Is America Prepared to Deal with the Pandemic of Misery and Addiction Caused by the Opioid Crisis?
CPAC Texas 2021
Jackie Siegel from Victoria’s Voice Foundation, Doug Deason of Deason Capital Services, LLC, and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi sit down with Mercedes Schlapp at CPAC Texas 2021 to discuss the opioid epidemic. The opioid epidemic increased by sixty percent during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the isolation and loneliness lockdowns created, and thus, the heartbreak and loss of overdose deaths also spread during this time. Warriors, like these panelists, are fighting in the private sector, in the judicial system, and through legislation to stifle the distribution of fentanyl, rehabilitate addicts, and disperse the live-saving overdose treatment Narcan. Siegel through Victoria’s Voice Foundation was influential in pushing for legislation sponsoring the distribution of Narcan nationwide and in supporting programs that provide recovering addicts with skills to help them find success when they reenter society. Deason emphasizes the need effectively prosecute drug dealers and corrupt doctors. Bondi, as the Florida Attorney General, did just that and drove out the top oxycodone prescribing doctors. The open border is contributing to the flood of opioid drugs into the country and to the lacing of medication and other drugs with lethal doses of fentanyl. The solution to the epidemic requires a collaborative effort from all facets of the private and public sectors.