It's 2.2 times more likely for our children to die of a drug overdose than in a car accident. Overdoses are now the number 1 cause of accidental death in the U.S. claiming over 142,000 lives in 2016 alone. 
2) 8 people die every hour, 192 people die every day, 944,070 dead since 1999 due to drug related causes.
How many more bodies of our children is it going to take before the our legislators effectively address this growing problem? p-a-i-n.us
How many more bodies of our children is it going to take before the our legislators effectively address this growing problem? p-a-i-n.us
3) The death toll due to illicit fentanyl has been staggering with massive increases in overdose mortality recorded as high as 980% in 2016. As this illicit fentanyl continues to infest our nation and move outside the substance abuse community the death toll will continue to rise
4) This is not just a simple health emergency, this is the introduction of a synthetic chemical weapon into our population that is responsible for more catastrophic loss of life than all other health or safety epidemics in recent U.S. history combined.
In today's world the casual transferring of what looks like a pain pill to help out a friend with a backache could result in the unintentional transferring of counterfeit pills that are pure illicit fentanyl with deadly results.
dea.gov/press-releases…
dea.gov/press-releases…
6) Politicians on both sides of the aisle are not acknowledging the threat of illicit fentanyl appropriately nor are they resolving this to the best interest of our citizens. Moves to decriminalize drug possession & failures to stop the drug highway continue to feed this crisis.
7) While legislators cite success in the reduction of overdose deaths, the fact is that Narcan use is the only factor driving those reductions. Without intervention those saved will still die due to drug related causes at some point, as the number of overdoses continues to rise.
8) The tragedy of drug abuse doesn't end with those who suffer from addiction. Drug related crime, gang violence & shootings span the country and are reaching all time highs, but are rarely attributed to the drugs & the cartels purveying them. abcnews.go.com/Nightline/full…
9) The children of addiction are the most forgotten victims of all as our foster care systems are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of children in their care due to the addiction or deaths of their caregivers. Collateral damage due to illicit narcotics that remains unacknowledged.
10) As the U.S. victims, spanning from drug users to family members & victims of drug related crimes continue to grow this human tragedy goes well beyond our borders. Migrants too are being victimized and forced to traffic drugs under the threat of death by cartels, even infants
11) This isn't about politics it's not about partisanship it's about saving lives and stopping bad people who are doing bad things. So, I am urging all our legislators to please work together and address this problem. The lives of our children are depending on it.
