Opioid Abuse and Death in America

In 2015, opioid related deaths hit a record of just under 33,100.  That was more than all the deaths related to heroin and cocaine use, combined.  It's only 2000 deaths short of the number of motor vehicle fatalaties in that same year. The principal reason for this problem is over-prescribing by doctors.  Still, they continue to prescribe these drugs to at-risk individuals, and the rate of deaths  keeps climbing at an uncontrolled rate and accelerating; nearly tripling since 2002:

In this country, ground zero for this problem is Maryland and its largest city Baltimore.  The rate of opioid-related hospital admissions in Maryland in 2014 was 362 per 100,000 citizens. Substantially higher that the average of 225 per 100,000 for all of the United States.  But, the real problem is Baltimore and the 977 admissions per 100,000 citizens.  A serious issue in that city is that hospital emergency rooms are not permitted to treat opioid addiction for low income users.   As a result, the only time one of these individuals is admitted to an emergency room is after it is too late and that person has already overdosed.

Because of the frequency of opioid deaths in the state, Maryland's Governor has declared a state of emergency.  And now, President Trump has created a commission to study and recommend changes to control what is now an epidemic.

References:

Opioid overdose deaths just jumped again: http://www.businessinsider.com/opioid-overdose-death-statistics-2016

Motor Vehicle Deaths by Year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year

CDC: Physicians are a leading source of prescription opioids for the highest-risk users: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0303-prescription-opioids.html

Opioid users filling Maryland hospital beds and emergency rooms: http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/maryland-health/bs-hs-opioid-hospitalizations-20170106-story.html

Source of Graph: CDC: Overdose Death Rates: https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

Maryland governor declares state of emergency for opioid crisis: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/hogan-declares-opioid-state-of-emergency/2017/03/01/5c22fcfa-fe2f-11e6-99b4-9e613afeb09f_story.html?utm_term=.de5d84a4c375

Opioid Epidemic: Trump to Set Up Commission on Addiction Crisis: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/americas-heroin-epidemic/opioid-epidemic-trump-set-commission-addiction-crisis-sources-say-n739861
 
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Tasers Aren't Always Non-Lethal

After reading an article about a 56-year old man being tasered 5 times by the Los Angeles police, who subsequently died, I wondered how often people do die from police tasers each year.

According to the website, the Counted, 49 people died from a taser in 2015.  And, as of this writing,  a lesser trend of 16 people have died so far this year.  Another website claims 634 deaths occurred from the period 2001 to 2014.  Altogether, a total of 699 people have been documented to have died from being tasered since 2001.

The truth is that tasers can cause death by creating a cardiac arrhythmia; followed by cardiac arrest, and sometimes death.

Possibly, the lower number of fatalities this year may be due to less aggressive policing.  But, the truth is that tasers aren't necessarily non-lethal.

References:

Dead in an hour: Video shows LA cops tasering grandfather who died in jail: https://www.rt.com/usa/356589-police-taser-dead-jail/

634 Taser-Related Deaths in the United States Since 2001: http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2009/05/taser-related-deaths-in-united-states.html

The Counted: People Killed by Police in U.S.: Classification: Tasers: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4551919160687115242#editor/target=post;postID=3399841268420051068

Taser Safety Issues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taser_safety_issues

Biden: "Bin Laden is Dead and GM is alive!" GM alive?

As of this writing and since the beginning of the year, GM has recalled 15.4 million vehicles.  To put it into perspective, that's the equivalent of recalling every single vehicle it sold in the U.S. in the last 5-1/2 years; or, just about as long as Obama has been in office.  I heard this sarcastic comment on television the other day: "Are there any cars left to recall?" 

Throughout the 2012 election cycle, we heard this slogan from Joe Biden while hyping Obama's first term in office: "Bin Laden is dead and GM is Alive!"  Well, that was long before years of hidden, widespread defective production and its related deaths and injuries all came to light.

Today, GM 's bottom line is being heavily impacted by the cost of repairing all these trucks and cars.  Yet to come are the settling of hundreds of potential lawsuits.  But, more importantly, all the recalls are painting GM vehicles as both defective and unsafe.  That kind of bad publicity could very easily hurt sales and, potentially, drive the company towards bankruptcy once again.  To say GM is alive might be quite a stretch.

Maybe Biden's new slogan should be: "Bin Laden is dead and so are some GM owners!" And, well...  While Bin Laden might be dead, his legacy -- Al Qaeda -- continues to grow.

Yes, Joe Biden's uber-intelligence just proves he should (?) be our next President!  Please, Joe, run!  You're every conservative's dream.

References:

U.S. safety watchdog says 303 deaths linked to recalled GM cars: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-gm-recall-casualties-idUSBREA2D02U20140314

Al Qaeda controls more territory than ever in Middle East: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/07/opinion/bergen-al-qaeda-terrority-gains/

GM recalls another 2.6 million vehicles, doubles second-quarter charge: https://news.yahoo.com/gm-recalls-another-2-42-million-vehicles-doubles-154144232--sector.html

GM Auto Sales Numbers: http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/119647/Record-2013-Sales-for-GMs-Chevrolet

Bodies Doubled

There's an old saying: "There are as many people living today as have lived and died before us." Or, in other words, there are, today, as many people who have died and are buried as there are walking this earth.

Once the human race decided to formalize the death of someone by having funerals and dedicated burial spots, it set into motion the potential that more real estate will be owned and occupied by the dead than is available for the living. We're aren't hardly there yet but, the United Kingdom has got themselves in a sticky-wicket when it comes to burying their dead. In some places, like London, they're literally out of room.

To resolve this sort-of "standing room only" problem, they're looking to "stack" their dead in a kind of "re-organization" process. For the dead person that has been chilling for more than 75 years below ground and has no known living relatives and is just taking up space, so-to-speak, it means they are eligible for new dead-in partner. It's sort of a grave-for-let system. It starts by digging up the old remains and that original hole is then deepened. Following that, the original occupant is re-buried at the new lower depth. Finally, a new stiff is slapped on top of the original occupier and the hole is all tidied back up. Hopefully, they'll both get along. Wherever they might be.

The news article that covered this (See Full Story), never really got into how the new grave will be marked. I suppose the new occupant will get top billing since either he or she is the only one left with visiting family members.

If any one has ever seen the ancient catacombs in Italy or France, they would have seen the bones of thousands of dead stacked neatly in the many cubby holes of those extensive underground labyrinths. The catacombs were a result of the poor not having the money to buy the land they needed to bury their dead; so, the wealthy of that time donated this space on their own lands (tax deductible, I'm sure.). Today, we rely on land that was previously purchased by the deceased, or by his/her family and dedicated for their burials. Those that can't afford the literal thousands that it costs to die, wind up in unmarked, publicly-funded potter's graves.

At some point in our, I hope, distant future, some kind of return to the days of the catacombs will have to occur. Albeit, not as dank. In a way, the columbaria of today are a step in that direction. Don't be surprised that at some point in the future, the cremation of the dead and the columbarium-type of storage will have to be mandated by the governments of the world's most developed cities because there will simply be no more space for dedicated burials. When that happens, rich and poor, alike, will finally achieve equality on this earth. Just mark my words. That is, if we live that long.

Image by watchsmart's photostream on Flickr with Creative Commons Licensing. All rights retained. (Click to View Other Works).

The Death of Death in Iraq

Apparently, "our" national media isn't interested in any "good news" coming out of Iraq. Especially in an election year when that news might hurt the Democratic candidate for President. So, instead, you have to go a United Kingdom's press organization, Reuters, to get the skinny on the fact that the United States and coalition military deaths in Iraq have "plunged" (See Full Story). Not just fallen. Plunged!

And, it isn't "only" that there have been so few deaths. There hasn't even been a single U.S. military death since July 17th; 13 days straight! Looking at the tail end of July, one might actually think the war is over. And, it might just be!

When our military was dying by the day, our national media (like the Associated Press and the New York Times) were literally frothing at the mouth to get the news out. It was daily, front-page event. Now, when a month looks to be ending with barely any deaths, they are silent. I think that is totally dishonest.

While, the amount of casualties is low this month, it doesn't mean that our troops are safe. Violence could very easily swing back up. And, as my title might imply, death may not be over. However, there has been a substantial drop in military deaths with each passing month since the Troop Surge began. Only occasionally is that fact even mentioned by our own national press.

Image by tstadler's photostream on Flickr with Creative Commons Licensing (Click to View Other Works).

The Now "Quiet" War

If you watch the headlines like I do, you would know that something is missing; and, it has been missing for nearly a year. That "something" is the constant drumbeat of headlines about the death and failed operations in Iraq. Ever since the "Surge" began, things have quieted down in Iraq. So far this month, 14 U.S. soldiers have been killed in twenty-one days. That's down from the pre-Surge days when any given month saw between 80 and 120 deaths per month or more.

One of the reasons that the U.S. deaths are down is because the Iraqi Army is finally able to step up to the plate and take over operations from the American military. A perfect example of this was this morning's story about the Iraqi Army moving into Sadr City (on their own) to secure and insure a cease fire/truce in that area. They were able to move in, unabated, against the Mahdi Militia who had threatened the area since April (See Full Story).

Another reason for the "quietness" of the War in Iraq is the fact that the people of Iraq are fed up. They are fed up with killing of their own by foreign entities like Al Qaeda and the Iranians. As a result, they are working with the Iraqi forces and the United States military to "turn in" weapons caches and foreign fighters.

Because Iraq has been moved off the front pages and off the headlines of the national news, Americans have now focused on other issues in this election cycle. In poll after poll, the importance of the once-first-place Iraq War has been moved to at least second place behind the economy. This just shows the power of the news media to formulate the thinking of Americans. Of course, rarely are there any "headlines" by the left-leaning media that would indicate how "improved" things are getting in Iraq. That's because the media is still in the mode of showing the "worst" in Iraq as a means of getting a Democrat elected as President. And, because it appears the "worst" is over, the Iraq War has now become the "Quiet" war. At least from the headline standpoint.

Note: The above graphic comes from Icasualties.org which provides an accurate daily tracking on the death toll and casualties in Iraq.