Mike Lee: Federal Government Has Been Making Opioid Crisis Worse

Mike Lee: Federal Government Has Been Making Opioid Crisis Worse:
"WASHINGTON – Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said the federal government has contributed to the opioid crisis and caused “substantial harm” over time.
“When faced with a crisis of this particular magnitude, it is easy to say that maybe the solution could be found in a new raft of government programs. 
...“There is strong evidence that the government has itself done substantial harm by, among other things, paying for a flood of pain pills through Medicaid and the Medicare prescription drug benefit,” he said.
“Before we jump into any other government-funded solution, we should reckon with the damage that this kind of mentality and this kind of programmatic response through our nation’s capital has already caused.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that drug overdoses killed 63,632 Americans in 2016, and nearly two-thirds of these deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid.
...Lee said the U.S. has to “recognize that culture matters” when it comes to drug addiction.
...The harder task, really, will be to change the broader culture within American communities and families to make them more resilient to drugs,” he added..."
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