PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY PROFITS WHILE CITIZENS PERISH

Today's Woolwich Observer has quite an Opinion piece by Steve Kannon. Essentially Steve is suggesting as per his title that "A drug crisis unlike others, but pharmaceutical cash means nothing will change". The drug crisis is opiods and it includes prescription drugs that are being abused. Pain killers such as oxycodone are front and centre with illegal synthetics such as fentanyl being a result of the initial over prescription of the legal drugs. Canada has the second highest per capita consumption of opioids in the world with the U.S. being number one. Charming isn't that?

The real kicker is Steve's claims that much of this abuse is driven by pharmaceutical marketing to doctors and health professionals. Then Steve goes further by suggesting that the pharmacuetical manufacturers and distributors have even been lobbying the U.S. government for legislation to weaken the Drug Enforcement Agency's enforcement efforts. They lobbied successfully according to Steve by donating "...more than a million dollars into their (Congress) election campaigns.". Doesn't that give you a warm feeling knowing how legal it is to buy political influence south of the border. I would suggest that while influence can still be bought here, north of the border, generally it's done in more subtle, less blatant ways.

Steve's final paragraph is "But there's money to be made, and the corporate gaenda tops all. The crisis, deaths and all, is our political economy in microcosm. Expect hand-wringing and nothing else.".