The initial shutdown was supposed to be strict and delivered a country with measurable and limited cases that can be contained with contact tracing. The policies from Trump were slow and ineffective and the legislation passed by Congress a complete waste to contain this virus because of radical Republican politics which advocated FREEDOM vs. mask-wearing, social distancing and basically responsible adult behavior.
Those radicalized Republican standards about "Freedom/Liberty" is exactly the ideology playing out in places like Kenoshia (click here). The White Supremacist radicals have stated for so long that their guns are the only thing that stands in between a dictatorship and democracy they have bought into Trump's sales of "Deep State" to prove their dedication to "radical readiness" was the right path to take.
Probably the best examples of these politics are Moscow Mitch and fellow Senator Rand Paul. (click here).
As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues, (click here) so does the nation’s opioid epidemic. The AMA is greatly
concerned by an increasing number of reports from national, state and local media suggesting increases in
opioid-related mortality—particularly from illicitly manufactured fentanyl and fentanyl analogs. More
than 40 states have reported increases in opioid-related mortality as well as ongoing concerns for those
with a mental illness or substance use disorder in counties and other areas within the state. This also
includes new reports about the need for evidence-based harm reduction services, including sterile needle
and syringe services and naloxone.
The AMA is pleased that the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have provided increased flexibility for providing
buprenorphine and methadone to patients with opioid use disorder. The AMA is further pleased at
increased flexibility provided by the DEA to help patients with pain obtain necessary medications....
Recovery groups have been left without alternatives to group therapy.
By Brian Mann
Jennifer Austin, a recovery coach who has struggled with addiction, usually hosts Narcotics Anonymous classes at this Salvation Army center in Ogdensburg, N.Y. They've beencanceled because of the pandemic, leaving more people vulnerable to relapse and overdose. "I've had people I've never worked with before reach out to me and say, 'Jen, what do I do?'" Austin said.
New data from around the U.S. (click here) confirms that drug overdoses are spiking during the coronavirus pandemic, rising by roughly 18%.
Reports collected in real time by the Washington, D.C.-based group ODMAP — the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, located at the University of Baltimore — also found a significant spike in the number of fatal overdoses.
"Overdose clusters have shifted from traditional centralized urban locations to adjacent and surrounding suburban and rural areas," said ODMAP program manager Aliese Alter.
The organization compared reported overdoses, fatal and nonfatal, in the weeks leading up to coronavirus quarantine measures and in the weeks after....
