Your Opinion: Infrastructure priorities, PDMP disappointment

Nelson Otto

Jefferson City

Dear Editor:

I firmly agree with the LTE dated June 10 titled "City needs to prioritize infrastructure." For a while now Jefferson City Council has been devoted to special interest groups and not supporting the citizens in general.

Greenways, bicycle lanes, scooters, bike rentals, bridges to brush islands and other entertainments have been the focus of our council.

One LTE wanted more bike paths, but instead of using the ones we already have, riders are leaving for another state to use theirs. I had hoped that with the upcoming bicentennial, the city would have devoted resources to road repair. So far nothing that I can see.

I find it amazing how the city can find donors who will pay hundreds of thousands for greenways and millions for bridges to brush patch islands but act helpless when it came to dealing with the Wears Creek situation that flooded businesses and homes. We need fewer circuses and more substance from our council.

The next thing I like to bring up is how completely unhappy I am with the recent passing of the PDMP. According to an article in the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, PDMPs don't work.

According to an early article by Dr. John Lilly, only 2.5 percent of misused pain medicine in 2017 came from doctor shopping. Eighty-five percent came from one doctor, and 12.5 percent did not go through a doctor.

According to the article, the opioid crisis is the increase in deaths due to illicit fentanyl, and PDMPs have no effect on illicit fentanyl.

The increase is not due to doctor shopping but due to illicit fentanyl coming from China and Mexico. So now we will have another database that will treat law-abiding citizens like criminals while criminals will get by with selling fentanyl.

We need to elect leaders who are as much of diehards in protecting our privacy and rights as those who are hell-bent on taking them away.

Trust me, if you voted for this or signed it, you will not be getting my vote next election.