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Synthetics now killing more people than prescription opioids, report says
Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have overtaken prescription opioids as the No. 1 killer in the opioid epidemic, according to a new report.
The report, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA [DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.2844] [DX], calculated the number and percentage of synthetic opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States between 2010 and 2016 using death certificates from the National Vital Statistics System. The researchers found that about 46% of the 42,249 opioid-related overdose deaths in 2016 involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, while 40% involved prescription drugs.
That's more than a three-fold increase in the presence of synthetic opioids from 2010, when synthetic drugs were involved in approximately 14% of opioid-overdose deaths.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @03:20PM (1 child)
Only she's also drunk the Reefer Madness kool-aid, and while being abused in the workplace as an effective wage slave (mandatory 8 hour shifts that are defacto mandatory 12 hour shifts) and a rehire policy that only allows you to reapply after 3 years. Meaning nobody can jump ship unless they are sure the replacement job won't lay them off/fire them in less than 3 years.
America, especially the midwest from her stories, has some really fucked up areas without job opportunities that are effectively a modern form of slavery. Getting out of there requires a strong network of friends willing to line you up with a job and a place in a better work environment, or you yourself being driven enough to do the legwork of job hunting, and finding time to make interviews, to get the hell out. Not everyone can, and even more just won't, leading to many of the socio-economic conditions you reference. While some of it is blamable on the companies, just as much is blamable on the shortsightedness of the people residing in these areas. Big corporations mean money for a while, but unless you as a community create a sustainable network of businesses to keep you employed, you are just handing the reins of your life over to the modern equivalent of the plantation owners. Sure you can always 'run away', but by doing so you've effectively ceded your home to the corporation/plantation owner's whims. But if you don't you're also wasting your time mucking around with slaves who refuse to rebel, content in lot which they've been given to toil.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02 2018, @04:59PM
The vast majority of people do not have the higher end skills where employers are willing to hire without an in-person interview. There is little these people can do unless they can afford to travel for a *possible* job, or fully move to a more promising city. So unless they can build up at minimum a few thousand in savings (probably need at least 5k really) then it isn't even possible to relocate or spend money traveling for interviews.
I know you covered this, but you also left in an "out" for the libertarian/conservative morons (I have to add morons because they aren't all stupid) around here with
The morons will cling to that and say it is the person's fault if they aren't willing to put in the effort for a better life. It ignores the reality that there truly are limited options for the majority of people.