America's White People Are In Deep Shit

[Strickland33]

There has been a direct correlation between the amount prescription drugs get prescribed and the number of overdoses. Saying it isn't correlated is like trying to argue CO2 isn't causing global warming.

To me this isn't about white vs black or whatever, drug overdoses have never been as prevalent as they are today. This is a major problem that has gotten totally out of control, and needs to be addressed. Our current policies are clearly not working.

It's not like poor white people are the only demographic abusing and overdosing on smack either.

FWIW, I'm primarily responding to your framing of this as a poor white problem. Drug abuse, addiction, and death has been a public health nightmare since the mid 1970s. The framing of drug addiction as a white non-urban problem has actually been far better for policy attention, IMO, than past framings of drug addiction as a non-white urban problem.

ETA: Arguing over appropriately PC messaging (ironically) also doesn't really do anything for the victims...

 

[myDeaconmyhand]

, and liberals don't care because they vote republican, awesome.

Complete bullshit. You probably shouldn't read so much into a few people trolling you on a message board. Democrats have been major proponents of law enforcement and emergency professionals carrying Narcan, pubic funding for drug rehabilitation, banning the box, and Opiate prescription regulation. My very liberal wife works in a related field to this topic.

 

[PhDeac]

There has been a direct correlation between the amount prescription drugs get prescribed and the number of overdoses. Saying it isn't correlated is like trying to argue CO2 isn't causing global warming.

To me this isn't about white vs black or whatever, drug overdoses have never been as prevalent as they are today. This is a major problem that has gotten totally out of control, and needs to be addressed. Our current policies are clearly not working.

It isn't about white vs black? Drug ODs have been far too prevalent for far too long. Drugs have been a major problem that have gotten worse due to the "war on drugs" and other conservative leaning policies that aren't working.

 

[ThinkingWithMyDeac]

Some numbers. The death rate from drug overdoses has been steadily climbing since 2000. The split use to be 6 deaths per 100,000 for all drug overdose with 3 deaths per 100,000 related to opioids. This figure is now 15 per 100,000 for all deaths and 8 per 100,000 related to opioids. The ratio has almost stayed the same but drug overdoses in general have skyrocketed.

Within the opioids themselves synthetic and natural opioids was the leading killer with a 3 to 1 margin but over the last 5 years heroin has caught up and represents a 1 to 1 ratio with natural opioids. The overall drug overdose crisis hits males harder representing 60% of cases to 40% for females, with a fairly uniform age distribution of 25 to 65 year olds. Breaking up drug overdose deaths by race reveals 80% white, 10% black, and 8% Hispanic. (77%, 12%, 17% is the breakdown in the population, so pretty much in alignment by population, an everybody problem not a white/black problem). Also unsurprising the biggest drug overdose problem is located in the south representing 36%.

 

[Strickland33]

What did these numbers look like in 1985/90?

ETA: or, if you have a source, then I can look them up myself.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

this thread is moving quickly so hopefully not a repost but did anyone see this super depressing story about opiate addicted newborns?


Report finds skyrocketing rate of babies going through opiate withdrawal

Huntington, West Virginia (CNN)The high-pitched, inconsolable screams of babies born dependent on heroin and other opiates echo across the otherwise quiet facility.

The babies also shake, vomit and suffer from diarrhea. But it is their shrill screams that caretakers find so heart-wrenching.
"When they are born, because they're no longer being exposed to an opiate, they're going to go through withdrawal. That is what we deal with. We deal with babies going through withdrawal," said Dr. Sean Loudin, the medical director of a neonatal therapeutic unit at Cabell Huntington Hospital and a separate facility called Lily's Place.[/quote}

 

[PhDeac]

So like crack babies?

This stuff is sad. No doubt. Let's not act like it's brand new.

 

[Strickland33]

So like crack babies?

This stuff is sad. No doubt. Let's not act like it's brand new.

This. In crying racial bias, Catamount ironically identified the racial bias at play here. Hopefully policy makers will advocate healing rather than locking up addicts and victims this time around.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

So like crack babies?

This stuff is sad. No doubt. Let's not act like it's brand new.

no, but this is relevant to the conversation about opiates.

 

[forensicdeac]

Some numbers. The death rate from drug overdoses has been steadily climbing since 2000. The split use to be 6 deaths per 100,000 for all drug overdose with 3 deaths per 100,000 related to opioids. This figure is now 15 per 100,000 for all deaths and 8 per 100,000 related to opioids. The ratio has almost stayed the same but drug overdoses in general have skyrocketed.

Within the opioids themselves synthetic and natural opioids was the leading killer with a 3 to 1 margin but over the last 5 years heroin has caught up and represents a 1 to 1 ratio with natural opioids. The overall drug overdose crisis hits males harder representing 60% of cases to 40% for females, with a fairly uniform age distribution of 25 to 65 year olds. Breaking up drug overdose deaths by race reveals 80% white, 10% black, and 8% Hispanic. (77%, 12%, 17% is the breakdown in the population, so pretty much in alignment by population, an everybody problem not a white/black problem). Also unsurprising the biggest drug overdose problem is located in the south representing 36%.

Does your source not consider heroin a non-synthetic opioid since it quickly metabolizes in the body to morphine, the original natural opiate? I consider synthetics to generally be drugs like tramadol or fentanyl. I know it's symantics in this discussion but it could greatly skew the numbers for arguments sake.

One drug trend we are seeing now is the addition of fentanyl and its analogs to heroin. Since they are way more potent than heroin itself, users are overdosing when taking their normal dosages. It's becoming quite an epidemic in areas.

 

[Strickland33]

no, but this is relevant to the conversation about opiates.

Did you read Catamount's posts? Or, really, any of the posts that came prior to twmd's numbers post? It's absolutely a relevant discussion. It would be a tragedy for the government to declare opiate abuse as a target of public health intervention without a consideration of those addicted to other dangerous (and prevalent) narcotics.

 

[TownieDeac]

So like crack babies?

This stuff is sad. No doubt. Let's not act like it's brand new.

This. In crying racial bias, Catamount ironically identified the racial bias at play here. Hopefully policy makers will advocate healing rather than locking up addicts and victims this time around.

Guys. All lives matter. I've been told a million times.

 

[ThinkingWithMyDeac]

What did these numbers look like in 1985/90?

ETA: or, if you have a source, then I can look them up myself.

Most of this stuff is CDC archive reports, but I don't know how easily accessible that is to the general public. The main problem with 80s and early 90s is drug deaths were classified as drug poisoning deaths a more over encompassing category. Also if you are looking for a non government response based on race the lack of confirmation of say crack death reporting from the 80s will be a problem. Anyways some numbers.

Number of drug related deaths was only 6,100 in 1980, was 36,500 in 2008 when this report ends. Opioids were 4000 of deaths in 1999 and in 2008 were 14,800. Over that time in 1980 poisoning from drugs was 56% of poisoning deaths but now is 89%. Drug death is the leading cause of death in 30 states by 2008. Drug death rates have remained the same outside of opioids over the 10 year period 99-08. With non-opioid deaths hovering between 10-12,000 while opioids deaths shot from 4,000 to 14,000 and continued to climb.

Now probably the information you were hinting at, where im sure the numbers are worse for the 80s but in 1999 the death rates for Hispanics was 5.5, white 6.1, and black 7.5. In 2008 those numbers were 5.9 Hispanic, 14.7 white, and 8.5 black. So if you want to say the drug overdose crisis and drugs in general have been a problem for decades you would be correct. Also if you wanted to say politicians only started to care and put more emphasis because the numbers for white people skyrocketed you would also probably be correct.

Finally, like I usually emphasize we are a reactionary society, the problem has been known for years, even the changes in white rates has been known the last 15 years but we are only reacting now, the usual for problems that people say are happening or going to occur. So instead of spending the money before the problem got worse, we waited and look what we have now.

 

[Strickland33]

So if you want to say the drug overdose crisis and drugs in general have been a problem for decades you would be correct.

Also if you wanted to say politicians only started to care and put more emphasis because the numbers for white people skyrocketed you would also probably be correct.

Finally, like I usually emphasize we are a reactionary society, the problem has been known for years, even the changes in white rates has been known the last 15 years but we are only reacting now, the usual for problems that people say are happening or going to occur. So instead of spending the money before the problem got worse, we waited and look what we have now.

Yeah, this is what I was looking to substantiate. Thank you for looking into the data. Your last paragraph is that policy lesson that it seems like we'll never quite grasp as a society, much to the detriment of just about everybody in society.

 

[PhDeac]

Being proactive requires spending money on a problem that some don't even think exists.

 

[Strickland33]

Being proactive requires spending money on a problem that some don't even think exists.

This isn't directed at you, but why are we talking about opinions and feelings when there are non-partisan data that articulate the problem?

 

[Coach O]

Curious where bkf stands on this issue

 

[PhDeac]

This isn't directed at you, but why are we talking about opinions and feelings when there are non-partisan data that articulate the problem?

Because people believe opinions and feelings over data.

I recently got into a Facebook discussion with a family friend who claimed that unemployment data was a "smoke screen fueled by an agenda." She said, "omething does not become true because someone crunching numbers publishes it. Truth is proven and supported by the results of our daily living. Real people, real life scenarios don't fit in a flow chart."

I had to explain to her that something true for all Americans collectively may not be true for all Americans individually.

 

[WFcatamount22]

Did you read Catamount's posts? Or, really, any of the posts that came prior to twmd's numbers post? It's absolutely a relevant discussion. It would be a tragedy for the government to declare opiate abuse as a target of public health intervention without a consideration of those addicted to other dangerous (and prevalent) narcotics.

Why? It seems like it is by far the biggest problem as far as overdoses go. Obviously all drug addictions should be treated as a public heath issue, but we have to start somewhere right? I think not treating someone like a criminal who is addicted to drugs is a good start, regardless of what race they are.

 

[PhDeac]

This isn't something new. It's already started. There are plenty of people already locked up for their drug addiction.