Are we doing enough to combat an opioid epidemic that is tearing families apart every single day? I think that despite best efforts of many across government legislative branch and others the answer is an emphatic no.
Kennedy questions the government's effectiveness in addressing the opioid crisis.
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More from Patrick J. Kennedy
If this were any other issue we would move heaven and Earth to deal with it. In COVID we responded right away, everybody inoculation, everybody out there. The longest impact of COVID is going to be mental health, and yet, we don't treat it.
Because I think any firefighter will tell you, these days especially, they spend more of their time trying to do first response to overdoses and mental health crisis than they do putting out fires.
I think, obviously, when you look at the fact that so many of our jails are filled with people with mental illnesses and addictions, that clearly a better response than occupying police time would be to make sure that proper first…