Ten Observations from the White House Opioid Summit by Jim Geraghty

Ten Observations from the White House Opioid Summit by Jim Geraghty

https://www.nationalreview.com/blog/the-morning-jolt/ten-observations-from-the-white-house-opioid-summit/

Excerpt: One: The White House Opioid Summit began with a short video of Fox News personality Eric Bolling describing getting the call that his son had died of an overdose. You can see it here (https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/969315338440523776), and it is simply heartbreaking. He warned that “‘not my kid syndrome’ is a killer.” The coroner’s report determined that Eric Chase Bolling had “cocaine, marijuana, alprazolam (commonly known as Xanax), and the opioid drugs fentanyl and cyclopropyl fentanyl in his system.” Despite a rumor at the time, there was no sign of self-harm; this was an accidental overdose, ending the life of a 19-year-old University of Colorado sophomore with his whole life ahead of him. College students can begin by seeking out Ritalin and stimulants to handle all-night study sessions and handle an exhausting schedule, and then turn to Xanax and other opioids to calm down and relax on the weekends. We need to tell our kids not merely, “don’t do drugs.” We need to tell them, “don’t ingest any pill that didn’t come from a pharmacist, because there is a greater-than-zero risk that it could kill you.” Two: A second video featured Daniel Goonan, the fire chief of Manchester, New Hampshire, whose department now responds to more overdoses than fires. The city instituted a “Safe Station” program, where anyone struggling with addiction can show up, get assessed, and steered to a treatment program. “As most city hospital emergency rooms may be overwhelmed with patients, this program assists all by weeding out those individuals seeking assistance that may not need immediate medical attention but need immediate help.”