Jobs for Opioid Users

[jaxind]

Just watched NBC News last night, and there was a segment about a small company (in Maine, I think), where the owner is hiring ex-opioid users to give them a chance at earning a living, and having a life because no one else will hire them. Wonderful...I bet there isn't one person in this country that doesn't admire the owner for doing this. But, I just want to point out the irony that if this same owner were offering jobs to black people on welfare, how many people would be out there saying that offering these black people a job, is not fair because they don't deserve it?? When it's troubled white people getting offered a job, it's a hand-UP. But, how many people want to bet that if it's a job being offered to troubled black people, it would be considered an unworthy hand-OUT?!

[tymorial]

1. It's interesting that you think the opioid crisis only effects white people

It's even more interesting that you take a good thing and turn it into a blunt weapon. I understand what you are trying to say and you do have a point. You however made it poorly in my opinion.

[Demsrule86]

3. It is true...number one...and actually has a basis in racism in my opinion. Why so snarky

about this post? I think the OP makes a good point and said it well... and if it had started in the Black community, it is my opinion that it would have been ignored.

"KOLODNY: So our new opioid addiction epidemic is sparing African-American and Latino communities, and it's striking when you look at the data. Whether you're looking at overdose deaths or emergency room visits for opioid use problems or treatment admissions for opiate addiction, it's very clear that this epidemic is overwhelmingly white. And it begs the question, why? I can share with you a theory, and it is a theory that's based on evidence.

Something that we do know is that doctors prescribe narcotics more cautiously to their non-white patients. It would seem that if the patient is black, the doctor is more concerned about the patient becoming addicted, or maybe they're more concerned about the patient selling their pills, or maybe they are less concerned about pain in that population. But the black patient is less likely to be prescribed narcotics, and therefore less likely to wind up becoming addicted to the medication. So what I believe is happening is that racial stereotyping is having a protective effect on non-white population.

https://www.npr.org/2017/11/04/562137082/why-is-the-opioid-epidemic-overwhelmingly-white

[Demsrule86]

2. You are right. I remember my Dad telling me about one of his companies in DC...he put an ad in

for a janitor. The job paid well my Dad believed in decent wages. This was during the late 70's probably or early 80's...at the height of the welfare queen bullshit...more than 1500 people lined up for a chance at that job...mostly people of color as it was DC. It changed my Dad's opinions. He was a Rockefeller Republicans who eventually left the party and voted Democratic as he got older. He had a picture of people lined up...wish I could find it and post it...but we are moving and stuff is packed. His business partner (who was bought out eventually) wanted to hire a White man who had a record of drinking as the story goes and little experience. My Dad refused and hired the best man for the job as he saw it ...Mr. Johnson. A person of color who kept things running (could fix anything) for years. He became a friend in time to all of us including the kids...a decent hardworking guy who sent everyone of his children to college thanks to this job and other side jobs. years later, he had a heart attack while at work and died too young. I have never seen a bigger funeral nor a more diverse one...he had friends from all walks of life and of all colors. Having a man like this in my life as a teen. We talked about tons of stuff...he told me about what it was like to live under Jim Crow and some of his experiences. ( I worked for Dad as a teen) This shaped my views and made me a better person.