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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday March 16 2017, @06:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the they-are-supposed-to-be-"controlled"-substances dept.

An American city is suing the maker of OxyContin for its alleged role in fueling the national opioid epidemic:

After spending millions to combat the opioid epidemic ravaging its citizens, the working-class city of Everett, Washington, is taking the maker of opioid painkiller OxyContin to federal court. The city claims that the drug maker, Purdue Pharma, knowingly sold to black markets out of pure greed, enabling the devastating epidemic hitting Everett and the rest of the country.

According to the lawsuit (PDF) filed in federal court in Seattle, Everett accuses Purdue Pharma of "knowingly, recklessly, and/or negligently supplying OxyContin to obviously suspicious physicians and pharmacies and enabling the illegal diversion of OxyContin into the black market, including to drug rings, pill mills, and other dealers for dispersal of the highly addictive pills in Everett." Purdue's goal, Everett alleges, was to "generate enormous profits" at the expense of the people of Everett. [...] "Our community has been significantly damaged, and we need to be made whole," Everett's mayor, Ray Stephanson, told ABC News.

[...] In a statement, Purdue disputed Everett's claims, saying that it did notify the DEA and acted responsibly. "We look forward to presenting the facts in court," the company said. Purdue also said that its opioids now account for less than two percent of US opioid prescriptions.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday March 17 2017, @04:59AM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday March 17 2017, @04:59AM (#480218)

    >Dealers also use MJ as a 'gateway' to up sell you to get more fucked up

    Dealers would use chocolate and ice cream as "gateway drugs" if they were illegal.

    The "gateway" problem has nothing to do with marijuana itself - the vast majority of users never move to anything more dangerous. The problem is that since it's maximally illegal, getting it often involves dealing with the sort of criminal scum who are happily selling much more profitable and dangerous drugs too, and are more than happy to take advantage of your drug-addled state to get you hooked on something more profitable.

    Well, that and the fact that the anti-marijuana campaigns are all pretty much pure bullshit, and once someone (especially a teenager) realizes that, it's easy for them to assume that the warnings against heroin, PCP, and other truly dangerous drugs are equally fabricated.

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