WASHINGTON — To fulfill his audacious pledge to end America’s opioid crisis, President Trump is turning to Chris Christie.
The New Jersey governor, who is leading Trump’s commission to tackle the problem nationwide, has seen the worst of the crisis in his state. Nearly 1,500 people died from overdoses in New Jersey in 2015, as the state saw one of the biggest spikes in deaths of any state in the nation.
Mr. Governor Christy. I am a totally disabled American. I suffer from traumatic brain injury fractured neck in three places between two and three located in the neck. I suffer from many other injuries. I will be sixty four this month and I am appalled about your crusade to take the bit of quality of life I have left. I was broadsides by an eighth two year old man driving a truck. I had bleeding on both sides of my brain causing problems with headaches and cognitive problems. I can’t travel because my neck prevents that. I have been on every pain killer that I can think of. Do you suffer from chronic pain? Serious chronic pain everyday of your life? I doubt it because you would not be able to function. Millions of Americans work and support families because they have some quality of life. Take the pain killers away and they will loose their jobs. These are not junkies I am not one. My doctor does not sell snake oil. He checks me and makes sure I take my medication the proper way. For hundreds of years responsible doctors have treated people with opiates successfully. Millions have led normal lives. Go after the doctors with the list so long on prescriptions dealing with opiates. Go after the patients who do abuse them. But leave the people with serious injuries alone. Walk a mile in my shoes. You couldn’t. Go after the dealers in the street in the bars. I neither drink nor smoke. And you want to destroy what little I have left to lead some quality of life. How dare you. To come out with a general statement that it leads to drugs that are worse does not make sense. I don’t want more pain pills I just want to lead some type of life. Your going after the wrong people. The fish stinks at the head. Doctors who don’t care and don’t monitor there patients. I have to go now but I just wanted you to know there are good people out there who need this therapy. Check with I.C.D. the International Center for the Disabled. See the work they do. Don’t condemn us all. We’re not all junkies.
With all due respect, Gov. Christie, chronic pain patients have been blamed and cut-off from critical meds that kept them stabilized until all these laws came out. People have died from physician abandonment (improperly discharging patients rather than risk discipline), people have lost the ability to care for their kids and to work. People with brilliant minds have gone from functioning to bedbound. What would it take to get a meeting set up to establish some “middle ground” to help ease the suffering of chronic pain patients and Veterans?
Again,here we go!!. The governor,is hitting the opioid crisis, in a way ,that puts the GOOD,BAD,and the UGLY, together, as one big opioid problem. Their needs to be a seperation, of the big, said 3s. Their are to many good American people ,that need their pain meds,for chronic or cancer pain. This should be a group all on their, own. Away from,the bad and ugly. President trump needs to see this side of the problem, hopefully, the president, is open to these issues. I believe, he would. Knowing, these issues. And to protect these good American people.
I agree with Jcmmd. When heroine was ripping it’s way through the inner cites no one cared. just lock them up. Now it’s killing white rural and suburban males, now it’s they need treatment. The US did the exact same thing with AIDS.
What qualifies a food addict to be in charge of any addiction? Christie admitted to having weight loss surgery in 2013. Look at the size of him today. Considering that surgery was paid on the taxpayer dime, picking Christie was an extremely poor choice. May he one day know the suffering of those who obey the rules and can’t get their medication anymore thanks to addicts just like Christie. Disgusting.
Thank you for saying this!!
“Curiouser and curiouser!”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
I was reminiscing today about the good ole days working in the inner cities of Philly and DC as an intern,resident and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at UPENN. Back then dem colored folks who used drugs were criminals’ with the guardians of morality on the Hill shouting “Lock them up,lock them up” like the present day Trump supporters shouting about Hillary. So dem colored folks sure got locked up. There were not victims, no,they were going to destroy society– lock them up and throw away the key.
Fast forward to 2017 — a scourge has swept the land– opioids. Every day , another story about a victim caught up in its lair. These are not criminals but innocent waifs just caught up with a disease, like diabetes or cancer– a disease they bear no responsibility for. But wait, in all the stories I read they are all red, white and blue Americans. And I mean red,WHITE and blue. Where de colored folks at?
In a perverse turn of racism colored folks have been thought not to feel pain as much as whites(read your history) and have not been given the gateway opioids as their their white brethren have been when suffering pain. Or they were branded as drug seekers. But de white folks with pain , no problem. Now the chickens have come home to roost. The monster has been unleashed and this has resulted in a decrease in white male life expectancy .
But don’t worry, big daddy Christie is going to save dis here land. Wonder where he was in the 70’s?
“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
JMCDD with all due respect to your perspective however true it may be, however is not the issue. Really shouldn’t you be asking why the War On Drugs still exists? Even Christie realizes it never worked. Neither did the prohibition. Common sense would be to end it make them legal. After all criminals don’t follow laws and they are meant solely for justice, accountability and punishment, NOT deterrent. So with that said people whom will commit crimes do so regardless of legality, as law abiding citizens choose not to do drugs regardless of legality. So why the concern. People whom don’t do drugs don’t do them because its illegal. So why does this law still exist?? Population control. Just like the issue of Guns when the problem is mental health. More lives would be saved then have been lost combined. There would be no need for gangs. The taxes it could make would help our economy which would create more jobs and overall create a civil society. Not one hell bent on eugenics!!