Who says Trump never learns?

[Rockfish1]

He's picked up a pointer from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte:

The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, a sign that the White House wants to make a strong statement in addressing the opioid crisis.

President Trump last week suggested executing drug dealers as a way to make a dent in opioid addiction. Opioids killed nearly 64,000 people in 2016, and the crisis is straining local health and emergency services.

. . . “Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do,” Trump said during an appearance at a White House summit on opioids last week.

Trump also has endorsed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s approach to the issue; Duterte’s “drug war” has led to the deaths of thousands of people by extrajudicial police killings. Last year, Trump praised Duterte in a phone call for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem,” according to the New York Times.
​

I'll be interested to see how this plays out. It's one thing to be "tough on crime" when you're throwing the book at "urban" offenders dealing crack, but quite another to go after those selling opiates in small towns populated with Trump supporters.

​

 

[toastedbread]

He's picked up a pointer from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte:

The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, a sign that the White House wants to make a strong statement in addressing the opioid crisis.

President Trump last week suggested executing drug dealers as a way to make a dent in opioid addiction. Opioids killed nearly 64,000 people in 2016, and the crisis is straining local health and emergency services.

. . . “Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do,” Trump said during an appearance at a White House summit on opioids last week.

Trump also has endorsed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s approach to the issue; Duterte’s “drug war” has led to the deaths of thousands of people by extrajudicial police killings. Last year, Trump praised Duterte in a phone call for doing an “unbelievable job on the drug problem,” according to the New York Times.
​

I'll be interested to see how this plays out. It's one thing to be "tough on crime" when you're throwing the book at "urban" offenders dealing crack, but quite another to go after those selling opiates in small towns populated with Trump supporters.

​

Drug dealers or as duterte calls them, "drug pushers" are also put to death in Iran. Believe it or not, in terms of policy, American Republicans have a lot in common with Iranian hardliners.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Does Lilly make an opioid, it seems the death penalty for his own HHS Secretary would be harsh. How far down the corporate ladder at pharmaceutical companies will this apply? Can we add elected officials who voted to change the opiod laws?

 

[Rockfish1]

Drug dealers or as duterte calls them, "drug pushers" are also put to death in Iran. Believe it or not, in terms of policy, American Republicans have a lot in common with Iranian hardliners.

I'm always amused when I hear of drug "pushers". No one with even the most rudimentary understanding of the problem thinks that people who sell drugs have to "push" anything.

 

[toastedbread]

I'm always amused when I hear of drug "pushers". No one with even the most rudimentary understanding of the problem thinks that people who sell drugs have to "push" anything.

It's a slogan for the slobbering masses. Similar in style to "fake news" or "crooked Hillary"

 

[CO. Hoosier]

I'm always amused when I hear of drug "pushers". No one with even the most rudimentary understanding of the problem thinks that people who sell drugs have to "push" anything.

You don’t think the cartels expand their customer base by pushing drugs toward new users?

 

[anon_mlxxvlbug9dpa]

You don’t think the cartels expand their customer base by pushing drugs toward new users?

I don’t. Narcotics are a quintessential epitome of the Network Effects approach to business.

The cartels’ marketing expenses of their SG&A spend have to be at a historically low percentage of their sales.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

You don’t think the cartels expand their customer base by pushing drugs toward new users?

Yes, but pharma has a constitutional right to advertise, don't they?

 

[CO. Hoosier]

I don’t. Narcotics are a quintessential epitome of the Network Effects approach to business.

The cartels’ marketing expenses of their SG&A spend have to be at a historically low percentage of their sales.

I agree. But that doesn’t mean they don’t continually develop newbies.

 

[Rockfish1]

Yes, but pharma has a constitutional right to advertise, don't they?

Speaking of drug commercials . . .

 

[CO. Hoosier]

Yes, but pharma has a constitutional right to advertise, don't they?

There are some providers who seemingly make money by pushing pills. But I don’t think that is what “drug pusher” refers to.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

There are some providers who seemingly make money by pushing pills. But I don’t think that is what “drug pusher” refers to.

Speaking of drug commercials . . .

People should ask their doctors if pharma advertising works. I did. They said they knew when a big advertising campaign started because patients they have seen for years would show up with symptoms they never had reported before.
.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

People should ask their doctors if pharma advertising works. I did. They said they knew when a big advertising campaign started because patients they have seen for years would show up with symptoms they never had reported before.
.

Not sure why my answer did not post. Pharma played a role.

 

[UncleMark]

How far down the corporate ladder at pharmaceutical companies will this apply?

They'll start with the pharmacist at CVS and see how high up the chain they can get.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

They'll start with the pharmacist at CVS and see how high up the chain they can get.

My bad, I admit I was wrong in thinking anyone actually responsible would be held accountable. I was reading a link, anyone can Google to look, pharmaceutical reps made a fortune pushing oxy.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Further proof big pharma is acting as a pusher.

 

[SuperHoosierFan]

My bad, I admit I was wrong in thinking anyone actually responsible would be held accountable. I was reading a link, anyone can Google to look, pharmaceutical reps made a fortune pushing oxy.

Oxy is crazy addictive. I know people who took it for only a couple weeks after a surgery and got “dope sick” when they stopped taking it. They went through all the classic withdrawal symptoms (heart pounding, sweating, vomiting). It doesn’t happen to every single person who takes it but I’ve seen it happen quite a bit.

 

[IUJIM]

Further proof big pharma is acting as a pusher.

Wow, that article is very disturbing.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Further proof big pharma is acting as a pusher.

So in a former life I worked as a bodily injury insurance adjuster. I do not know if things have changed but at the time the doctors were handing out hydrocodone like it was candy. It was nothing to see patients go to a pain clinic (read pill dispensary) and get hundreds of hydrocodone pills every few weeks. They would continue this "treatment" for months on end.

Big pharma has a role in the opioid addiction crisis but so to do the doctors who would hand out Vicodin whenever a patient showed up with aches and pains.

As to the death penalty for drug pushers, that's dumb no matter what community they come from.

 

[Marvin the Martian]

Big pharma has a role in the opioid addiction crisis but so to do the doctors who would hand out Vicodin whenever a patient showed up with aches and pains.

I think you are correct on that. There is a lot of blame to go around. I am just trying to point out in this case we aren't talking about the street gangs from The Wire pushing opiods. Our corporations (and our doctors) created this problem. Using it to push for the death penalty is pretty wrong.

 

[IUCrazy2]

I think you are correct on that. There is a lot of blame to go around. I am just trying to point out in this case we aren't talking about the street gangs from The Wire pushing opiods. Our corporations (and our doctors) created this problem. Using it to push for the death penalty is pretty wrong.

Agreed.