To early to tell, but the opioid crisis may have claimed another life. This would be 2 Tenants that have passed in the last 6 months.

When is it going to stop???

when SOMEHOW the supply of the illegal opiod drugs is stopped.

It will stop when people put the suppliers in the ground.

There have been several need articles lately about the manufacturers, doctors, pharmacies,etc. who provide this endless supply. They do it for the money, plain and simple. Pure greed. Some politicians take money from them all to keep the supply moving. They are like roaches,all of them and it's always the same. Step in one and two are right there willing to take their place. That's why we will never be did of drugs and other vices. All you can do is keep stepping.

It is not reasonable to expect change to any large degree. I remember when I was young, if parents or society told you not to do something, you immediately wanted to do it twice. Smoking, drinking, pot, and more.

That's one thing--the rebeliousness of youth.

This opioid thing is something else, imho. It is deliberate by those who are profiting. Use to be, when you got hurt or had an operation, you took tylenol, aspirin or advil. Then came the oxy's because they "worked better". The manufacturers knew they were addictive. They knew. They didn't care. Everybody joined the party. Now, even little old grandma's around here get their monthly plus for pain then sell them for casino money. It's sickning.

HOO BOY.....Steve[TN] - I'm with you but I was just being too PC to not say it. Kinda like the gun issue. The G

UN hilled somebody....the SUV was out control and crossed the median.

Funerals are for the living, not the dead. I try to keep in mind the folks who are left to deal with the mess left behind when someone dies like this. Normal grief is bad enough: to deal with the infamy, shame, and burden of wondering "what might I have done to save this person..." Much worse. Lead with grace.

I am 100% in support of law enforcement. That said, laws against drug peddling and drug use isn't working.

Pain was added as the fifth "vital sign" in 1999 by the VA. Doctors and nurses were instructed to ask how much it hurt on a scale of one to ten, and treat accordingly as it was believed that managing pain made the patient heal faster...

In one of my meaner moments years ago, I proposed that law enforcement announce that they are putting some poisoned dope on the streets and then actually doing so. The thought was that a few deaths would deter people from using. How wrong I was.

yes, the gov't has made themselves responsible for those who choose that life....witness the explosion of the narcan pens carried by law enforcement.

Well thats job security for them.

I suppose. These folks will be back again the [addicts] so the medic and first responders have another run for the day.

Sorry Richard, I don't buy this statement: "Use to be, when you got hurt or had an operation, you took tylenol, aspirin or advil."

I was around in the "use to be". When I was 18 in 1978, I was given a huge bottle of Percodan when I had wisdom teeth pulled. Nobody that had surgery or had a broken bone was simply told to take Tylenol. Advil didn't exist yet. You got codene cough syrup paregoric for the runs.

What has changed is that now everybody who gets a boo boo can be declared "disabled" and can't work. They might legitimately need some strong pain relief for a week or so. But now, there is no reason butch up and go back to work.

5 years ago I don't believe that I was aware of anyone who had a relative or friend die of a heroin overdose. Perhaps people were uncomfortable talking about it then. It certainly has been in the news quite a bit recently. Definitely the number dying in Madison, WI has been increasing each year. I now know several people that had a relative, friend, or know of someone who has died of a heroin overdose.

I find it scary. There will be more crime, more cost to society, more early deaths.

I feel more sympathy for ones who had no rehab or AA or intervention of any kind. The ones that go through multiple rehabs and get nothing out of it and burn all their bridges, I don't feel bad for them.

I did a one person intervention on my brother about 7 years ago and he's been straight since. His sobriety is his doing, not mine.

Last year there was a story in the local paper about someone who was revived twice on the same day with Narcan. Then died the following week from an overdose. Talking with one of the cops I learned that he had been revived several other times.

Have a brother who is a suit in a hospital in Chicago. He is telling me that doctors reimbursement can be as high as 30% based on customer satisfaction.

A friend of the family is dying of cancer and in

horrible pain. Her oldest daughter is a opiod drug

addict. All she thinks of is herself. She even went

to her mother's house while the care taker ran an errand and stole her mothers entire bottle of pain med's.

It is a sad situation to see what these drugs do to people.

I hear a lot of rocks being thrown around this thread. What did Jesus say about rock throwing? Billy Joel?

I've read the Bible cover to cover, and Jesus never said you should throw rocks, and Billy Joel was soundly against it as well in 2 Hesitations Chapter 4. (wink)

Okay, joking aside, I don't think many people here are throwing rocks. Are we venting some frustrations with how opiods have become a problem in our society: yes...that's what I'm hearing at least.

Are we a godless society? No more so than the Canaanites who sacrificed children to Molech. Nothing new under the sun. I don't think God's goal was to create utopia in America, though a lot of folks seems to think that if we just passed enough laws and got prayer back "in the schools" then everything would be hunky dory. Side note: when did it ever leave?...my kids pray to themselves and with friends all the time...was it when the old school Marm got told she could lead corporate prayer from the front of the room? And which prayers: protestant, Catholic, Muslim, etc. Govt mandated prayer in school can take many forms...not all of which would be pleasing to me.

Should we legalize weed? I don't know. Seems like that's where a lot of folks begin, then when that high isn't good enough any more they go elsewhere. It's like extreme sports...once you conquer challenge 1...time to go on to the next level. "Level up" is a buzz phrase how for just such a way of living. That said, we now have some grand experiments among us to test. Let's watch Colorado for a few more years before we go 100% nation-wide. I honestly don't think it's the drug per se, but the reason behind WHY the person starts to take the drug in the first place. End the WHY, end the addiction before it begins.

Our county's lower end, near Philadelphia, is awash in heroin. Last year, 90 addicted babies were born in just one hospital.

I've wondered about just how many times someone will be "saved" with Narcan, only to go on to OD again and again, and finally die. Narcan is horrendously expensive. Better to give the Narcan once, and then require that the addict go into detox - it may even cause the state to break even if the detox is in-county and mandatory, a lock-in kind of thing. I'd rather see taxpayers dollars spent in that way.

As it is, they are simply given the Narcan again and again, and the taxpayers have to support the cost of the meds, the addicts, and their addicted helpless babies.

Sid wrote - "Are we a godless society? No more so than the Canaanites who sacrificed children to Molech. Nothing new under the sun. I don't think God's goal was to create utopia in America, though a lot of folks seems to think that if we just passed enough laws and got prayer back "in the schools" then everything would be hunky dory. "

I don't want to sound callous but I don't care, people have to make their own choices than live with those choices. These are perfectly healthy people who chose to kill themselves. Do you know how many people are stuck with horrible illness that they did nothing to contract that would give anything for a body that functioned like the one these drug addicts are ruining?

The Philippines has it right, shoot em.

I have two cousins that are on heroin/pills. Their is no solution they are very sick people who are best to just avoid.

If you want to offer sympathy offer it to the families they damage.

Wilma I know a number of ER docs, Narcan is in short supply now because the cops can administer it...and they waste it.

But my ER buddies will see the same heroin user come in 2-3 times a night, they shoot them up with Narcan and they head right back out to do some more.

They are a drain on the system after the first time they should just let them expire.