Opioids: The Drug Industry (and Congress) Triumph Over The DEA

[G_j]

An investigation by the Washington Post and 60 Minutes

https://apple.news/AKn_BqtxFRXSHd0lrtL467g


BY SCOTT HIGHAM AND LENNY BERNSTEIN

In April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress effectively stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon against large drug companies suspected of spilling prescription narcotics onto the nation’s streets.

By then, the opioid war had claimed 200,000 lives, more than three times the number of U.S. military deaths in the Vietnam War. Overdose deaths continue to rise. There is no end in sight.

A handful of members of Congress, allied with the nation’s major drug distributors, prevailed upon the DEA and the Justice Department to agree to a more industry-friendly law, undermining efforts to stanch the flow of pain pills, according to an investigation by The Washington Post and “60 Minutes.” The DEA had opposed the effort for years.

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The chief advocate of the law that hobbled the DEA was Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican who is now President Trump’s nominee to become the nation’s next drug czar. Marino spent years trying to move the law through Congress. It passed after Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) negotiated a final version with the DEA.

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The new law makes it virtually impossible for the DEA to freeze suspicious narcotic shipments from the companies, according to internal agency and Justice Department documents and an independent assessment by the DEA’s chief administrative law judge in a soon-to-be-published law review article. That powerful tool had allowed the agency to immediately prevent drugs from reaching the street.

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[G_j]

1. Kick for significance

[G_j]

2. Investigation into Congress's ties to the drug industry shows everything people hate about Washingto

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2018/10/15/this-investigation-into-congresss-ties-to-the-drug-industry-lifts-the-curtain-on-everything-people-hate-about-washington/


Two popular villains in politics are the subject of a new Washington Post investigation: Congress and the pharmaceutical industry.

The deeply reported story by Scott Higham and Lenny Bernstein, in partnership with “60 Minutes,” latches Congress and drug companies so closely together on a piece of opioid legislation that it raises some big questions, including: How much industry involvement in crafting legislation is too much? And is Congress doing enough to address the nation's prescription drug epidemic, or, have lawmakers, at the behest of drug companies making billions off addictive pain killers, potentially made it worse?

Higham and Bernstein report that in April 2016, at the height of the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history, Congress stripped the Drug Enforcement Administration of its most potent weapon to keep prescription narcotics from going straight from major drug companies to the nation's streets.

The law took away the DEA's ability to freeze suspicious shipments from drug companies, shipments the agency was concerned were on their way to the wrong hands.

..more.,

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Why Sessions declared a war on marijuana. Can't make a war against the big drug companies. That's

free market capitalism.

[G_j]

4. Manchin calls on Trump to withdraw Marinos nomination as drug czar in wake of Post/60 Minutes pro

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/manchin-calls-on-trump-to-withdraw-marinos-nomination-as-drug-czar-in-wake-of-post60-minutes-probe/2017/10/16/b73ee1be-b287-11e7-be94-fabb0f1e9ffb_story.html


Congressional Democrats reacted sharply Monday to reports that President Trump’s nominee to serve as the nation’s drug czar helped steer legislation that made it harder for the government to take some enforcement actions against giant drug companies.

One Democratic senator called on Trump to withdraw the nomination of Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position requiring Senate confirmation. Another quickly introduced legislation to undo the law that Marino championed and that passed Congress with little opposition.

In a statement, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) said he was “horrified” to read details of an investigation by The Washington Post and “60 Minutes” that detailed how a targeted lobbying effort helped weaken the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continue to rise. He called on Trump to withdraw Marino’s nomination.

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5. 'best' government money can buy

[Johnny2X2X]

6. 4th friend this year last night

Just found out this morning a friend died of an overdose last night. 4th one in a year.

These aren't bad people who are scum. Normal everyday working folk who ended up addicted to pills and then had to get heroin when the pills were gone simply to avoid being sick.

Something has to be done.