Political Quotes

“I rise today to once again share the devastating story of the nationwide opiate epidemic that America currently faces, which is pain pills. It is a crisis I have been dealing with since my days as Governor of the great State of West Virginia, and each and every one of us as Senators representing our great States are dealing with it also. It is ravaging my State. West Virginia has been hit harder than most States in our country. The drug overdose deaths have soared by more than 700 percent since 1999. Just last year, we lost 600 West Virginians alone to opiate abuse. That is prescription drug abuse. Let me explain what we are dealing with. We are dealing with a product that is manufactured legally by pharmaceutical companies, a product that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration--the Federal Government--a product that is distributed and prescribed by our doctors--the most trusted people we have in our lives. It goes on and on. Basically, people don't understand and have not understood for the last two decades the devastating effect that it has. But our State is not unique. This is happening everywhere, and 51 Americans die every day. Every day, 51 Americans die. You have to think about that. Every 30 minutes or less, someone is dying because of an overdose from a prescription drug to which they became addicted. Since 1999, we have lost almost 200,000 Americans to prescription opioid abuse.…”