Opioid-based painkillers have exploded in popularity since the 1990s, with prevalent brands including OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin. However, evidence that these drugs are effective treatments for chronic pain is lacking; studies by the US National Institute of Health and medical research firm Cochrane both suggest they at best offer short-term relief. Nevertheless, several firms made grandiose claims of their drugs' efficacy in this regard, including Purdue Pharma, the producer of OxyContin — that was fined US$634.5 million for misleading the public.
In recent years, the US Drug Enforcement Administration has reclassified certain types of opioids from Schedule 3 to the more restrictive Schedule 2, limiting access for doctors and patients alike. Despite this, in 2012 US physicians gave out 259 million prescriptions for opioid painkillers, enough to medicate every adult in the US.
The data echoes a December 2016 University of New Hampshire report that indicated drug overdoses are serving to reduce the white population of the US. The University found 15 of the 17 states that saw shrinkage in their white populations had abnormally high rates of drug-related fatalities. The US Center for Disease Control also found that white people between the ages of 25 and 34 are five times more likely to die from an overdose than they were in 1999, with the risk is substantially higher for all white Americans under the age of 55.
Since drug overdoses now kill more Americans than guns, liberals will announce their fervent support of the drug war. Oh wait, they won’t.
— Stefan Molyneux (@StefanMolyneux) December 12, 2016
While over 40% of Americans see prescription painkillers as more dangerous than illegal drugs, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation suggests the increase is partially attributable to an influx of cheap, powerful heroin from Mexican drug cartels. In July 2016, President Obama signed a bill designed to counter the country's opioid addiction crisis.
