Big Pharma painkillers killing more Americans than all murders, war and terrorism combined

[ErikJ]

46,000 Americans killed each year by drug overdoses... most of them FDA-approved Big Pharma opioids... while medical system suppresses HEMP cures that render many painkillers obsolete

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

According to the FBI, around 15,000 people are murdered in the United States each year. Terrorism incidents like the San Bernardino shootings add another few dozen fatalities, and war operations in the Middle East bring additional casualties into the mix.

Yet the number of Americans killed by FDA-approved pharmaceutical drug overdoses dwarfs all those fatalities combined. According to the CDC, there were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in 2013, and over half of those were caused by FDA approved prescription pharma drugs (opioids).

From the CDC's drug overdose page:

From 2000 to 2014 nearly half a million Americans died from drug overdoses. Opioid overdose deaths, including both opioid pain relievers and heroin, hit record levels in 2014, with an alarming 14 percent increase in just one year, according to new data published today in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The most commonly prescribed opioid pain relievers, those classified as natural or semi-synthetic opioids such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, continue to be involved in more overdose deaths than any other opioid type. These deaths increased by 9 percent (813 more deaths in 2014 than 2013).

More than six out of 10 drug overdose deaths in 2014 involved opioids, including opioid pain relievers and heroin. The largest increase in opioid overdose deaths involved synthetic opioids (not including methadone), which were involved in 5,500 deaths in 2014, nearly twice as many as the year before.

Big Pharma profits from mass death while the industry suppresses medical marijuana cures

......................................................cont'd

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/053168_drug_overdose_deaths_opioids_Big_Pharma_painkillers.html#ixzz41m5M42il

[WDIM]

1. Big Pharma's profits come from making people addicts not making people well.

They come from making people addicted and stuck on their drugs. They come from making people sick so they have to buy more of their drugs. They come from giving people cancer so they have to buy more of their drugs.

Natural plant base solutions for health problems has been completely lost to history. Our Government has ensured that somebody growing a plant is a criminal and should be removed from society and their life destroyed. But a corporation selling poison over the pharmacy counter is big business that receives Government funds and kick backs. It is truly a sick twisted world we live in.

[Crunchy Frog]

7. Opioids ARE natural plant based medications

that have been used to effectively treat pain for thousands of years.

As someone who went through excruciating kidney stone pain last year, with essentially no pain management, I'm leery about throwing out the the baby with the bathwater.

I kind of wonder about other deaths that they don't talk about. How many people kill themselves because of chronic, intractible, untreated pain? How many people OD on the acetominophen that's added to most opioid pain medications? How many people die from side effects of excess NSAIDS that are being pushed on people these days as a substitute pain med? Are some people turning to the streets because they can't get their pain managed adaquately within the medical system, and could that be part of the reason for increasing numbers of ODs?

I think this whole issue is being treated overly simplistically by our media, and by lots of other people who are discussing it.

ETA, interesting that the rise in OD deaths seems to be coinciding so closely with a major backlash, and crackdowns on their use in legitimate medical practice. I wonder if there's some sort of connection.

[WDIM]

9. They may be plant "based" but they are not "natural".

And they synthetic Opioids are neither plant based or natural.

When I speak of plants I mean a plant a person can grow in their yard and use to treat ailments. Many herbs are good for treating all kinds of ailments. The fact our Government has made an herb illegal to grow goes against natural law and human rights.

The Nsaids, Acetominophens, are no better than the opioids. The whole point being made though is Cannabis can treat some of these issues safely without the risk of OD yet we have racist oppressive tyrannical laws that destroy people for growing a Cannabis plant. Its truly insane.

[GeorgeGist]

14. Ever heard of opium?

[WDIM]

17. to derive the opium it is no longer natural it has been manipulated by humans.

When it is chemically altered by humans it is no longer natural.
Cocaine is not natural either. It is chemically extracted from the coca plant.
I'm all for people growing and chewing on coca leaves. But I am against cocaine.
Cannabis does not have to be processed into a drug to be used it is used in its natural plant form.

[Crunchy Frog]

25. Opium is nothing more than the sap that oozes from the ripe pod.

You can also use the dried pods to make a tea. I'm not sure how that would qualify as more "manipulation" than drying leaves, burning them, and inhaling them into your lungs.

[Crunchy Frog]

24. Did you know that they used to arrest Eastern European immigrant housewives

for growing poppies in their kitchen gardens, in the very early days of what came to be known as the "drug war"? You okay with that?

It's been a traditional medicinal herb in many cultures going back hundreds or thousands of years. The amount of "processing" required is minimal, as you can simply make tea from the pods.

And I do agree with you that "The fact our Government has made an herb illegal to grow goes against natural law and human rights." It's just that Cannabis is not the only traditionally grown medicinal herb out there.

[WDIM]

26. I do believe poppies should be legal and many times they are.

and poppy tea although it can be dangerous I believe a person with the knowledge to do it safely should be able to.
I don't think that the individual should make it into opium and definitely not go past opium.

I believe in an all encompassing right to peacefully grow plants for individual use. I don't believe any Government in the world has the right to stop people from growing any plant unless that plant is being used to harm others (caster beans to make ricin for example).

But I am against the hypocrisy of our Government that allows deadly pills to be sold by corporate big pharma but outlaws a benign herb and destroys peoples lives for growing it. That is what must be changed. We need to give the right to grow plants back to the people and stop interfering in the lives of peaceful citizens minding their own business and smoking an herb.

[Crunchy Frog]

31. No need to pit people who benefit from opiates against people who benefit from cannabis.

You can protest government hypocrisy without creating that false dichotomy.

[REP]

36. Growing Papaver somniferum is illegal in the United States

Despite the seeds of Papaver somniferum bring used as a culinary herb, growing it for any purpose is illegal in the US. Which is a shame; it's one of the more beautiful poppies. All other poppies may be legally grown, even Papaver bracteatum, which produces thebaine from which codeine is produced.

[mercuryblues]

29. Can you

suggest to me a natural plant based solution for anti-rejection?

[Archae]

2. This story is bullshit. Total bullshit.

1. Source "Natural news."
Woo and conspiracy theory central.

2. Numbers are not backed up.

3. Hemp and pot does not "cure" anything.

Smoking or eating pot can help with some symptoms, including pain.
But no "cures."

[ohnoyoudidnt]

3. it does have medical uses.

Why do you think it is still schedule 1?

[Archae]

5. That's what I said.

But not "cures."

[ohnoyoudidnt]

11. Fair enough. The article is mainly about how it can reduce deaths from prescription painkillers,

which is absolutely true. There are several claims about its use in epilepsy treatment (Charlotte's Web) and some claims about its use against cancer and tumors, although being a schedule 1 drug makes it difficult for proper testing and to prove that definitively.

Since the pharmacy industry is against its use for pain treatment as they would rather sell addictive and deadly drugs that are basically synthetic heroin, I wouldn't be surprised if they are against it because they are afraid or know it could do a heck of a lot more. They shouldn't claim the cures as a fact, but from articles I have read it looks promising.

Maybe if they had said there is merit to researching the possibility of cures instead of there are cures you wouldn't be calling it total bullshit?

[HERVEPA]

4. Correct on all counts

And ignores how much painkillers mentioned can also help so many people.
Called risk/benefit.

[WDIM]

12. There is some pretty good evidence out there of Cannabis Curing cancer.

Opioid pain killers do not "cure" anything either they only mask symptoms.

Cannabis has been shown to help the body recovery from injury, help the brain recovery from injury, it has been shown to destroy cancer cells, but on top of that It does help with many other disorders as well and that is well documented.

[nationalize the fed]

16. The US GOV admits THC kills cancer cells

National Cancer Institute

Studies in mice and rats have shown that cannabinoids may inhibit tumor growth by causing cell death, blocking cell growth, and blocking the development of blood vessels needed by tumors to grow. Laboratory and animal studies have shown that cannabinoids may be able to kill cancer cells while protecting normal cells.

A laboratory study of cannabidiol (CBD) in estrogen receptor positive and estrogen receptor negative breast cancer cells showed that it caused cancer cell death while having little effect on normal breast cells. Studies in mouse models of metastatic breast cancer showed that cannabinoids may lessen the growth, number, and spread of tumors.

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/cannabis-pdq#section/all

Here's the smoking gun (sorry)

The US Gov has held a PATENT on the use of Cannabinoids since 2003

US Patent #6630507

Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants

http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6630507.PN.&OS=PN/6630507&RS=PN/6630507

The patent has been posted here for years, and usually it's ignored. Probably because no one can believe it. But anyone can click the link and see it at the US Patent office

[WDIM]

18. ^^^ thanks for the documentation nt

[ohnoyoudidnt]

20. !

[Cordy]

22. From what I have seen

You can kill cancer cells with baking soda & a dab of molasses. There are some good vids on you tube about it. Worth try for anyone with cancer, and may avoid chemo.

[HuckleB]

23. Youtube is not science.

You are going to hurt people if you spread BS like that. No good will come from it.
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/another-cancer-tragedy-in-the-making/

[Cordy]

30. Hmm, not the people who are being cured, so.....

Baking soda isn't going to kill you, nor will molasses. And apparently some good have already come of it Huck, so to each his own I guess.

[HuckleB]

35. Umm. Really?

Last edited Wed Mar 2, 2016, 07:08 PM - Edit history (3)

You do understand that the plural of anecdote is not data. You are falling for scam artists. Don't do that to yourself. And please don't do that to others.

http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2014/03/24/dont-believe-the-hype-10-persistent-cancer-myths-debunked/

[snooper2]

27. Hey your still here!

LOL

[Cordy]

19. I tend to disagree

Last edited Wed Mar 2, 2016, 06:29 PM - Edit history (1)

It seems Natural News does use links to the data that make the claim from.

I would tend to agree mj does not cure anything, just like pharma's pain killers. Mj does do some wonderful things besides cancel pain, like relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's for example.

There are many natural cures, and one must ask, where does pharma get their chemicals if not from nature. Is there any medicines that cure you? Maybe, somewhere.

BTW, I got a license for mj a few years back, not to smoke it, because I wouldn't do that to my lungs, and I did eat a piece of a cookie and sorry I did that. But I bought it in a syringe to use on some skin lesions to see what happens. Nothing did, so I didn't renew my license this year.

[Crunchy Frog]

33. That publication is quite the winner, on closer inspection.

Here's a few more gems I found on there. If feds slaughter patriot occupiers in Oregon, it will unleash an armed revolution across America... Civil War may be near

Obama is a sleeper cell... how the destruction of America's culture, economy and national security was planned from the start

CNN tried to destroy Donald Trump with vaccine autism question, but he gave this AMAZING response

People are treating this like it's a credible source?

[womanofthehills]

42. new study - marijuana and brain cancer

Over the past few years, research has revealed that marijuana can both destroy certain cancer cells and reduce the growth of others. Now, a new study in mice has found that when combined with radiation treatment, cannabis can effectively shrink one of the most aggressive types of brain tumors.

In a paper published Friday in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapies, a team of researchers from St. George's University of London outlined the "dramatic reductions" they observed in high-grade glioma masses, a deadly form of brain cancer, when treated with a combination of radiation and two different marijuana compounds, also known as cannabinoids. In many cases, those tumors shrunk to as low as one-tenth the sizes of those in the control group.

"We've shown that cannabinoids could play a role in treating one of the most aggressive cancers in adults," Dr. Wai Liu, one of the study's lead authors, wrote in an op-ed earlier this week. "The results are promising...it could provide a way of breaking through glioma and saving more lives."

In an email to The Huffington Post, Liu pointed out that while research surrounding marijuana's cancer-fighting properties is nothing new, his team is the first to document its effect on the disease when used alongside radiation. "The results showed that the final effect was superior to the sum of the parts," he said. "Hopefully, these results will support calls for formal trials in humans to test these combinations."

Liu and his colleagues examined mice that had been infected with glioma and subsequently treated with radiation alone or in combination with varying levels of two cannabis compounds: THC, the psychoactive compound associated with the "high" sensation, and CBD, which doesn't produce psychoactive side effects.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18/marijuana-brain-cancer_n_6181060.html

[womanofthehills]

43. Univ of Wisconsin cancer studies

Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment: Progress and Promise

Sami Sarfaraz, Vaqar M. Adhami, Deeba N. Syed, Farrukh Afaq, and Hasan Mukhtar

-
Author Affiliations

Chemoprevention Program, Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center and Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

Requests for reprints:
Hasan Mukhtar, Department of Dermatology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1300, University Avenue, Medical Sciences Center, B-25, Madison, WI 53706. Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone]; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

Cannabinoids are a class of pharmacologic compounds that offer potential applications as antitumor drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class to limit inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. In particular, emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumor cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. Here, we review recent work that raises interest in the development and exploration of potent, nontoxic, and nonhabit forming cannabinoids for cancer therapy. [Cancer Res 2008;68(2):339–42]

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/68/2/339

[HERVEPA]

6. Bullshit source which hawks unregulated products that do nothing (positive).

[WDIM]

15. as oppose to the FDA and Big Pharma that hawk regulated products that kill people. nt

[HERVEPA]

40. Ever hear of risk/benefit.

[HuckleB]

8. Your source is a scam conspiracy page that sells crap to the unsuspecting.

It is one of the most despicable pages on the Internet.

About the scumbag author of this piece:
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/mike-adams-is-a-dangerous-loon/

And, as noted, marijuana can help some symptoms. It is being studied, finally. It is not going to be some magical cure all, however.
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/medical-marijuana-as-the-new-herbalism-part-1-the-politics-of-weed-versus-science/

[hunter]

10. Not this shit again...

The problem is the "war on drugs" itself, it's not hemp vs. opiates.

Natural News is a stupid news source in the first place, and that particular hemp vs. poppies perspective is nonsense. Cannabis is a useful medicine and so is the opium poppy. Neither are magically good or evil, and both can be used inappropriately.

The major problem here is the big money players -- the pharmaceutical companies, the big gangsters, the drug warriors, the prison system, and our fucked up legal system.

Take away the big money, offer people who take too many drugs the same kind of help you'd give to people who drink too much alcohol, or eat too much food, or smoke, and all the most wretched problems of "drug addiction" go away. How many people die drinking alcohol? How many people die smoking? How many people die from eating too much "junk" food? Hell, how many people die driving around in automobiles?

Yes, let's outlaw automobiles, burn down the automobile factories and fuel refineries, just like law enforcement officers now burn marijuana and poppy gardens...

...but that would be insane, right?

[WDIM]

13. I think the article is merely showing the hypocrisy of our Drug Laws.

We can have deadly pills sold by Corporate Big Pharma.

But if an individual grows a Cannabis plant that has no overdose risk or risk of any kind their home is taken, their money is taken, they lose their job, they lose their family, they go to jail, they go to prison, That is what is insane...

[Darb]

21. How do so many "pills" get on the black market?

I smell a bunch of rats in Big Pharma. To kill twenty some thousand people in a year? that's a lot of pills. Hard to miss that many.

[Cordy]

32. The Dr. Prescribing?

Sometimes it can be the doctor prescribing drugs that interact with other drugs to form deadly toxins and such. Most natural plants do not interact, and some shouldn't be used, period.


Doctors tend to find a pill to serve a remedy that works for the patient, then slams the pills month after month without monitoring their patients.

[Eko]

28. Natural news

is new age woo.

[Crunchy Frog]

34. It's worse than that, even.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7654527

[zappaman]

37. Big Pharma!!!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

38. There are better sources to point out the evils of large corporations

Natural News is complete and total garbage.

[Godhumor]

39. *Check source* And...I'm done here. n/t

[Omaha Steve]

44. Thanks for posting

When my time comes it is pain killers and booze for me to lever on my terms. Not the terms of FTD!

K&R!

OS

[Last_Stand]

45. Over 7 billion people on the planet...

no worries.