This article first appeared in New Dawn Magazine issue 163, July-August 2017. © Brett Lothian.
Pharmaceutical Drugs: The Silent Epidemic
The use of
illicit drugs has been demonized for decades now, to the point now that when
the average person imagines a drug overdose, they immediately think of a young
person at a rave or worse, a junkie in some back alley lying stone cold with a
needle in their arm. But is this the reality? To an extent, yes, but it is far
from the whole picture. In Australia, accidental deaths from pharmaceutical
medications have doubled in the last decade, according to new statistics from
the Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF). Today, there are far more Australians
dying each year from pharmaceutical overdoses than from illicit drugs, in fact,
69% of all accidental drug related deaths, are caused by prescription
medication. As of the last few years, accidental overdoses accounted for more
deaths per year than the national road toll, with the number climbing to over
800 people a year. But why are there no major campaigns to reduce the
prescription drug toll?
Whilst the
national road toll is the excuse used to justify “road safety” cameras, which
are nothing but revenue raisers in reality, the national prescription drug toll
however offers no way for the government to make money from us. Some efforts
have been made to prevent people from what is known as ‘doctor shopping,’ which
is, people getting numerous prescriptions from different doctors, but that will
only effect a very small number of prescription drug users, namely those who
use prescription drugs illicitly or use illicit drugs also. Those people will
just satisfy their cravings through the black market, so very little will
change with that effort and the government knows it. Despite what the average
person may think, the vast majority of long term illicit drug users are quite
educated in their drug use, often knowing their drugs of choice and their
dangers far better than the supposed experts.
However,
the average prescription drug user, who are the vast majority of those dying
from all drug overdoses, are not educated at all about drugs, beyond the quick
30 seconds of advice given by the pharmacist when picking up their
prescription. Too many people assume that because a doctor prescribed them
their drug, that they must be safe, but this is all too far from the truth.
Some of the most insidious and addictive drugs known to man, are the drugs
prescribed by doctors, such as the opiates oxycodone, fentanyl, codeine and
morphine. Other prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines like Xanax can also
be just as dangerous as the more famous opiates. By contrast, the currently
illegal drug Marijuana, has never had one single death from overdose, ever.
But this is
not just an Australian problem, this is a western world problem. Drug overdose
is now the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with 52,404
lethal drug overdoses in 2015. Prescription opiate addiction is driving this
epidemic, with 20,101 overdose deaths related to prescription pain relievers,
opposed to 12,990 overdose deaths being related to heroin. You would think that
with so many people needlessly dying each year around the world, that this
epidemic would be addressed with at least a massive public education campaign,
to warn us against the dangers of prescription drugs, but alas, nothing. Could
it be that our leaders really care so little about this issue, or is it somehow
part of a greater agenda?
It could
simply be that the big pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyists, pay enough
in political bribes, ahem* donations, each year to keep this issue quiet. Or it
could be part of something far more evil, it could very well be that this is
just another part of the elite depopulation agenda. After all, it is the elite
who own the big pharmaceutical companies pushing these dangerous drugs, under
the veil of medicine. Also it is the big pharmaceutical companies paying Australian
doctors and nurses more than $64 million from April 2015 to April 2016, to
attend “educational events,” otherwise known as lavish holidays. In reality,
they are paid to prescribe us the drugs that are killing all too many.
References:
800
Australians die per year from prescription drug overdoses, experts say. By
Sarah Whyte
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-13/800-australians-overdose-on-prescription-drugs-per-year-experts/8443578
It’s time
we talk about the addiction killing more Australians than heroin and ice
combined. By Caitlin Bishop
http://www.mamamia.com.au/prescription-drug-overdoses/
Opioid
Addiction 2016 Facts & Figures. By The American Society of Addiction
Medicine
http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf
Drug
companies paying doctors millions, Medicines Australia report reveals. By Daniel
Burdon and Julia Medew
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/drug-firms-paying-doctors-millions-medicines-australia-report-reveals-20160901-gr6n2w.html
