Ed Markey: “I am here to talk about a public health epidemic that kills more people in the United States every year than gun…”

“I am here to talk about a public health epidemic that kills more people in the United States every year than gun violence or motor vehicle accidents. Last year, drug overdoses killed nearly 50,000 Americans. Almost 60 percent of those overdoses were caused by prescription opioids or heroin. Drug overdoses are increasing the death rate of young adults in the United States to levels not experienced since the AIDS epidemic, more than 20 years ago. These skyrocketing death rates make them the first generation since the time of the Vietnam war to experience higher death rates in early adulthood than the generation that preceded them. So we ask ourselves: What specifically is causing this tidal wave of addiction and overdoses? Well, the answer is clear. Over the last 10 years, the Drug Enforcement Agency has increased the amount of oxycodone it has approved for manufacturing by 150 percent. For 2016, the DEA has told Big Pharma it is OK to make nearly 1.4 million grams of oxy. That is enough for almost 15 billion 10-milligram pills. Let me say that again: That is enough for almost 15 billion 10- milligram pills to be sold in America this year. That is a full bottle of potent painkillers for every man, woman, and child in the United States of America for 2016. This tsunami of opioid addiction is swallowing families as quickly as Big Pharma wants Americans to swallow its pills.…”