Letter: Local lawsuits against drug companies shouldn’t overlook impact of alcohol

To the Editor,

There are approximately 2.1 million opiate addicts in America. Of those, approximately 1 million are heroin users. The majority of overdoses that the county, state, and country have occurring are from heroin and fentanyl overdoses. Some, not all, addicts begin with prescription painkillers and when they cannot get them anymore, move to heroin. Is it the pharmaceutical companies fault that weak-minded individuals cannot control themselves? Also, how are those that abuse painkillers getting theirs? Shouldn’t the over-prescribing doctors be held accountable as well?

Let’s look at an industry a little closer to home. Of the approximately 2.1 million opiate addicts, roughly half are on illegal drugs purposely. So, 1 million Americans are addicted to a pharmaceutical company’s product, at no fault of that company. Compare that to a more staggering 17.6 million alcoholics in America! Our local leaders, and others around the country, want to recoup resources spent on overdoses and get restitution to the families and treatment money for the addict. What about restitution to families of those injured or killed by drunk drivers? Not to mention costs of diseases like cirrhosis and others, resources used dealing with these issues, and everyone’s insurance rates increasing from an alcoholic’s bad choices?

When do our local leaders plan on suing our local bourbon producers? Are we not going to treat each drug industry the same? Both produce legal products and have no control over who decides to abuse the product at the end user level.

You want to stop the waste of county resources on overdoses? Ban the purchase or use of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone in the county. Your savings will quickly add up and the number of addicts in the county will steadily drop. Drastic? Yes.

Short of that, issue a mandate to lock them up in isolation until they are completely clean …. once! Quit treating this as a disease and start treating it as it is….a weakness of the mind, an individual choice, and a crutch for those that don’t want to grow up and be responsible for their own actions. Stop enabling, government leaders! Until the addict decides to be a productive part of society, instead just a drain on it, there will be no end of his excuses and use of an opiate, or alcohol for that matter, as a crutch.

So, Judge Executive and Magistrates, I will await the announcement of the class action lawsuits you file on the bourbon producers you all hold so dear. After all, right is right and with 8 times more people addicted to alcohol than drugs, that would seem more right. Right?

Mark Ballard
Bardstown