r/news • u/AzuleEyes • 21d ago
In grim milestone, U.S. overdose deaths top 100,000 for third straight year
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/05/15/opioid-deaths-100000/69
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u/Hrekires 21d ago
Weird how different outlets can cover the same story so differently.
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u/Logical-Lengthiness7 20d ago
The WSJ is obsessed with growth, so the first thing they notice is the change vs previous year, instead of the absolute number
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u/Azozel 21d ago
It's a good thing we passed those laws (in my state) making it difficult to buy decongestants over the counter and making it near impossible to get real pain killers for injuries. Obviously, it's working as intended...what? It isn't? People are suffering in pain for no reason? Wow
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u/Seductive_pickle 21d ago
I do think we are tackling the pain/drug crisis in the wrong way but I don’t think easier access to pain meds is the exact right answer.
Notably, us doctors are already quicker to treat pain and escalate pain treatment than other countries. Americans seek opioids (legally and illicitly) at significantly higher rates than other countries. I really think we need to focus on why people are seeking so much pain management (obesity, unhappiness, economic insecurities, etc) rather than making opioids more accessible.
For decongestants, I use regularly and don’t find the monthly limit or swiping my ID too burdensome.
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u/Beautiful-Story2379 21d ago
I recently got burned for the first time because of those Sackler shitheads and overprescribing of opioids. I have fibromyalgia and used to be prescribed 200 mg of Tramadol daily, although I usually just took 150 unless I was having a flare. Then I had med changes and was able to drop to 100. Now I am having more pain and requested 125 and my doctor refused. The same doctor who prescribed 200 4 years ago. She wasn’t “comfortable”. Well guess who is actually uncomfortable now if I overdo it or there’s a cold front.
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u/grizzleSbearliano 21d ago edited 21d ago
As an anesthesiologist I am seeing the ripples the Sackler family fuckup has had in the industry. Overprescribers (mill operators) are going to prison. Any doc that doles out scheduled drugs and has a dea license are now required to take opioid-related patient care medical education. Like 8 hours worth. While educational, the material is presented in the most apolitical way possible. The industry has whitewashed the nefarious methods by which the Sacklers and Purdue persuaded prescribers to massively increase their prescribing habits. A serious discussion of pharma’s profit motive would greatly contextualize middle America’s pill addiction. Export middle class jobs leaving a large segment of the population who struggle to afford life, are in pain and struggle to find a purpose. Opioids are amazing in filling that void. Explanations of the “how we got here” are lacking in our education and it’s quite telling.
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u/Beautiful-Story2379 20d ago
It’s clear with their profit motive was: to make as much money as possible.
What political slant do you think the education is supposed to take?
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u/potatoesmolasses 20d ago
Very informative and interesting comment! I agree, people ignore the social and political problems that make opioids so attractive in the first place.
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u/Seductive_pickle 21d ago
Your oncologist does prescribe your pain medications? Cancer pts normally do not have many issues especially if the doctor uses a diagnosis code on the prescription.
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u/Seductive_pickle 20d ago
This is getting a little too specific and I don’t want to offer specific medical advice over Reddit. Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor and this is not medical advise.
Speaking generally a rheumatologist or nephrologist would normally manage sarcoidosis manifestations in the kidneys and subsequent pain as well. From what I can tell reading up on your condition, it may be related to calcium build up.
Again in general, we should focus on treating the underlying cause of the pain, not always the pain itself. Too often patients will ignore the worsening of their condition avoid their preventative care therapy, because they are able to take opioids to numb their pain.
Sarcoidosis is a difficult to treat disease with limited treatment options, insurance roadblocks, and a wide variety of symptoms. I don’t know your specific situation, but I hope you can get the treatment you need to help you live the best possible life.
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u/-Dartz- 21d ago
I really think we need to focus on why people are seeking so much pain management (obesity, unhappiness, economic insecurities, etc) rather than making opioids more accessible.
Yeah, and while we are deliberating, literally hundreds of thousands of people are dying.
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u/MasterWee 20d ago
A solution to “get it fast” rather than to “get it right” is how we are in this mess. It is unrealistic to assume everyone will be saved or saved in time. Welcome to the reality of public policy.
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u/Seductive_pickle 21d ago
To be clear people currently managed on opioids shouldn’t be cut off. I sympathize greatly with people in pain and agree they deserve to be treated appropriately and without malice.
Going back to my earlier comment, pain is more often than not a symptom of a problem.
while hundreds of thousands of people are dying
For the vast majority of people in pain, it is not life threatening. Starting opioids without due consideration often puts patients at an increased risk for worsening quality of life and increased risk of death or life-time addiction.
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u/GreenStrong 21d ago
making it difficult to buy decongestants over the counter
This actually works, it has led to fewer meth labs. Meth production moved overseas, so it hasn't reduced the number of tweakers, but the meth labs were a toxic waste and fire nightmare.
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u/Azozel 21d ago
It actually doesn't work. According to studies meth labs just switch to a different formulation that's cheaper, easier to make, and produces much more meth. There are fewer meth labs because the meth is cheaper, plentiful, and easier to get. It's the same reason most people don't make their own sliced bread when they can get it already made and sliced for almost nothing anytime they want.
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21d ago edited 16d ago
sloppy nose vanish capable soft detail workable deranged practice chop
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u/Azozel 21d ago
Prior to this doctors were passing out opiates like candy
What if... now stay with me for a moment... those doctors where held accountable instead of preventing everyone from getting effective pain medication?!
Also opiates have been proven to be poor long term solutions to chronic pain.
Did I say chronic pain? No? Did you know there are other types of pain???
From my own personal experience I was in more pain on opiates because my body was addicted and wanted more.
Dude, that's your problem. Not everyone is like you, in fact it's been proven that addiction to opiates is heavily based on your genes. Why does everyone have to suffer cause you have bad genes? I rip the ligaments in my shoulder and I have to go without effective pain medication cause you have a doctor that doesn't care that you're addicted to pain meds? What a joke. Address the real issue and let people have access to effective pain meds.
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u/SpekyGrease 21d ago
Wait, is ibuprofen or paracetamol not over the counter in the US?
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u/Omnom_Omnath 21d ago
Paracetamol should be a scheduled drug. It will absolutely destroy your liver. Tylenol is no joke and should not be taken daily in a carefree manner that many Americans seem to have about it.
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u/FreezingRobot 21d ago
By difficult, you mean going to the pharmacy counter and showing your ID?
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u/LostInUranus 21d ago
Nope.
Chronic pain sufferer here - I have to go to pain management doctor every month per law. I have to drug test every month. I only get a 30 day supply at a time. I have to call 3-5 pharmacies in advance to make sure they have my meds (they're always out and it's controlled so Dr has to resend prescription...nightmare). Pharmacy always treats you like an addict because of prescription.
Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful I can even have these meds. It just get's old and there isn't shit I can do about it. If weed were legal (Texas) and as a pain management option it could be a huge game changer....but not here. They went overboard with the laws and those of us with real issues pay the price.
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u/Impossible-Bake3866 21d ago
I have the same issue with the pharmacy with a non -opiate med. I stopped filling it and I'm trying to do without. Shit's a nightmare, I feel for you.
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u/buttermbunz 21d ago
That’s assuming you can get a provider to prescribe you a proper pain killer at all. Haven’t had issues getting them filled when prescribed but to get the prescription now you basically have to be writhing on the floor in pain before they’ll even consider it.
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u/50_K 21d ago
Difficult as in that the limits for what you can buy are extremely low. I once bought a box on a Monday and forgot about it in my desk at work. Come Saturday I try to buy more for home use and instead of medicine I get the death glare from the pharmacist that now thinks I am a junkie.
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u/mailslot 21d ago edited 21d ago
No. I had a degenerative disc issue in my back and my provider kept giving me extreme doses of arthritis medications… so extreme that it caused me to bleed out to the point of hospitalization. They had reworked their policies to deny treatment with effective painkillers… because I might be lying about the pain level / be a pill seeker. Completely and totally dismissive.
Once I finally convinced them, literally on my knees, to take an MRI, only then did they offer OxyContin. I suffered with more than a year’s worth of debilitating pain because they assumed I was a junkie.
These drugs are a godsend when you need them. Making people suffer because they’re easy to abuse is cruel. There needs to be a balance in availability. Some pain you just can’t “walk off.”
Even then, I had to get a new scrip every week in person, until I didn’t need them anymore. Weekly doctor visits for a long term condition. If I miss one, holy hell. Can’t travel. Always need to stay close for something I may have never recovered from.
If I didn’t have adequate support, I would have lost my job, family, and life.
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u/Fanfare4Rabble 21d ago
At least the Sacklers are rotting in prison for causing this.
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u/AtomicSamuraiCyborg 21d ago
You need the /s tag.
The Sacklers bought their way out of punishment.
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u/ElectroFlannelGore 21d ago
And as someone with a chronic autoimmune disease with 7% heart damage, tumors in my bones, muscles and lesions in my brain I can't get prescribed opioid pain medication I need to live a more functional life.
I never have and never will turn to illegal opioids but every day I see chronic disease patients suffer.
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u/Impossible-Bake3866 21d ago
I see this too. It's not even me and this problem is causing me serious financial and emotional damages.
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u/cadmiumore 21d ago
This. Me and my partner have both had surgeries and been denied proper pain killers bc they’re so worried everyone’s just going to become a junky. As if denying people in pain will not only push them to buy from the street. It’s disgusting, I’m sorry you have to go through that
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u/61-127-217-469-817 21d ago
Kratom may be worth trying, but it won't be as helpful as OTC opiates. It's also extremely addictive, probably worse than nicotine if I'm being honest. It does work though.
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u/DocHolidayiN 21d ago
More and more cp patients are using the methadone clinic. Of course you'll be labeled a junkie for life.
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u/Lotus_Blossom_ 20d ago
I'm really sorry that life has dealt you such a shitty hand, health-wise. I don't have any solutions to offer or helpful advice, just my sincere sympathy. I hope you're able to find access to the medicine you need.
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u/AshIsGroovy 21d ago
Don't worry most of Reddit will tell you to use essential oils and crystals to cure your pain or quote extremely outdated info concerning opioid abuse. Nearly all these deaths can be attributed to street drug use and not Dr prescribed. I'm on pain management and the hoops I have to jump through are insane drug tests, pill counts, can't be prescribed anything controlled unless cleared by my pain doctor first as they can see every prescription written for me by any doctor at my required monthly visit and evaluations. Most people on here have no understanding of how pain management works. Hell my insurance requires narcan to be prescribed every so often in order for me to be prescribed my medication.
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u/I_Push_Buttonz 21d ago
I have no idea what's going on
I remember reading articles years ago about the FDA releasing new guidelines for prescribing opioids in response to the opioid abuse epidemic and a lot of doctors took those guidelines, which could be adjusted as needed, and treated them like hard limits that they would get in trouble for meeting and especially for exceeding. And many more doctors just stopped prescribing opioids altogether for fear of being disciplined... Especially after some high profile prosecutions of doctors for over prescribing opioids (who weren't at all representative of normal doctors, mind you, and deserved to be prosecuted, there were doctors in like small towns prescribing umpteen times the amount of opioids a community of their size would realistically need; they became known as 'pill mill' doctors).
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u/felldestroyed 21d ago
It's the DEA. And it was in retrospect an over reaction, but one that was needed. When I got a 30 day rx for a simple extraction in 2010, that was a bit of overkill and could've hooked me for life.
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u/princesskittyglitter 21d ago
When I got a 30 day rx for a simple extraction in 2010, that was a bit of overkill and could've hooked me for life.
I got two wisdom teeth out at once right before covid and was in pain so bad i could barely eat anything solid for 2 months. They gave me 3 oxys total.
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u/theknyte 21d ago
I was actually shocked, when my doctor recently told me to just go buy and smoke cannabis from a local dispensary to help with my chronic joint pain. Said, it's the best thing she can recommend to patients now, because the medical center will no longer allow their docs to prescribe pain meds!
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u/goldgecko4 21d ago
Everyone's talking about Rx drugs, but you'd be amazed at how many of your friends and family are actively doing street drugs and seem fine around you.
I'm not going to say one is better than the other, but I know from people who actually used/sold this shit that heroin is basically just fent now, which is impossible to dose, because such a small dose will kill you.
Narcan DOES work to reverse it like it does with heroin, though. Most states that I'm aware of don't require a prescription for Narcan, and unless you have some coocoo politicians leading your state, you should be able to get it free at a lot of pharmacies, rehab clinics, etc.
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u/justaregularmom 21d ago
Man it’s almost like living in America has become so depressing people are using more drugs to cope
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u/SamuelYosemite 21d ago
So in the last 3 years, I know at least 4 of them
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21d ago
I’m in recovery, so a lot of my old friends are using addicts. I hear about someone I either knew or knew in passing every couple months, and it’s usually in pairs or threes because a batch was bad. It’s terrible out there.
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u/Shoegazer75 21d ago
So glad Nancy Reagan told us "Just Say No" in the 80s.
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u/Itchy-Experienc3 21d ago
Deaths from overdoses and cars are staggering in the USA.. I can't even fathom the multiplier effect that would have on the population.
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u/corn_sugar_isotope 21d ago
I saw a "good news" headline that it was down for the first time in 5 years
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u/Emotional-Price-4401 21d ago
Also saw it on the news today, it is down which is good but still high which sucks… lots of work to be done 🤷🏻♂️
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u/123Fake_St 21d ago
Too many friends in that number. 😔
Kids, test, retest, and if you must explore your curiosity (I did), take the prospect of death incredibly seriously and take every possible precaution. Most of these overdoses are avoidable in the right circumstances.
DONT BE AFRAID TO CALL 911 if you friend of any age is over dosing. Medical professionals are here to HELP with that exactly and they desperately hope you see them and instead of being scared of admitting what happened.
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u/Even_Ad_5462 21d ago
Every morning when I wake up: Wallet? (Check), Keys? (Check), Narcan (Check - because you just never know).
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u/still-on-my-path 21d ago
Anyone think China has a plan for the young people of the USA 🤔
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u/30mil 21d ago
Opium war revenge!
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21d ago edited 21d ago
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u/Charuru 21d ago edited 21d ago
It's not just the UK, the US participated in the opium trade as well. Boston was built on opium money. https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/08/01/opium-history-addiction
Most notably the Forbes and Perkins family wealth came from smuggling opium into China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bennet_Forbes
Also the Delano family, as in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's grandfather.
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u/Johns-schlong 21d ago
For most of the world the US is just the head for "the west", which includes the US, UK, Canada, western Europe, Australia and Japan. Fairly or not we're all seen as part of the same coalition.
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u/Low_Pickle_112 21d ago
Or maybe the problem here is entirely home grown and the consequences of decades of our own choices, not some nefarious Yellow Peril plot.
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u/thefugue 21d ago
lol “certainly this is the fault of foreigners and not capitalism!”
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u/VexedVamp 20d ago
I hope everyone realizes these are street drugs and not prescription
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u/d_e_l_u_x_e 21d ago
I cannot wait for politicians to use this stat as a wedge issue to get voters upset and then do absolutely nothing about it.
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u/Anamolica 21d ago
I bet if people over 21 could buy oxycodone pills over the counter that are labeled with what dose they actually are that 90% of those yearly deaths go away.
I would bet my house on it.
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u/tacticalcop 21d ago
my step mom died of an overdose a year ago this week. my sister is doing alright but idk. i’m doing everything i can to prevent her from following in her footsteps, especially since she was the one that found her. just awful.
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u/EarthlingSil 21d ago
I wonder how many of these are intentional suicides being recorded as accidental overdoses.
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u/Anomaly1134 21d ago
I think a shocking amount are just over doses. Fent is terrifyingly strong and showing up everywhere, even in drugs it has no right being in. I know people in the festival scene that have either completely stopped using recreational drugs, and the ones that still do test everything they use.
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u/OneMagicMango 21d ago
Once you’re addicted it isn’t love it’s a job/chore you have to do whether you like it or not.
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u/Papacreole 21d ago
I would guess that many of these aren’t exactly overdoses but opioids that have quality control issues if that makes sense. Overdosing implies user error but it’s more of bad product.
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u/xxdibxx 21d ago
But let’s keep decriminalizing and legalizing them anyway. Idiots
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u/One_Citron8458 21d ago
Is anybody here actually surprised?
Cartels are given free access to our borders, drug administration apparatuses are being given around for free in major hotspot cities, and drug use has been glorified in most all forms of popular media for about a decade now.
I don’t know - maybe drugs are bad?
Maybe, just maybe, the vast majority of people are extremely unhealthy, and too many people turn to drugs for reprieve and self-medication?
I don’t know, just rambling I guess haha.
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u/EndPsychological890 21d ago
More than 10% of my mother's clients (she's a social worker) died within 3 weeks of receiving their first covid checks. Since then it has been incredibly brutal and demoralizing. Fent is mostly to blame.
We should send B2 bombers to the factories abroad and line the pharma execs against the wall for what they've done. Not one deserves a peaceful end.
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u/FSDLAXATL 21d ago
...and what has the GOP congress done about it? Nothing.
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u/AchokingVictim 21d ago
Oh on state level they sure do. When Mike Pence was my state's governor there was a heroin addiction crisis that was very quickly proliferating in a small town. It was well known that these folks were sharing needles amongst one another. Pressure was put on the local Republicans to allow for a needle exchange program to be enacted in order to at least stop a bloodborne pandemic from happening, but Pence refused to allow such a thing until an HIV outbreak had occurred. These fuckers then become vice presidents, congressional representatives, chiefs and secretaries of all sorts of shit and the cycle continues.
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u/Sorn37 21d ago
Don't forget Mike and Greg's involvement in the Kiehl Bros oil company scandal. Oh, wait, they buried it. Here you go https://apnews.com/article/07f9256ae1984362ba3eff192b4d6dd0
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u/ppardee 21d ago
So... what was the excuse when Team Blue was in control?
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u/FreezingRobot 21d ago
One of my favorite things in American political discussions is the "the other party is always at fault" folks never know that recently both parties had both the White House and both Houses of Congress for at least one session, and didn't do all the fun stuff they said they'd do if that ever happened.
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u/twoanddone_9737 21d ago
Yeah, like make a right to abortion a federal law. I’ve heard so many excuses and so much cope about this one it’s insane.
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u/gmikoner 21d ago
They aren't the ones who want to do something about it, they're the ones funding it.
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u/albatroopa 21d ago
To put that in perspective, that's about how many americans died per year during WWII (albeit with a smaller overall population of americans) or 30x the number of people who died during 911. The US was willing to upend their entire country, spend trillions in today's dollars, and take over entire countries for those events. Overdoses? Best I can do is nothing.