In June, the NYT put the over/under at 59k to 65k for 2016. CDC provisional puts it at 64k.
Not sure what you mean by that. Fentanyl is an illegal drug mostly from Mexico and sometimes from China. Drug mules are put in jail all the time, and kingpins are from time to time when the US and Mexico are cooperating. Can't arrest our way out of this problem anyway, so even if your point stood (which I assume is about the medical profession), it wouldn't do any good.
Is street demand for opiates at an all time high because my elementary school D.A.R.E. officer was right and the pushers really are that good at making addicts out of straight'n'narrow folks? This can be directly linked to someone at Purdue Pharma and/or similar organizations going 'We need to sell more Percocet, Oxys, Roxys, etc.'and pushing the shit. That's who needs to be targeted, not the poor mules being stuffed with pills and shoved across borders.
That's a letter, quoted in total, that is basically patient zero in the flourishing of Oxycontin. At this point it's so legendary that the University of Toronto traced its citation history to measure its impact. And while it would be super-satisfying to nail Purdue to the wall - which the feds kind of did - the fact of the matter is, it's been ten years since the overprescription of Oxycontin was addressed. The problem hasn't been solved by a longshot. Purdue deserves a lot of blame. But not all of it.Recently, we examined our current files to determine the incidence of narcotic addiction in 39,946 hospitalized medical patients who were monitored consecutively. Although there were 11,882 patients who received at least one narcotic preparation, there were only four cases of reasonably well documented addiction in patients who had no history of addiction. The addiction was considered major in only one instance. The drugs implicated were meperidine in two patients, Percodan in one, and hydromorphone in one. We conclude that despite widespread use of narcotic drugs in hospitals, the development of addiction is rare in medical patients with no history of addiction.
Opioid addiction rates have something to do with over prescribing, but not as much as you think they do, because you're blinded by your hate for all things profitable. Ever notice how opioids are mostly a problem in places with SHITTY healthcare coverage and tons of POOR people? If your hypothesis were correct, one would expect to see the opposite. That is, if over prescribing were the main driver of this crisis, then access to care would correlate to higher addiction rates. Turns out one of the best correlates is economic opportunity. Go figure. I would recommend listening to the recent On The Media episode about it. Very illuminating, but only if you're receptive to facts that don't fit your narrative. http://www.wnyc.org/story/on-the-media-2017-08-25
My hate is for the commercialization of the destruction of human beings in all forms. I have special vitriol for people who are in positions where they can do good, and instead choose to make money at the expense of the lives and wellbeing of others. You can make money without making junkies out of the whole country. Business transactions can be win-win for both sides.because you're blinded by your hate for all things profitable.
Additional reading. Not sure if I posted it before, but I did read it a while ago.
even more additional reading. It's a low-whistle kind of book. It also tries to end on a positive note, which the above article contradicts.