Drug overdose deaths top 70,000, drive down U.S. life expectancy
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Drug overdose deaths rose above 70,000 in 2017, a rise of almost 10 percent to a new record high, according to new government statistics out Thursday.
Suicide rates also rose, by 3.7 percent. Together, these two causes of untimely death lowered U.S. life expectancy for the second year in a row, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
NCHS “The latest CDC data show that the U.S. life expectancy has declined over the past few years. Tragically, this troubling trend is largely driven by deaths from drug overdose and suicide,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement.
“These sobering statistics are a wakeup call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable.”
Overall life expectancy for Americans was 78.6 years in 2017, a drop of 0.1 year. That may not seem like much, but usually, life expectancy goes up a little each year. If it goes down, it means people are dying at younger ages.
The death rates are driven mostly by a startling 9.6 percent increase in drug overdose deaths, from 63,632 in 2016 to 70,237 in 2017. Most of the overdoses involved opioids of some sort, and the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics recorded a 45 percent increase in deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and tramadol. They accounted for nearly 30,000 of the drug overdose deaths.
NCHS “West Virginia (with 57.8 overdose deaths per 100,000 people), Ohio (46.3 overdose deaths per 100,000), Pennsylvania (44.3), and the District of Columbia (44 ) had the highest observed age-adjusted drug overdose death rates in 2017,” the CDC report reads.
Still, the increase was not as big as the 21 percent leap in drug overdose death rate between 2015 and 2016. But the fact that rates are still increasing despite federal, state and local attention shows efforts are failing to curb the epidemic of opioid abuse.
Suicide rates also continued a worrying rise. “The suicide rate in the United States has increased from 10.4 suicides per 100,000 in 1999 to 14 (per 100,000) in 2017,” a second CDC report reads.
“Suicide rates have increased since 1999 for both males and females ages 10-74. Rates in the most rural U.S. counties are nearly two times higher than rates in the most urban counties.”
NCHS The 10 leading causes of death did not change in rank. Cancer deaths fell by 2.1 percent, leaving heart disease the No. 1 killer of Americans. Unintentional injuries, including drug overdoses, are the third leading cause of death, followed by chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease and suicide.
“In 2017, a total of 2,813,503 resident deaths were registered in the United States — 69,255 more deaths than in 2016,” the CDC report reads.
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Troubling times. The bigger question is why now?
Troubling times.
IMO: America isn't really becoming greater in ways it's getting worse.
The wide spread almost rampant incompetence in the american workforce and acceptability of such from many companies, the political division of the masses, and the constant battle for which way the country is to go and how to get there, nastiness is up, civility down, tribalism up, cooperation down. Lead by leaders we watch daily to see WTF they do day by day that half the country won't probably agree with and we all will argue about tomorrow.
Some major issues aren't getting corrected seemingly they are getting worse like immigration. And I think many of us feel the economy and america at large is and has been like a huge house of cards for years. $22,000,000,000.000.00 on the books and NO plan to resolve it instead adding to it daily.....
Enough?
Kinda depressing !
I think that may be part of it.
Add to that most of us feel we can't do a damn thing about it, we're mir pawns along for the ride.
...................
Sorry ya asked. But that's my take.
For some reason, I think this has more to do with the break down of family life and over stimulation from social media, like FB etc. I think everyone wants to be loved and I think that there is not enough to go around.
But I could be wrong.
Still there are a lot of very unhappy people out there.
Yes NPR did some great coverage of the heroin use and addiction in Vietnam. They looked into the relatively low rate of use once retuning to their families.
"I believe the number of people who actually relapsed to heroin use in the first year was about 5 percent," Jaffe said recently from his suburban Maryland home. In other words, 95 percent of the people who were addicted in Vietnam did not become re-addicted when they returned to the United States.
This flew in the face of everything everyone knew both about heroin and drug addiction generally. When addicts were treated in the U.S. and returned to their homes, relapse rates hovered around 90 percent. It didn't make sense.
Why isn't there enough love? What is love contingent on?
Was there more love in some other century or decade than there is now?
Did the people who had 12 or more children have more love for their children and others than the people who only have 2 or less children today?
I think that many/most people crave validation for their existence and seek attention and recognition from their community. (Some also want people to envy them.)
Boys, who are athletic, are fortunate to have opportunities for recognition at an early age in their community if it is filled with athletic boosters. A few make it to state play-offs, a few get college scholarships and the ones that win the athletic lottery may even get national recognition as a professional athlete.
For the ones whose athletic careers ended their senior year of high school, there may never ever be that kind of recognition for the remainder of their lives. They will return to being just a face in the crowd on a planet with 7+ billion other people. Some can handle this and some cannot.
Until the last few decades, girls have had few opportunities for community recognition outside of being attractive to boys and trying to marry the most popular males among their peer groups.
A girl's attitude was geared to be supportive of her successful mate. Her only social recognition was as "Mr. Successful's" wife and broodmare. If she was raised in a Christian community, she was taught to be be meek, mild, submissive and forgiving to men in all things. I still encounter that mentality and teaching today in the Bible Belt.
Happiness and contentment is to be found inside one's self. It is an individual thing and not easy to explain to possession oriented people.
Some people use drugs to fill the emptiness inside them that all of the possessions in the world cannot fill.
I have watched a lot of sunsets throughout my life, but have just began smelling the roses in the last few years.
I you wish to receive more love, you simply have to give more.
Depends on personality traits of whom you are giving love. Traits that you may never understand because you don't share them.
Giving love to a narcissist is a waste of time and can be disastrous to a person's mental and physical health.
Being a narcissist is not a choice. It is caused by a brain abnormality that there is no treatment for.
It happened to me. I was ignorant as to what narcissism was until I googled her behavior and then began to educate myself on the disorder. The more knowledge I gained the more I understood what was going on and it really helped me get over it. Out of all the books and online material I found on the subject this book was the most helpful and informative.
Me, too.
My older daughter and current husband. I am surprised that the world hasn't heard of both of them. They consider themselves to be epic overachievers who have never made a mistake and should be worshiped. However, they aren't worshiped because no one understands or appreciates how vital they are to the survival of all mankind.
If!
I just mean being loving in general, being warm and friendly to people you meet, Show love for your fellow humans and people will love you for being that way
Lol, good for you Dean, educating yourself is always worthwhile. Does your new found knowledge of narcissism make you think of anyone else, like a certain very famous and powerful man?
Yes in fact some of the material I was reading at the time used him as an example. Another one was LBJ.
Thank you! I ordered it for me - will give it to my younger daughter after I have read it.
I also ordered ordered books for Christmas for my younger daughter and granddaughter.
My older daughter banished me from her life eight years ago. I literally cried for 4 years. It still hurts. She was my daughter. I loved her. I did not like her. She was abusive to others when they did not worship her properly. I only recently discovered what a narcissist is and why there is no dealing with them logically or rationally. For me, it is like dealing with a 5 year with enough childish intelligence to either be amusing or frustrating, but there is really nothing of substance to relate to on an adult level.
I hope you find it beneficial. I feel for you and understand how painful it must be. I’m sure you love your daughter and it must be extremely difficult.
I am usually nice, kind and helpful in social situations. However, I am an introvert and usually avoid social situations when at all possible. I love people - just love them better in limited time periods and in limited numbers.
About the only time I encounter people is when I have to shop for groceries, paint, plants, gardening supplies or clothing. I love to visit with people in garden centers. We can discuss safe topics like the weather and how it is helping or hindering our garden plants. LOL!
Although I am 62 and have back pain, I still assist older women if they need assistance with items that they are straining to lift and aren't offended by being assisted.
I can positively say that time does not heal all wounds. Maybe that is why some people self-medicate with alcohol and other drugs.
My drug addiction was nicotine. Emotional stress was alleviated by chain smoking when I could no longer cope with the pain. I smoked cigarettes until I was literally gasping to get oxygen in my lungs when I woke in the morning. Of course, my narcissist husband did not notice or care.
Four years and 5 months ago, I quit smoking and began reclaiming my life. I was shattered and suicidal. Loretta Kemsley and my other friends on Newsvine were soothing wounds that I did not even know I had. Without them, I would have probably ate a bullet a long time ago....that is if my narcissistic husband did not shoot me first. But that is another story that I may or may not be able to discuss online. Sad, but my life is not exceptionally abusive or violent in anyway in the US.
Since Newsvine has folded, I have been winging it and I am much stronger and less fragile than I was when my life was being destroyed by the narcissists that I dearly loved and did not understand how anyone could be so cruel and self-centered to others.
Dying by nicotine addiction not considered suicide in this country. But it should be, IMHO.
(((mocowgirl)))
Thank you very much, sandy. ((((sandy))))
Newsvine was the first contact that I had with women who did not make excuses for abusive men. I did not even know the definition of misogyny. Using that word in my area would be akin to shouting motherfucker in church - totally unacceptable, although the person in church might possibly be forgiven.
Artie contacted me via here and then email a few months ago. He is writing a book and wanted my life story in it.
I thanked him, but told him that I did not know that I could survive relating it.
Do what's right for you. If sharing it some day helps, you'll have willing listeners. If it's something you need to work through on your own, I think we can all respect that, too.
Wow, Thanks for doing the sharing that you do. I'm glad you have this outlet.
As a white male who has always done my best to treat everyone the same I'm almost shocked by some of what you relate to us here. Almost because, cause I've seen a lot of shocking crap myself.
A couple of old very good self help books I read long ago helped me tremendously. One was called "Pulling your own strings" in fact I have one on order for a young friend I think will benefit from it right now. ($5 on amazon used )The other was called "How to win friends and influence people" both really helpful in gaining independence and in effectively helping to deal with others, in my opinion.
I also got into books like "How to negotiate with anyone" that was also helpful in interactions with others.
I learned to be assertive, not passive aggressive. It's served me well, Good luck to you, yep people aren't all bad but some unfortunately sure are. I guess that's why we have feet.
LOL
again thanks for sharing.
Thank you.
Loretta emailed me her phone number. I so love her for everything that she has done for me and other women. However, this is something that I have to deal with. Loretta is an introvert, also. I hope she understands.
My way of dealing is to rationalize or try to find logic in actions.
T,g introduced me to the following series. Although, I don't completely understand all of the scientific terms, it has helped me put life in a perspective that I can cope with. I have watched some of this series twice and will probably continue to re-watch because I find it comforting.
First of all, those families of 12, didn't raise healthy families. My grandmother came from one of those families, and 2 of the kids dies of drugs back then, another owned a whore house, 1 became a compulsive gambler. Life was no bed of roses even back then. The difference is that one kept track. You either made it or not. No government stats, and those that fell by the wayside became the family "black sheep".
Being in a family of 2 is no guarantee that your parents are giving you the right kind of attention. I am not talking about things. I am talking about knowing who your kids are hanging out with, saying no when all the other parents saying yes, talking to them about their day to day life. That is what I am talking about by love.
Yes, happiness is an internal mechanism. but obviously, something is broken with our society that we are producing so many unhappy people.
And yes maybe we need the time to stop and smell the roses.
I have read an assortment of books on how to manipulate others. They are for people in sales, business and politics.
When I worked for Wal-Mart corporate, I was required to take customer service classes, communication classes, negotiation classes, team building classes, and classes on identifying, understanding and working with various personality types. All of this was from a business perspective that works reasonably well outside of the office if a person isn't dealing with narcissists, sociopaths and psychopaths. Outside of the office, there is no requirement to have a relationship of any kind. Trying to negotiate a "win-win" with a narcissist is not happening unless allowing you to win doesn't cost them anything or advances their agenda.
My personality requires me to be courteous and direct. I do not have an agenda, I am trying to sell anything to anybody and I am not running for office. I am the person who likes to solve problems instead of profit from creating them.
I am the person who likes to solve problems instead of profit from creating them.
The books I suggested are more for understanding of oneself and how interactions work.
Both Pulling your own strings and how to win friends and influence people are old school books. Written for the lay person not for professionals to use to gain the upper hand.
Both books just helped me level the playing field and to understand I not only had the right but the obligation to myself to stand up for myself and what I find important, they helped me have the life I deserved to have.
Mainly I learned to be assertive. To ask for even demand what I have the right to and not to let others take advantage of me.
Not to be passive and act like I accepted crao I didn't, then to turn aggressive out of anger.
Good reads both,
to each their own.
I called that responsible parenting. My children called it overprotective.
I have two children that are opposites. Completely different personalities and approach to life.
I spent hours talking with them while we played cards, put together puzzles, shopped, dined and whatever. By doing this, I knew who had permissive parents, who was drinking alcohol, who was doing drugs, and even who was discussing sex with them. My younger daughter talked to me like I was her best friend.
The older daughter lied, connived, stole, was passive-aggressive, manic depressive and a hypochondriac. The manic depressive and hypochondria is identical to her father's mother. My family has the usual drug addicts, alcoholics, pedophiles, rapists, incest and probably a murderer or two. I would venture to guess that her issues might have started with her genetic profile. Hindsight should be 20/20, but I just don't understand.
That is my personality. I treat people as equals until they demand otherwise. I defer only to people who have more knowledge than I do on an issue/problem.
I think it is wonderful that there are books to teach passive people how to stand up for themselves. Standing up for myself has never been an issue for me. I was orphaned as an infant and adopted out of the family. This was both really good and really bad.
I read Carnegie's book when I was in my 30s probably.
Speaking of old school books.
I remember liking "I'm OK, You're OK". Although I have to admit I also liked Linda Goodman's astrology books back in the day when it is important to know your "sign". LOL!
I just checked Amazon and it is available and still getting good reviews. If you don't have it, you might want to check it out.
That was one of the books I did read. Pulling your own strings was much more beneficial to me personally. After my wife walked out on me years ago I was seeking. I read and read. Astrology and metaphysical books as well, also Including the old testament, the new testament, the book of Mormon and parts of the koran... I was hurtin !! I also burned thru a couple of good counselors.
LOL
If you look at the map, the hardest hit areas are pretty much all the areas that were once manufacturing meccas with large populations that grew up around the auto industry and other product manufacturers. Since the 1980's those areas have been hit with a double whammy. First, the manufacturers started to move so older and middle aged folks who had been working long hours on manufacturing floors with lots of aches and pains started getting laid off. At the same time doctors were being given kick backs and incentives to prescribe the new opioids that were coming on the market. While a 54 year old religious conservative Grandfather auto worker might never even think about smoking a joint or doing a line of coke, they'll accept that prescription from their doctor no problem.
And of course the problems just kept compounding with more and more manufacturers closing or moving operations while opioid prescriptions were going off the charts. So now we have hundreds of thousands of out of work or barely working Americans struggling to survive dealing with their depression and back pain by popping opioids till their insurance runs out or doctors started being more careful about over prescribing so getting the pills started getting more and more expensive. That's when that 54 year old grandpa finds himself buying heroin to get his fix. His doctor never told him he could get physically addicted after just 5 doses of oxy, let alone abusing it for months.
Of course, this is a new phenomenon, where the middle aged, middle income Americans with lots of family and loved ones around them are getting addicted. So what happens? Many try to get clean, they get help, and it's great for a time, but only till the next bout of serious depression, guilt and pain from old injuries make them relapse. And of course, when a heroin addict relapses, they often go back to the same dose they were using before quitting. The problem is that they had likely worked up to that higher dose, where it had taken a little more and a little more to get the same high. But when they relapse they go back to that dose which is often too much for them now after being clean some time and they overdose.
And on top of that, we're now seeing more and more heroin laced with fentanyl showing up on the streets which is 100 times more powerful than heroin. I believe all these factors combined have been the primary cause of the huge increase in overdose deaths.
Thank you. That was what I was trying to get at, but you said so well.
Well, this didn't help:
Trump again targets drug policy office, proposing 95 percent budget cut
Many of these people got hooked on Oxy and many of the others see no way out and get hooked on drugs as a way to hide the pain.
The situation was so bad in the summer of 2017 in the Akron-Canton area that they were using refrigerated trucks as temporary morgues.
My sister used to work in a medical office that was right next to a pain clinic in southern WV, where the opioid crisis is particularly bad. One day, I was driving to our parents' house, and was going to meet my sis for lunch, as her town was a good halfway point in my drive. She told me she might not be able to meet me for lunch, because they were on lockdown. Somebody had threatened to bomb the pain clinic because they couldn't get their fix. I was alarmed, of course. She was nonchalant - "Sis, that's just an everyday thing for us."
The recent drug of choice seems to be mixing heroin with fentanyl or carfentanil.
The local newspaper prints the number of overdoes and deaths by the day and the week as reported by various local hospitals. Many families have taken to admitting that their loved ones died of an addiction in the obituaries as a way to publicize the epidemic. Politicians in Columbus want to criminal the addction and jail the dealer while they ignore the actual problem of addiction. The dealer only exists because someone wants the drug, so if you get rid of the addiction, the dealers go away, but that isn't politically convenient when they need to generate partisan outrage to get elected. It's also cheaper to jail a dealer than it is to effectively treat the addiction.
That's starting to be the drug of choice here, too. That's why I'm all for LEOs and all first responders carrying Narcan. They sometimes get exposed to the fentanyl via skin contact, and overdose without ever purposely ingesting the drug.
A friend and I were just discussing alarming overdose deaths of acquaintences.
My daughter is a volunteer EMS, and she tells us all the horror stories.
I guess Captin Jack is still getting more and more people high and some their final trip.
Part of the problem is the doctors have cut back on prescriptions of opioids. When one has chronic pain and they live a life of suffering they don’t have many options. They can either turn to street drugs or suicide. Severe pain strips one of any quality of life and realistically they are better off dead than suffering. With the aging population of baby boomers and suicide not being the taboo it once was it all makes sense to me.
Dean,
That is something I never considered before and I agree there is nothing worse than chronic pain. I agree with your assessment for the people who are boomers and are users, but I am not sure about the younger users. That I keep thinking is the family break down.
That probably is a part of it. Especially as families have spread out across the distances many times the support system is shattered. Some never recover.
As with most problems there is probably a number of contributing factors.
Again, i fail to get your logic. The opiod epidemic is the impetus for so many people being addicted and overdosing in the first place. People have always had pain. People have not always been overdosing at such alarming rates. In my opine less pills and guns and more alternative therapies are called for. People should not have to become dependent upon addictive drugs to get pain relief...
I agree.
However, we have another issue with prescription drug abuse / misuse. Antidepressants were not tested for long term use, but are being used long term.
The information in the following article is very concerning.
I wonder if the people who can't get opoids will wind up getting prescribed antidepressants?
The sad part of those numbers is that its really worse than it appears.
They don't include all the people brought back from overdoses. Without wide access to drugs like Naloxone (Narcan) some estimate the death total would increase 50 to 75%. Ask any LEO, Paramedic, etc. They are seeing it more every day.
Basically you've got a lot of unhappy people for one reason or another. While in the end you can only really blame the individual since ultimately we all, each of us, are responsible for ourselves but there are so many more things picking away at our mental health than even a few decades ago.
Personally i think its largely the chase to make thing better for the next generation and the increased difficulty in doing so. We are rapidly approaching a point where that isn't possible. Maybe we are already past it based on expectations. Expectations are soooo much higher than they used to be.
Every parent and kid needs/wants a smart phone, flat screen TV in their bedroom and among other things their own car to drive when they turn 16. Most expect to go to an overpriced college and get a degree in something not very marketable while getting a job immediately upon graduation at an unrealistic salary. Not to mention heavy use of media tools like Twitter, Facebook, etc that can have a very negative effect on the psyche.
A lot of pressure there for the psychologically unprepared or otherwise. And that psychological preparation isn't as robust as it used to be with the breakdown of the family unit.
Yep, its a pretty tangled web we weave, if we let society weave it on us.
My office just updated our CPR cards yesterday. I had a friend who is a firefighter/EMT and CPR instructor do the teaching, and we talked about Narcan. He said his track record bringing people back with Narcan is way better than his track record bringing people back with CPR.
Yep, its a scary good drug. In that some actually play the OD game to feel the rush of dying and being brought back by Narcan.
People are actually doing things like that to themselves these days.
Unbelievable!
Yeah. He said one of the libraries in the county north of us had all of its employees trained to administer Narcan. The reason - homeless people go to the library during the day to stay warm and safe, and sometimes to use the free internet to look for work or help. Another library nearby had somebody OD and die, and this library's director didn't want that to happen on his turf. So since he can't stop the ODs, he decided to make sure that his staff could treat them.
Yeah, pretty sad when Liberians have to be trained to administer Narcan .... sad indeed.
Lol, just caught this ..... Librarians not Liberians ...... but you all knew that right?
Some addicts who are brought around with Narcan are violent, too. My EMT friend said they try to make sure an LEO is present at the scene when they administer Narcan.
Not often we see an example of metathesis. Well done!
Wait....he had a Phd. in meta?
.
Joke
1.1 a twist on a word intended for humor.
Lol
LOL that's funny.
LOL that was just totally funny.
Lol .... i learned a new word today ..... thx.
I actually learned that word watching Star Trek... 😁
Hilarious!
Another great reply. You touched on so many of our societal ills, that I think led to this.
We are surviving things that would have killed people before. However that sometime leaves person hurting and now they want to cut down on giving pain pills, also years ago many drank regularly to cover pain but then they lowered driving limits and pushed those to taking pain pills.
People don't like to hurt and will take something and if legal stuff is taken away then otherwise good people are forced to break laws to get by
We should be legalizing marijuana for exactly this reason.
We should have legalizing marijuana for exactly this reason a long damn time ago. And for other reasons as well. In Fact marijuana actually never had a good reason to be banned to begin with.
As a former alcoholic with a whole immediate family of dead alcoholics who stopped drinking and smokes a little pot instead, it makes me sick to see the deadly substances like booze and tobacco sold at every 7 11 in America and the non lethal drug marijuana still federally illegal.
What a bunch of backward thinking bull shit we''ve had to deal with for all these fuckin years.
Agreed.
Legal here for recreational use. Never used the stuff except a couple of times in high school but have decided to partake to help combat arthritis. It's weird... I can walk into a store, buy up to 32 grams, (and pre-rolled joints???? Oh yea..), throw it on the dash of my car and drive through town....no worries at all. I do admit though that I am the sole reason Dorito's is staying in business.
I've never used it.
A few years ago, a local lawyer got caught growing marijuana at his home. He was, of course, arrested, and it was a huge deal. He made basically a public statement that he'd been battling chronic pain for years, and his choices seemed to be either addiction to opioids, illegal marijuana use, or debilitating pain. He chose the option that still allowed him to work and tolerate life. It just happened to be illegal.
There's no such thing as a "former" alcoholic, drug addict, or addict of any sort (gambling, sex, cigarettes, etc). Those who have achieved sobriety repeatedly work their 12 Steps with their sponsor while living Step 12 on a daily basis.
Recovering addicts know that they will always be in recovery and are one drink, one pill, one snort, one cigarette, one needle away from again becoming an active addict.
I wish you continued success in your recovery journey!
PS - Much of today's marijuana is not what it used to be. Today's marijuana is often mixed with fentanyl, and that's when so many ODs have occurred.
I used to be an alcoholic now I''m not, I dont care what ya want to call it or what you've heard.
I never did a 12 step program and still don't drink and haven't in like 40 years. I dont care if I did switch addictions, I'm alive, happy, health and financially set. My alcoholic family are none of the above. Al dead alcoholics. Including two younger siblings.
The marijana I use is tested and regulated I doubt I have much to worry about as far as fentanyl or any other shit being in it.
Having deadly poisons like tobacco and alcohol legal sold on every street corner and still a non deadly alternative like pot is federally illegal IMO; is totally asinine and quite deadly.
To each their own !
I knew that there was a reason I kept my few shares of PepsiCo stock.
Longer life doesn't mean better life.
Never understood folks wanting to live a long, long, long time.
If I get to 70 ….. I'll be a happier than normal camper !
If folks only want to live until 20, 30 or 40, that's their choice.
Isn't "Choice" important ?
Yes it is. Unfortunately drug addition kinda makes that choice not so easy. Alcoholism as well.
Too much is taught in society about "needs" and "feelings" being met by others these days. If you "Feel", you deserve I guess.
When one doesn't get what they think they deserve, or don't have what neighbor Joe has, they get depressed. At least that's what some think anyway.
Used to be ,"Hard Work" got you what you wanted was taught. NOT ANY MORE !
look at the Snowflake movement these last few years.
If I did that in college, my Dad AND MOM , woulda yanked my ass out by my underwear and sent me to a school that wouldn't put up with shit like that.
I think both ideologies are taking it too far. I was a dem, then a republican , now I dont belong to either party because I don't think either one is quite sane or has MY best interest in mind.
I research ALL the candidates and vote for the Person I think is best qualified. I am loyal to neither party. They aren't loyal to me either so it works.
I'm conservative myself. Always have been.
Conservatives aren't ALWAYS Republican.
That's why I like Trump !
He goes after both parties with no qualms.
I'm basily financially conservative and socially liberal. Do whatever makes ya happy, just dont impose on me ta do it. And I'll do the same !
I think he'll also work with both parties as well. I still dont like much of any way he does anything.
I believe trump would work with almost anyone to get what he wants. I also dont like that.
He would !
IMHO.....I think he does his other texting and squawking stuff to keep the "Media" all hyped up and distracted. Keeps him in the news too.
I can't say anything Trump has done has hurt me personally at all. Obama's little health insurance scam sure did. My Rates went waaaaay up, more than they used too.
I really, Really, Really didn't like that.
And those poor folks that had to pay a fine for not getting what they couldn't afford in the first place.
I like him texting, I think it should be studied. I also think trump may be the only one who can end his reign. I say "Let trump be trump !" It wouldn't surprise me if someday he trumps himself right out of office.
I dont know that I disagree with all that trump is dong, But I dont care for any of how he does much of anything.
I am against forcing anybody to do anything against their will. I don't think trump cares about that, at all.
So I doubt I ever feel much different about the man.
Probably it'll start within months after the new congress takes over. Like I said before the dems want stuff trump can help them get, he wants the power they bring to his staying power.
When it comes to other countries and what they should have been doing, I don't mind Trump doing what he's doing at all. Luv'd it when he called European allies out at that multibillion dollar Monument for spending money on that piece of crap, and not on what they should be spending money like that on.
To me....that's not forcing....it's shaming folks into doing what they should have been doing for decades.
The real shame is what they don't do, but should have been doing !
Either way, convence against your will you are of the same opinion still.
trump may change some actions, but I doubt he changes many minds or long term wills of the people he gets to do what he wants, at and for a time.
Sometimes depression is self-inflicted and other times it is bad brain chemistry. You can't make a blanket statement about what causes depression.
Many of the people who are depressed and are using are adults in their 40's and 50's. It's not just millennials and an entire generation are not "snowflakes".
OK, this isn't about politics so can we please get back on topic?
The worst case I ever saw was a 60 year old lady who was a depressed alcoholic pill head. Totally worthless to society, herself and everyone around her.
I think lots of folks say that ..... and then they turn 70 and things change. I've seen numerous people go that route. Both my in-laws and one of my parents right now. He's 87 and takes meds like chiclets ..... i think he's up to like 12 a day and proud of it.
Pretty sad but not much others can do about it if the patient is of basically sound mind.
LOL... When younger my point was 65. That was it after that I wanted to be dead. When I hit like 50 that point changed !!!
Now I'm 60 I'm sayin 20 more tops.
In 10 I'll change it...LOL
I wouldn't know what to do with myself after 70. I don't golf.
60 is the new 40 ....
Well, if my parents and in-laws are any indication of what you're suppose to do at that age, work at making yours and relatives lives miserable.
Full time job for some of them i swear ....
I saved all the movies of the world to watch once I cant do much else. lol
Thankfully they are all probably available now thats the computer age. So I'm set till maybe 80.
LOL
Someone should tell my body.
That's my sibling issue. They're fucking nutz…..I swear !
Lol, i hear you. Which reminds me of the old saying:
"If i knew i was going to live this long i would have taken better care of myself"
- Almost everyone who makes it to 60-70 years old
It's interchangeable ...... in my family its mainly the in-laws who are really outlaws ...... some serious coo-coo on that side of the gene pool ..... the very, very shallow side ....
Hope you are right...I just turned 50.
LOL "If i knew i was going to live this long i would have partied a hell of a lot harder to stop it."
I still have VHS tapes and 45's to re-listen to and watch ....over and over and over and over.....
AND
OVER and over and over...……
I never liked movies much. too long. When a commercial comes on I start doing other stuff and lose track, so I haven't watched many movies, so, I have lots ta watch. for the first time.
Sometimes I keep the TV on just for the noise. Reading in quiet seems to make my ears ring way too loud. Must be an age thingy !
Now we may be getting into TMI ..LOL
But, I also have the tv going sometimes for the noise, But I'm pretty good about being fine in almost total silence as well for long periods with no problem.
My brother didn't. He always had to have some sort of noise in the background. Constantly. To me it was annoying some times. I like my silence too.
5 years ago you couldn't get me to take an aspirin. Although I've smoked pot with exception to my LEO days, for 40 years.
Now, 8 pills and an inhaler keep me being an asshole everyday...
Hmmm...some of the "extra meds" can be fun though but I'm too much of a control freek to indulge recreationally.
I'm with you there. I'm 58, and I don't feel old at all.
Sorry bud, i was being a little sarcastic
...... and going on 58 here
This is an epidemic that cannot be cured anytime soon, if ever. It is becoming as mainstream as smoking. The best approach at this point is to help those who are addicted become functioning addicts similar to the functioning alcoholic and the nicotine user.
Anyone not carrying the gene of addiction who becomes addicted will pass it on to future generations because the government isn't serious about addressing this issue and insurance companies aren't interested in footing the bill.
The only winners right now are the drug companies and the Addiction Recovery Centers.
I'm always skeptical of both. The drug companies make money from selling the stuff, and I think that recovery has to come from within before you can get help.
Without the politics involved we keep looking at the southern border for this and it's not except for Mexican Brown heroin.
The bulk of heroin and some derivitives come from Asia. Afghanistan I read recently is responsible for some outrageous number like 92% of world supply.
Very true.
Doesn't it seem odd that US military forces are currently in Afghanistan and heroin is the problem?
Thirty years ago US military forces were all over Central and South America and cocaine was the problem
Yep. It also happened during the Reagan years. I was in college during the Reagan years and coke was every where....and cheap
The Taliban had eradicated poppy growing in Iraq and was drying up the world's supply of heroin just prior to the US invasion.
The US and UN had an opportunity to help the world by giving financial assistance and grains to the former poppy farmers.
We had a golden opportunity to bring change to Afghanistan via economic assistance instead of bullets. If our wonderful elected leaders had managed to make the right choice, I wonder how many lives would have been saved worldwide due to less drug addiction, less overdoses, less people killed by people throughout the drug chain, less people robbed, killed or otherwise harmed by drug addicts?
So the Taliban wipes out the opium industry....the United States resurrected it? That's what it sounds like
That's about what happened.
?t=4I just don't know what to say to that
Welcome to America. kinda says it all.
lol
Our government or people in our government?
Is drug running being used as a government fundraiser or is our government being controlled by drug lords and just as corrupt as the banana republics that we disdain for being corrupt and controlled by drug lords?
Sorry for going political, (Not all THAT sorry though!) but the left has always had compassion for the addicted, and have always wanted to treat drug addiction as a medical problem rather than a legal one. The right has always wanted to treat addicts as criminals, but are coming on board now because the problem is so widespread, most of them have family members with a problem. Most on the right have no natural empathy for their fellow human beings; they don't care about any problems people have until they hit home.
Look into Bill Clinton’s crime bill he actually increased penalties and incarceration for drug offenders.
The Clintons and Obama are conservatives. 'Obamacare' is a CONSERVATIVE health plan, It was basically a complete capitulation to the Republicans and not one of them voted for it. If not for the strong leadership of Obama and Pelosi, half the Democrats would have voted no because it was so conservative. Insurance companies should not get their greedy paws on one dime of the money meant for healthcare. America is basically a banana republic now with the income disparity to prove it.
OK guys.. please no more politics.