Bert Dirschell
Centertown
Dear Editor:
The U.S. “War on Drugs” began in 1970, with the “Controlled Substances Act.” Billions of tax dollars have been spent and we are being told that the problem is now a crisis. The Drug Enforcement Agency spends over $2 billion a year. Forty-six percent of federal prison inmates are incarcerated because of drug related offenses. It costs taxpayers $2.8 billion per year to keep them in prison. I couldn’t find data on how much Medicaid drug treatment programs cost taxpayers. Those in government have clearly shown that they are incapable of solving the problem. Their answer, as usual, is bigger bureaucracy and more tax dollars thrown down the same rathole.
In 2016 there were 67,265 drug overdose deaths in the U.S., 20.8 per 100,000 residents. The two leading causes of death in the U.S. were heart disease, 635,269 deaths, and cancer 598,038 deaths. Self-inflicted drug overdose deaths are a “crisis” because they equal 10.6 percent of the number of deaths caused by heart disease and 11.2 percent of the number of deaths caused by cancer….really?
A July 27, 2018 press release from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services states, “In total, there were 951 opioid deaths in Missouri (during 2017)”. The press release also states, “The opioid crisis is the number one public health issue Missouri is facing.” Heart disease causes the death of nearly 15,000 people in Missouri every year, cancer causes over 12,000 deaths, flu/pneumonia kills 1,150; and yet self-inflicted drug overdose deaths is the states number one health crisis….really?
At 20.8 the drug induced death rate in the U.S. is far higher than it is in Europe. We should be asking ourselves why. Portugal, who decriminalized all drugs in 2001, has a drug-induced death rate of less than 1.0, as do Italy and France. The Scandinavian countries have some of the highest drug overdose death rates in Europe, but their rates are all 10 or less.
Nine states in the U.S. have rates above 30; West Virginia (highest at 49.8), Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Delaware. Seven states have rates less than 13; Mississippi, Kansas, North Dakota, Iowa, Texas, South Dakota and Nebraska. Why is Missouri’s rate 23.3 while the rate in Arkansas is 14.2, Kansas 11.5, Iowa 10.8 & Nebraska 7.7?
More information on Missouri overdose deaths to follow in another LTE.