This country has a serious drug overdose problem which has flown under the radar over the last seven years. Per the CDC, there were 52,623 deaths in the U.S. due to drug overdose in 2015. Through October 2021, there were 101,035 deaths. This extrapolates out to 121,000 by December 2022. This is a 130% increase in seven years. In 2021 there was an increase of 20,000 alone. At 121,000 deaths in a year, over 10,000 Americans are dying by drug overdose per month. This compares to annual deaths by diabetes of 102,000, influenza/pneumonia of 53,000, gun shot of 45,000, auto accidents of 40,000.
When looking at it by race, it shows that this is an equal opportunity crisis. Here is a chart showing drug overdose deaths by race per 100,000 in population for calendar year 2019.
There are many theories as to why the increase has been so great in the last seven years, ranging from ease of access, over prescribing, open borders, poor access to behavior health services, a movement to defund police, and the stress of Covid-19. Whatever the causes, this problem is only going to get bigger until we start taking it seriously.
Multiple sources are reporting that six state attorney generals are threatening to take legal action against the NFL and its owners if it doesn’t clean up its act. Here are excerpts from the ESPN article.
The attorneys general of six states have written to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, expressing concern over the league’s treatment of woman employees, and admonishing him for a lack of improvement to the league’s workplace culture. Without improvement, the attorneys general warned of potential legal action. The letter outlines concerns of gender discrimination ranging from the NFL’s treatment of women who have experienced domestic violence to the hiring and promotion of women in NFL offices. It comes as Congress investigates how the league has handled claims of sexual harassment in the front office of the Washington Commanders. The letter was signed by Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, where the league is headquartered, as well as the attorneys general of Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon and Washington State.
For the past twenty years, big Dwayne Stephens has been sitting on the sidelines near MSU head coach Tom Izzo, giving Izzo instructions during the game. For the past 10 years, he has been Izzo’s top assistant and associate head coach. He has been instrumental in MSU’s highly successful recruiting and the development of big guys who have been successful in the NBA. I always wondered why Stephens stayed with MSU for such a long time. It turns out he has turned down many head coaching offers and was waiting for the right opportunity. The right opportunity came this week as Stephens was introduced as the new men’s basketball head coach at Western Michigan University. Look for Stephens to have an immediate impact on WMU’s fortunes.
Pray for peace and tolerance. What are you doing to stop the violence? Get vaccinated and get your booster.
Orchid of the Day: Dwayne Stephens, the new WMU men’s basketball coach.
Onion of the Day: Albert Morrison, 60, who served on the Madison District Public School board from 2012-18, was charged with four counts of federal income tax evasion and four counts of failing to file federal tax returns. The tax evasion charge is punishable by up to five years in federal prison, while failure to file taxes charge carries a penalty of one year in prison. From 2014-18, his longtime friend who owned a maintenance and reconstruction company was awarded school district contracts. The friend, who is not identified, allegedly wrote checks from the company to Morrison’s company Comfort Consulting. While serving as the elected president, Morrison received at least $561,667 from the contractor’s company, according to the indictment.
Quote of the Day: “Fred Upton is one of the few members of conscience left in Congress. The Republican from St. Joseph has spent 36 years representing the people of his district. And he always put them first, rather than his party.” Nolan Finley, on retiring congressman Fred Upton.
Video of the Day: