Kristy D (Kristy Dyroff)

I speak for thousands of mothers who were disgusted with your discussion on the Opioid Crisis on 3/20/19. With 192 people dying EVERY day across the US, you should better educate yourselves on this serious health issue! My son, as hundreds of thousands of others, became addicted to opioids from being over prescribed opioids by our family doctor in 2007. Our doctor was convicted Federally for the deaths of several other patients who died from their addiction to prescription opioids. The pharmaceutical companies ARE responsible for this epidemic and it's simply naive to believe otherwise. They convinced doctors that their "new generation" opioids were non-addictive and safer, as well as offering incentives for doctors who prescribed high levels. Yes, the current problem is black market fentanyl from Mexico and China, but addicts aren't seeking it out. My son aged out of the Obamacare health system and couldn't afford insurance. That's why addicts go to the streets to buy opioids their sick bodies desperately need. "More than 40% of all US opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved a prescription opioid...Drug overdoses claimed the lives of nearly 64,000 Americans in 2016. Nearly two-thirds of these deaths (66%) involved a prescription or illicit opioid." My son bought it online, but the CDA protects the websites from responsibility for his murder. We live in a country where in 2017 Obama funded $1.1 billion in Zika funding for a disease that caused 49 deaths! The opioid epidemic has caused over 400,000 deaths through 2017. The stigma continues to effect one in five families in the US, but no one talks about it. Yes, it is evolving and getting worse, "...in a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, highlight the start of the third wave of the nation's opioid epidemic. The first was prescription pain medications, such as OxyContin; then heroin, which replaced pills when they became too expensive; and now fentanyl." But, it's far from over. Rather than debate whether Gillibrand has brought forth a ridiculous piece of legislation, can't there be a discussion about how to substantially impact this enormous epidemic? In my humble, but knowledgeable opinion, the most significant impact would be felt by educating state and local law enforcement so that they can effectively investigate and prosecute these dealers intentionally killing our children. The DEA can't investigate 192 new deaths each day. Please be part of the solution to the biggest threat to the US in the last century.