonder drug, to the point where there were more opiate prescriptions in the state of
Ohio than there were human beings in the state of Ohio, at one point. And our government signed off on that and said "that's okay."So the question is: How are you going to help your people actually get off of these drugs? First you have to get back
all the blood money from Purdue Pharma and the other drug companies. Take all the billions of dollars away and say "This is going to be a down-payment on treatment."
The second thing you have to do is say to our people, "Look, this is not an
individual failing; this is a plague that our government essentially helped happen. It's a plague of hyper-capitalism run amok. And if we catch you struggling with drugs, we are going to refer you to counseling and treatment and not to a prison cell."
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Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
Joe Biden on Opioid:
(Health Care Feb 5, 2020)
Tax capital gains at bracket levels to pay for health plan
Q: The Affordable Care Act has been gutted, most notably the individual mandate. BIDEN: I'm going to restore the cuts, reduce out-of-pocket expenses and premiums, and add a Medicare option for those who want it. If you have private insurance, and
you like it, keep it. If they cancel the policy, you can buy into the Biden plan. I'm adding $1 billion for dealing with drug abuse and opioids. I can pay for it by making sure people pay their capital gains at whatever their tax rate is.
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Source: CNN N. H. Town Hall on eve of 2020 N. H. primary
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Dec 3, 2019)
Create safe opioid injection sites to prevent overdoses
I would not only decriminalize opioids for personal use, but I would also invest in safe consumption sites around the country. I was talking to a paramedic in
New Hampshire who talked about if you saved an addict one week, you'd be back saving that same addict the following week because after you're caught with a drug, there's no place for you to go.
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Source: Breitbart.com blog on 2019 Democratic primary
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Nov 7, 2019)
Fines and judgements to fund treatment of opioid crisis
Andrew's first step is to decriminalize personal use amounts of opioids so that individuals can be referred to treatment instead of arrested and placed in jail. After that, utilizing fines and judgments against the
companies that created this epidemic, we should fund treatment centers and give everyone who needs it access. The government was complicit in this, and so Andrew believes we have a moral duty to address it.
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Source: USA Today on 2019 Democratic primary
Tom Steyer on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 15, 2019)
72,000 died from opioids last year; that's a health crisis
Q: How would you address the opioid epidemic?Steyer: Well, I think this is one of the most heartbreaking experiences that America's had. 72,000 people died of opioid overdoses last year, and that's not only a tragedy for them, it's a tragedy for
their family and their communities. And so I think we have to treat this as a health crisis. We have to move the resources and the support there to try and help people. The reason I'm running for president is that we have a broken government,
and we have a broken government because corporations have bought it.
Q: What would you do about "broken government"?
Steyer: Every single one of these conversations is about that broken government. It's about drug companies buying the government
and getting what they want. We need to break the corporate stranglehold on our government. I've put forward actual structural changes, including term limits, a national referendum, the end to the idea that corporations are people.
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Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Bernie Sanders on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 15, 2019)
Opioid manufacturers profited & knew their products killed
Take a look at this opioid epidemic. You have the executive CEOs of major pharmaceutical companies making tens of millions of dollars a year, and they knew that they were selling a product which was addicting people and killing them.
Last year, the top 10 drug companies made $69 billion in profit. This is what unfettered capitalism is doing to this country, and it's not just the drug companies. That is why we need a political revolution that says enough is enough to th
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Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Beto O`Rourke on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 15, 2019)
Decriminalize opioids; legalize marijuana
I remember a veteran telling me that he bought heroin off the street because he was originally prescribed an opioid at the VA. Imagine that veteran instead had been prescribed marijuana, because we made that legal in America, ensured the
VA could prescribe it, and made sure that he was not prescribed something to which he would become addicted. Drug addiction is not a problem for the criminal justice system. They're an opportunity for our public health system.
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Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Julian Castro on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 15, 2019)
Send high-level executives to jail for opioids & corruption
Sen. Kamala HARRIS: I think of this as being a matter of justice and accountability, because they are nothing more than some high-level dope dealers. The eight biggest pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies last year profited $72 billion on the
of people that have been overwhelmed by this crisis, which is a public health epidemic. They should be held accountable. Let's end that failed war on drugs and go after these pharmaceutical companies for what they've been doing to destroy
CASTRO: They need to be held accountable, not only financially, but also criminal penalties. You know, you can draw a straight line between making sure that we hold executives accountable,
whether it's these drug manufacturers or Wall Street executives that should have been held accountable a decade and a half ago.
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Source: October Democratic CNN/NYTimes Primary debate
Joe Biden on Opioid:
(Health Care Jul 31, 2019)
I have only plan limiting insurance companies
Sen. Kamala Harris: Under your plan, you do nothing to hold the insurance companies to task for what they have been doing to American families.Biden: I have the only plan that limits the ability of insurance companies to charge unreasonable prices,
flat out, number one. Number two, we should put some of these insurance executives who totally oppose my plan in jail for the $9 billion opioids they sell out there.
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Source: July Democratic Primary debate (second night in Detroit)
Tom Steyer on Opioid:
(Health Care Jul 10, 2019)
Open Medicare to all who want it
Health care: Pursue a single-payer health care plan, and crack down on pharmaceutical companies. In a 2018 speech, Steyer said he supported "opening Medicare to all who want it." Steyer said in 2017 that he was in favor of a single-payer health care
system. Steyer also criticized pharmaceutical companies for profiting off of drug sales and spurning the deadly opioid crisis. In 2017, he supported a California bill that would require drug manufacturers to provide notification of price increases.
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Source: PBS News Hour 2019 coverage of 2020 Democratic primary
Cory Booker on Opioid:
(Drugs Jun 26, 2019)
Opioid manufacturers should be held criminally liable
Q: Should pharmaceutical companies that manufacture [opioids] be held criminally liable?A: They should absolutely be held criminally liable, because they are liable and responsible. We have been seeing how we've tried to arrest our way out of
addiction for too long. It is time that we have a national urgency to deal with this problem and make the solutions that are working to actually be the law of our land and make the pharmaceutical companies that are responsible help to pay for that.
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Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Beto O`Rourke on Opioid:
(Drugs Jun 26, 2019)
Opioid manufacturers should be held to account
Despite what Purdue Pharma has done, their connection to the opioid crisis and overdose deaths that we're seeing throughout this country, they've been able to act with complete impunity and pay no consequences, not a single night in jail. Unless there's
accountability and justice, this crisis will continue. We will hold them to account. We will make sure that they pay a price, and we will help those who've been victims of this malfeasance in this country get them treatment and long-term care.
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Source: June Democratic Primary debate (first night in Miami)
Howie Hawkins on Opioid:
(Drugs May 28, 2019)
Drug abuse treatment should be available on demand
Our campaign is about ending the war on drugs and mass incarceration. We call for the legalization of marijuana and the decriminalization of other drugs on the model of the Portuguese harm reduction policies. Drug abuse is a health problem, not a
criminal problem. Criminalizing opioids contributes to the carnage of fatal overdoses. Addicts need help, not incarceration. Drug abuse treatment should be available on demand.
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Source: Declaration of Candidacy for the Green Party Nomination
Howie Hawkins on Opioid:
(Drugs May 19, 2019)
Big Pharma pushes addictive opioids for profit
Big pharma has failed to serve the public interest as a profit-oriented industry. It has gouged consumers with monopolistic pricing. Its business model is centered on pushing addictive opioids and patent-protected
medicines for chronic conditions. It has abandoned research and development of less lucrative short-term treatments, notably for antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
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Source: 2020 Presidential Campaign website HowieHawkins.us
Elizabeth Warren on Opioid:
(Health Care May 8, 2019)
$100 billion in multi-faceted program on opioid addiction
Opioid crisis: Proposed a $100 billion plan over the next 10 years to fund first responders, public health departments and states for prevention and rehabilitation services.
Warren fired shots at Big Pharma and Congress for choosing "greed" over the best interest of the American public.
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Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Drugs May 5, 2019)
Fund treatment & mental health with opioid tax
That means enough beds in this country for people with mental health problems if they're facing a crisis. That means doing something about our mounting suicide rate for farmers, for veterans, for LGBTQ youth. That means actually putting the
money into treatment. I have a proposal for [a] 2 cents-per-milligram fee on these opioid pharma companies that have made tons of money off the backs of people who got addicted. You can also use it for these other drugs, as well as mental health.
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Source: CNN SOTU 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Drugs May 3, 2019)
Opioid manufacturers should help fund treatment
She released a $100 billion plan to combat mental health problems and substance abuse over the next decade. Her plan focuses on prevention, treatment and ongoing recovery. Klobuchar wants a chunk of the money to come from opioid manufacturers for
their role in the national epidemic. She co-sponsored a bill that would impose a one-cent tax for each milligram of opioids in a pain pill. The funds for the tax would then be used for substance abuse treatment.
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Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
Mike Gravel on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 9, 2019)
Legalize & regulate all drugs, including opioids
According to the top Nixon aide John Ehrlichman, The War On Drugs started as a way to criminalize African-Americans and the anti-war left: and it worked. By bringing this war to an end, we will be able to remove the roadblocks that prevent addicts from
getting help and end the pattern of selectively-enforced felony drug convictions that oppress the poor and marginalized. By criminalizing users and dealers at every step, we offer no alternative but the needle.The United States should: -
Remove marijuana from the list of drugs on the Controlled Substance Act and add an amendment to the Constitution to ensure that it is fully legal nationwide.
- Increase funding for drug treatment programs dramatically.
- Free all nonviolent drug
offenders and expunge their records.
- Decriminalize, legalize, regulate, and tax all drugs, including opioids. No amount of criminalization actually stops drug use, and so we need to provide safe alternatives to shady dealers and laced products.
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Source: 2020 Presidential campaign website MikeGravel.com
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 7, 2019)
Legalize marijuana; pardon marijuana-related offenses
Marijuana legalization: Yang pledged to legalize marijuana and pardon all non-violent drug related offenses, then later clarified in an interview with
George Stephanopoulos that he would only pardon marijuana-related offenses. Yang said he would still decriminalize opioids.
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Source: Axios.com "What you need to know about 2020"
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 7, 2019)
Pardon non-violent drug offenders, focusing on marijuana
[VIDEO CLIP]: YANG: And I would pardon everyone who's in jail for a non-violent drug related offense. I would pardon them all on April 20th, 2021 and I would high five them on the way out of jail. [END CLIP]Q: That include cocaine dealers, opioid
dealers?
YANG: I would decriminalize opioids, but in that particular segment I was referring to marijuana related drug offenses specifically
Q: So only marijuana, not all non-violent drug offenders.
YANG: Yes, that's correct.
Click for Andrew Yang on other issues.
Source: ABC This Week 2019 interview of presidential hopefuls
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 2, 2019)
Drug companies and medical system produces opioid addicts
Over 2 million Americans are dependent on opioids, and an additional 95 million used prescription painkillers in the past year--more than used tobacco.People often think of opioid addiction as originating with prescription painkiller use. OxyContin
hit the market in 1996 as a "wonder drug," and Purdue Pharma, which was fined $635 million in 2007 for misbranding the drug and downplaying the possibility of addiction, sold $1.1 billion of painkillers on 2000. An army of drug dealers in suits marketed
addictive opioids to doctors, getting paid thousands to do it.
Now many opioid users have graduated to heroin. One common pattern of addiction is that people use prescription painkillers for pain relief or recreationally as a party drug--they grind
them up and sniff them for a euphoric high that lasts for hours.
Our drug companies and medical system have produced hundreds of thousands of opioid addicts who are now heroin users buying from dealers. Heroin dealers have become ubiquitous.
Click for Andrew Yang on other issues.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.135-6
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 2, 2019)
Drug companies and medical system produces opioid addicts
Over 2 million Americans are dependent on opioids, and an additional 95 million used prescription painkillers in the past year--more than used tobacco. People often think of opioid addiction as originating with prescription painkiller use. OxyContin
hit the market in 1996 as a "wonder drug," and Purdue Pharma, which was fined $635 million in 2007 for misbranding the drug and downplaying the possibility of addiction, sold $1.1 billion of painkillers on 2000. An army of drug dealers in suits marketed
addictive opioids to doctors, getting paid to do it.
Now many opioid users have graduated to heroin. One common pattern of addiction is that people use prescription painkillers for pain relief or recreationally as a party drug--they grind them up and
sniff them for a euphoric high that lasts for hours.
Our drug companies and medical system have produced hundreds of thousands of opioid addicts who are now heroin users buying from dealers. Heroin dealers have become ubiquitous.
Click for Andrew Yang on other issues.
Source: The War on Normal People, by Andrew Yang, p.135-6
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 29, 2019)
War on Drugs has not worked: treatment instead of punishment
Opioid addiction is rampant in our country. In 2016, more than 11 million Americans misused prescription opioids and 2.1 million had an addiction to heroin, fentanyl, and other opioids. This is a public health crisis, and the top priority has to
be getting Americans well. Many Americans are not seeking treatment because they are afraid of life-destroying criminal penalties. We need to remove the stigma of an addiction that literally millions of Americans are struggling with.
The War on Drugs has not worked. We need to give more American families and communities a real chance to get well, and we need to evolve from a punitive approach that does not serve the public.
If you are caught with a small amount of drugs, we should refer you straight to treatment, not a prison cell.
Click for Andrew Yang on other issues.
Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
Andrew Yang on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 29, 2019)
Decriminalize small quantities of opioid use and possession
As President, I will...Drastically increase funding to treatment programs for opioid users, through fines levied against the companies that marketed these drugs. - Decriminalize small quantities of opioid use and possession.
-
Make treatment programs much more available and affordable to anyone found with small quantities of these drugs.
- Provide grants for their own treatment programs to states that decriminalize small quantities of opioid use/possession.
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Source: 2020 presidential campaign website Yang2020.com
Tulsi Gabbard on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 10, 2019)
End failed war on drugs, opioid addiction is medical crisis
We must end this failed war on drugs. I introduced bipartisan legislation that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana. This will have a great impact on the opioid crisis. In states where marijuana is legalized, we have seen a drop in opioid
addiction, and a drop in opioid-related deaths. This will have an impact on our economy in so many different ways, as well as taking a huge bite out of our broken criminal justice system, where far too many nonviolent drug offenders are wasting away.
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Source: CNN Town Hall on 2020 Democratic presidential primary
Amy Klobuchar on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 18, 2019)
Opioid companies should fund addiction treatment
There is just not enough funding going into addiction. I see it as a money saver in the long haul, because so many times when people get hooked, they end up committing crimes.Why don't we pay for it by getting money from the very drug companies that
got people addicted in the first place? We have a bill right now, the LifeBOAT Act, where we put a fee on those companies that are selling the opioids to help pay for treatment. I'd like to see the Trump administration get behind that.
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Source: CNN Town Hall: 2020 presidential hopefuls
Pete Buttigieg on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 12, 2019)
Focus on opioid treatment options, not just defining problem
Sometimes, knowing more doesn't help. At a tech conference, I saw a pitch from a startup that would automatically detect patterns of opioid use by scanning for trace amounts in the sewage. The technology is brilliant, and may do a great deal of good in
some places. But in South Bend, our problem wasn't knowing how much opioid use was prevalent in this neighborhood compared to that one; it was the lack of mental health and addiction resources to deal with the issue wherever we found it.
Financing a project to tell us more about the problem could even come at the expense of treatment options, which are grossly underfunded in our country and state health systems.
In cases where we have ample means to fix a problem, then we only need to find it. The rest of the time, reporting an issue is necessary, but not sufficient, for resolving it.
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Source: Shortest Way Home, by Pete Buttigieg, p.189
Donald Trump on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 5, 2019)
MS-13 gangs in 20 states smuggle in meth & opioids
Tens of thousands of innocent Americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities--including meth, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl.The savage gang, MS-13, now operates in 20 different American States, and they almost
all come through our southern border. Just yesterday, an MS-13 gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting in NYC. We are removing these gang members by the thousands, but until we secure our border they're going to keep streaming back in.
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Source: 2019 State of the Union address to United States Congress
Bill de Blasio on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 10, 2019)
Sue Big Pharma for opioid addiction; open overdose centers
We're not afraid in this town to take on the big corporations. So we sued the big pharmaceutical companies for peddling addiction, for helping to create the opioid crisis.We're going to fight to get the resources we deserve back from those
companies, so we can help New Yorkers. But nonetheless, with the tools at hand today, we're stemming the tide of overdose deaths. We are opening overdose prevention centers anyway. Because there is no wrong way to save lives.
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Source: 2019 State of the City address
Kamala Harris on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 8, 2019)
Opioid crisis requires emergency mobilization
In 2017, the administration declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, but the fund they used to deal with it had only--I kid you not--$57,000 in it. That represents less than one dollar for each person who died of a drug overdose that year.
It's unconscionable. This is a crisis that deserves a major federal mobilization. We need to declare a national state of emergency, which would provide more funding, right away, to help combat this disease--more resources to pay for addiction
treatment, hospital services, skills training, and more.
We need to make sure that people who are addicted have access to medication-assisted-treatment (MAT)--drugs like buprenorphine which prevents withdrawal symptoms and cravings without producing
the kind of high that heroin or OxyContin does. Many insurance companies will cover the cost of opioids while charging more than $200 a month for buprenorphine. That has to change. We have to change it.
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Source: The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris, p.206-7
Deb Haaland on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 20, 2018)
Addiction counseling/treatment centers need full funding
[AJ]: What should be done at the federal level to address the crisis of opioid addiction? [DH]: We need Medicare For All so everyone has access to health care. We must fully fund addiction counseling and treatment centers; encourage pharmaceutical
manufacturers to create a profit model that is less reliant on opioids; and legalize cannabis on a federal level or allow for regulation on a state-by-state basis. Cannabis has been effective for treatment of pain and anxiety rather than opioid.
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Source: Albuquerque Journal coverage of 2018 NM-1 House race
John Kasich on Opioid:
(Drugs Aug 1, 2018)
Longer prison sentences for fentanyl-related offenses
Gov. John Kasich signed into law a bill imposing longer prison sentences for "merchants of death" dealing fentanyl. Kasich's signing of Senate Bill 1 increases prison sentences for drug offenses involving fentanyl-related compounds, with those convicted
potentially facing more felony time for trafficking, possession and funding of trafficking involving the deadly synthetic opioid that has fueled a spiral of fatal overdoses.The bill lowers the amounts required to trigger escalating levels of felony
penalties, keeping offenders in prison longer. "We're sending a message ... they're going to go to prison for a very long time," Kasich said.
Drug dealers convicted as major drug offenders in fentanyl-compound cases face additional mandatory prison
terms of three to eight years. In some cases, the penalty for permitting drug abuse involving fentanyl will increase from a first-degree misdemeanor (a maximum of six months in jail) to a fifth-degree felony (up to a year in prison).
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Source: Columbus Dispatch on Ohio legislative records: Senate Bill 1
Marianne Williamson on Opioid:
(Drugs Jul 24, 2018)
Opioid crisis results from pharma companies drugging America
The most significant drug stash in America is in our collective medicine chests. America has become a legally ordained drug culture.
Legal, though not necessarily morally legitimate, pharmaceutical company campaigns have set out to drug America, with far too many doctors as their willing accomplices.
Our opioid crisis is one of the results, as the most common "gateway drug" to opioid addiction is a legal pharmaceutical.
We drop antidepressants today as though they were candy. Over 2 million of our young people under the age of seventeen are now taking them. Human suffering has been turned into a profit center for corporate interests.
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Source: Healing the Soul of America, by Marianne Williamson, p.172-3
Donald Trump on Opioid:
(Drugs May 7, 2018)
Melania's "Be Best": focus on well-being & opioid abuse
Melania Trump revealed a new platform for tackling multiple issues relevant to American children. "I am very excited to announce Be Best, an awareness campaign dedicated to the most valuable and fragile among us--our children," Trump said. "There is one
goal to Be Best--and that is to educate children about the many issues they are facing today."Trump said Be Best would have three main areas of focus: well-being, social media use and opioid abuse. "Let us teach our children the
difference between right and wrong, and encourage them to Be Best in their individual paths in life," Trump said.
Saying she first learned about "the real consequences of our nation's opioid epidemic" during her husband's White House bid,
Trump told the crowd she intends to "work with those who are fighting drug addiction."
President Trump was on-hand for the initiative's launch. As his wife looked on, Trump signed a "Be Best" proclamation, declaring Monday as "Be Best Day."
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Source: Forbes Magazine on 2018 Trump Administration
Donald Trump on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 19, 2018)
Execute drug dealers to fight opioid epidemic
Pres. Trump spelled out in new detail several steps he favors to fight an epidemic of opioid abuse, including the execution of drug dealers, a proposal that has gained little support from drug abuse and judicial experts.Trump unveiled an anti-opioid
abuse plan, including his death penalty recommendation, new funding for other initiatives and stiffer sentencing laws for drug dealers. He said the US must "get tough" on opioids. "And that toughness includes the death penalty," he said. Neither Trump
nor the White House gave further details as to when it would be appropriate to seek the death penalty.
Trump said that he was working with Congress to find $6 billion in new funding to fight the opioid crisis. The plan will also seek to cut opioid
prescriptions by a third over 3 years by changing federal programs, he said.
Addiction to opioids--mainly prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl--is a growing problem, especially in rural areas. 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: Reuters in The Metro on 2018 Trump Administration
Donald Trump on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 30, 2018)
Tougher on drug dealers to end scourge of opioids
[My border security] reforms will support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses: 174 deaths per day. Seven per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers
if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge.My Administration is committed to fighting the drug epidemic and helping get treatment for those in need. The struggle will be long and difficult--but, as Americans always do, we will prevail.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: 2018 State of the Union address
Cory Booker on Opioid:
(Drugs Apr 1, 2017)
Opposes Drug War, but control border for opioid precursors
BROKEN PROMISE: : Booker had adopted a strongly progressive stance on drugs -supporting medical marijuana; supporting treatment instead of incarceration for drug possession; opposing drug enforcement is racially biased; and opposing the
War on Drugs in general. He "evolved" and signed on to the War on Opioids, seeking international treaty restrictions on opioid precursor trafficking. ANALYSIS: : Some progressives and minority voters would consider the "opioid epidemic"
just the latest application of biased enforce-ment, and would expect Booker to apply his racial-bias philosophy to a general rejection of drug enforcement. Booker would differentiate opioids as more dangerous than marijuana -
which critics would say follows in the scare-tactic footsteps of Demon Rum and Reefer Madness. Booker's proposed border interdiction above is a standard proposal of Drug Warriors--just involving international institutions as a novel feature.
Click for Cory Booker on other issues.
Source: Cory Booker 'Promises Broken,' by Jesse Gordon, p. 30
John Kasich on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 30, 2017)
No mixed message: don't do opioids & don't do marijuana
Gov. John Kasich said he doesn't think Ohio's new medical marijuana program will help mitigate the state's opioid crisis, though recent studies indicate otherwise.Kasich was asked at a news conference announcing new opioid prescription limits
what role medical marijuana might play in addressing the growing number of opiate overdose deaths in Ohio. Kasich said telling kids not to do drugs but that marijuana is OK sends a mixed message. "I know it's not recreational marijuana, not
recreational use, but I don't see a role for it in this at all," Kasich said.
Studies have shown opioid overdoses and deaths have decreased in states that allow medical marijuana, which is far less addictive and lethal. Republicans and Democrats cited
the opioid crisis as a reason to pass Ohio's medical marijuana law last year.
"I don't like the whole thing -- medical marijuana," Kasich said. "It got passed because somebody was going to have a broader law."
Click for John Kasich on other issues.
Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer on 2018 Ohio gubernatorial race
Stacey Abrams on Opioid:
(Drugs Mar 30, 2017)
Add fentanyl to list of criminalized opioids
HB 213: Updates the Georgia Code to include the drug fentanyl alongside morphine, opium, and heroin. Individuals convicted of felony drug trafficking of
fentanyl would be subjected to the same punishments as trafficking those other drugs. MY VOTE: YES
Click for Stacey Abrams on other issues.
Source: 2018 Georgia governor campaign website StaceyAbrams.com
Bernie Sanders on Opioid:
(Drugs Nov 15, 2016)
Opioid treatment instead of locking them up
We cannot jail our way out of health problems like mental illness and drug addiction. Our country is facing an opioid crisis, both in terms of prescription pain medicine abuse and heroin addiction. People are dying every day from overdoes.
But the solution is not to lock up addicts. We have to treat substance abuse as a serious public health issue rather than a criminal issue, so that all people--regardless of their income--can get the help they need.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: Our Revolution, by Bernie Sanders, p. 381-2
Donald Trump on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 9, 2016)
Apply resources to stop the inflow of opioids into America
Q: How would your administration address the growing opioid problem?TRUMP: We first should stop the inflow of opioids into the United States. We can do that and we will in the Trump administration. As this is a national problem that costs
America billions of dollars in productivity, we should apply the resources necessary to mitigate this problem. Dollars invested in taking care of this problem will be more than paid for with recovered lives and productivity that adds to the wealth and
health of the nation.
CLINTON: I have proposed a $10 billion initiative, and laid out a series of goals to help communities across the country. We need to expand the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant and support new
federal-state partnerships targeting prevention, treatment, recovery, and other areas of reform. Finally, we must prioritize rehabilitation and treatment over prison for low-level and non-violent offenders.
Click for Donald Trump on other issues.
Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race
Hillary Clinton on Opioid:
(Drugs Oct 9, 2016)
$10B to prevent quiet epidemic of drug & alcohol addiction
Q: How would your administration address the growing opioid problem?CLINTON: Our country is in the grips of a quiet epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction. To combat America's deadly epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction, I have proposed a
$10 billion initiative, and laid out a series of goals to help communities across the country. We need to expand the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment block grant and support new federal-state partnerships targeting prevention, treatment,
recovery, and other areas of reform. Finally, we must prioritize rehabilitation and treatment over prison for low-level and non-violent offenders. Jail time should not be a substitute for treatment. Working together, we can combat this epidemic and
ensure that people across the country are getting the care they need to live long and healthy lives.
TRUMP: We first should stop the inflow of opioids into the United States. We can do that and we will in the Trump administration.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: ScienceDebate.org: 20 questions for 2016 presidential race
Bill Weld on Opioid:
(Drugs Jul 7, 2016)
Tighten opioid prescription rules to keep them off streets
Q: What about regulation of opioids? Do you favor any of the steps that have been taken recently by the FDA and others to tighten the distribution of opioids and pain medication?JOHNSON: Tightening leads to abuse. The tightening of these restrictions
by the FDA ends up criminalizing the activity and these products do kill people.
WELD: You're referring to trying to get less Oxycontin flooding the market?
Q: Yes.
WELD: That's a good idea.
JOHNSON: The reality is that you end up depriving some people of the real need to relieve their pain so it ends up criminalizing a lot of activity. I wish there were alternatives to the opioids, which marijuana does fill that role, and that would be
a safer [way].
WELD: Maybe that's your answer. I think what Gov. Charlie Baker has been working on in Massachusetts [establishing a 7-day limit on first-time opioid prescriptions] is a good model. It's along those same lines.
Click for Bill Weld on other issues.
Source: Washington Post interview of Johnson & Weld on 2016 election
Elizabeth Warren on Opioid:
(Drugs Feb 13, 2016)
Legalizing marijuana will reduce opioid deaths
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to explore the use of medical marijuana as an alternative to the powerful opioid painkillers that kill thousands of people each year. In a letter to CDC chief
Tom Friedan, the Massachusetts Democrat also asks the agency to look into "the impact of the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana on opioid overdose deaths."
Click for Elizabeth Warren on other issues.
Source: Washington Post on 2016 Veepstakes: "Legalizing marijuana"
Elizabeth Warren on Opioid:
(Crime Feb 3, 2016)
Unfair: Kid in trouble for petty theft; CEO steals billions
It's not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions. It's not equal justice when someone hooked on opioids gets locked up for buying pills on the street,
but bank executives get off scot-free for laundering nearly a billion dollars of drug cartel money." Warren said it is time for Congress to pass criminal justice reform easing the severe sentences for nonviolent offenses.
Click for Elizabeth Warren on other issues.
Source: Huffington Post on 2016 Veepstakes: "Justice rigged"
Hillary Clinton on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 17, 2016)
$1B per year to help states with opioid epidemic
Q: Despite an estimated trillion dollars spent, many say the war on drugs has failed. What would you do?CLINTON: Everywhere I go to campaign, I'm meeting families who are affected by the drug problem that mostly is opioids and heroin now, and lives
are being lost and children are being orphaned. So I have tried to come out with a comprehensive approach that does tell the states that we will work with you from the federal government putting more money, about a billion dollars a year, to help states
have a different approach to dealing with this epidemic. Police officers must be equipped with the antidote to a heroin overdose or an opioid overdose, known as Narcan. They should be able to administer it. So should firefighters and others.
We have to move away from treating the use of drugs as a crime and instead, move it to where it belongs, as a health issue. And we need to divert more people from the criminal justice system into drug courts, into treatment, and recovery.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2016 NBC Democratic debate
Bernie Sanders on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 17, 2016)
Pharmaceutical companies are responsible for opioid epidemic
Q [to Clinton]: Would you continue the war on drugs?CLINTON: The federal government [should spend about $1 billion] to help states: Police must be equipped with the antidote to an opioid overdose. We have to move away from treating the use of drugs as
a crime and instead as a health issue. And we need to divert more people from the criminal justice system into drug courts.
SANDERS: I agree with everything the Secretary said, but let me just add this: there is a responsibility on the part of the
pharmaceutical industry and the drug companies who are producing all of these drugs and not looking at the consequence of it. And second of all, when we talk about addiction being a disease, the Secretary is right, what that means is we need a revolution
in this country in terms of mental health treatment. People should be able to get the treatment that they need when they need it, not two months from now, which is why I believe in universal healthcare with mental health, as part of that.
Click for Bernie Sanders on other issues.
Source: 2016 NBC Democratic debate
Mike Pence on Opioid:
(Drugs Jan 12, 2016)
Confront the growing epidemic of drug abuse
We must support new ways to confront the growing epidemic of drug abuse and addiction. Let's pass stiffer penalties on those who sell these poisons to our kids. But we cannot just arrest our way out of this problem. We have to make
sure families have more options for treatments. Two new laws will help: Aaron's Law allows healthcare providers to make an antidote for opioid overdoses available, and The Jennifer Act allows Medicaid to cover inpatient detoxification.
Click for Mike Pence on other issues.
Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Indiana legislature
Hillary Clinton on Opioid:
(Drugs Dec 19, 2015)
$10B plan for opiate addiction over 10 years
Heroin is a major epidemic. I've heard some great ideas about how law enforcement is changing its behavior, how the recovery community is reaching out. I've laid out a five-point plan. I would like the federal government to offer $10 billion over ten
years to work with states. We need to do more on the prescribing end. There are too many opioids being prescribed, and that leads directly to heroin addiction. We need more programs, so when somebody is ready to get help, there's a place to go.
Click for Hillary Clinton on other issues.
Source: 2015 ABC/WMUR Democratic primary debate in N.H.
Page last updated: Mar 02, 2022
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