Political Quotes

“I rise today to address the saddest and one of the most depressing issues of the moment, and that is the drug epidemic that faces America. The reality of this drug epidemic is felt in every corner of this country. There is no suburb too wealthy, no town too small, no place in this country that hasn't been touched by the opioid and heroin epidemic. The Centers for Disease Control put out a statement this morning that is important for us to truly understand this drug epidemic. What the Centers for Disease Control said is that fentanyl has become the deadliest drug in the United States. On Wednesday, they reported that fentanyl was involved in more deadly drug overdoses in 2016 than any other drug. There was a total of 63,632 drug overdose deaths in 2016, with fentanyl found to be involved in nearly 29 percent of those cases. By comparison, fentanyl was involved in only 4 percent of drug fatalities just 7 years ago--in 2011. That year, oxycodone ranked first; it was involved in 13 percent. Lawmakers are struggling to deal with the sweeping opioid epidemic, and the CDC data shows that the problem goes further than the overprescription of opioid drugs. From 2011 to 2016, cocaine consistently ranked second or third. During the study period, the age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving heroin more than tripled, as did the rate of drug overdose deaths involving methamphetamine. Why do I bring up this issue of fentanyl?…”