Philadelphia- what the opioid epidemic looked like this summer

[Anonymous]

This video is heartbreaking: (Philadelphia, August 2021)

We have to do much, much more to fight the epidemic of opioid / fentanyl use in the USA.

Are there parts of DC that resemble this?

[Anonymous]

This scene has been playing out since the 70s in inner cities. There didn't seem to be much concern then.

I grew up in LA. Skid row has been in existence for decades pre opioid crisis. Not much has changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This scene has been playing out since the 70s in inner cities. There didn't seem to be much concern then.

I grew up in LA. Skid row has been in existence for decades pre opioid crisis. Not much has changed.

Well, except the number of deaths per capita skyrocketing.

[Anonymous]

Synthetic opioids / fentanyl from China seems to be fueling this to a major degree.

[Anonymous]

I really don't like this guy's Youtube channel. It feels very exploitative, putting these people on the Internet for all to see.

He's gotten dozens and dozens of these types of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuf_kStlWnhuauw4ce8l-w/videos

He's built 100K followers by just posting human misery porn.


I'm also fairly certain he's a rightwing provocateur. A bunch of rightwing "news" websites repost his videos to say something along of the lines of "This is Biden's America!"

This sh#t has been happening all over America for centuries. It was homeless camps of drunks and the insane in the 1800s. It evolved through the opium, crack, and meth epidemics. It's been a opiate epidemic ever since pharma companies produced powerful pills by the billions starting in the 1990s and greedy doctors went along for the ride.

Want to fix the problem? Increase funding for addiction services, build more inpatient and outpatient centers with tax monies, and provide universal healthcare to every American regardless of income.

Until then, this stuff is just political posturing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This scene has been playing out since the 70s in inner cities. There didn't seem to be much concern then.

I grew up in LA. Skid row has been in existence for decades pre opioid crisis. Not much has changed.

It's not the same. I am from NYC and grew up in the 70s and 80s and saw some of this first with heroin (the nodding out on the street corners same as with opioids) and then later with crack, but it is so much more widespread now. It's in the cities, the small towns, the Cape, the Rust Belt, Indian Reservations, EVERYWHERE. And it can largely be laid at the feet of the pharmacy industry. There is no fentanyl crisis without Oxycontin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really don't like this guy's Youtube channel. It feels very exploitative, putting these people on the Internet for all to see.

He's gotten dozens and dozens of these types of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuf_kStlWnhuauw4ce8l-w/videos

He's built 100K followers by just posting human misery porn.


I'm also fairly certain he's a rightwing provocateur. A bunch of rightwing "news" websites repost his videos to say something along of the lines of "This is Biden's America!"

This sh#t has been happening all over America for centuries. It was homeless camps of drunks and the insane in the 1800s. It evolved through the opium, crack, and meth epidemics. It's been a opiate epidemic ever since pharma companies produced powerful pills by the billions starting in the 1990s and greedy doctors went along for the ride.

Want to fix the problem? Increase funding for addiction services, build more inpatient and outpatient centers with tax monies, and provide universal healthcare to every American regardless of income.

Until then, this stuff is just political posturing.

I think you may be right that his heart is not in the right place and he may be using this people for political gain.

Having said that, there is power in documentary film making and I think a lot of people in bubbles in places like DC have no idea how bad it has gotten out there. It's really a national crisis.

And no, it has greatly increased in the last 20 years, not the same sh&t for centuries. It is worse. Just talk to anyone on the front lines of addiction services, EMTs, ER doctors, LEO, it is much, much worse.

It's not only about addiction services and healthcare. It's about capitalism, Oxycontin and the legacy it has left. Big Pharma need to be held accountable for the havoc they have wrought.

The truth is rehab and counseling are rarely enough. By the time you get to that point, you're odds of serving are not terrific. Pill popping is how the majority of people get hooked, often turning to heroin later. It has to be stopped earlier then when addiction has set in.

[Anonymous]

Jack Posobiec posted this video to his Twitter two days ago.

Of course it's a political cudgel. These nimrods have no intention of helping these addicts in their tax cutting ideology.

And yes, a massive increase in funding for addiction services would greatly help. Plus increasing access to health care.

Guess who doesn't support those efforts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This scene has been playing out since the 70s in inner cities. There didn't seem to be much concern then.

I grew up in LA. Skid row has been in existence for decades pre opioid crisis. Not much has changed.

Well, except the number of deaths per capita skyrocketing.

Good. Hopefully they’ll kill themselves off before they procreate.
Too many humans make it.
The herd needs to be culled. I realize it’s heartless, but resources are finite.
These humans aren’t helping the gene pool.

[Anonymous]

It's much worse today than 20 years ago.

And no, there's no area like this in DC. I'm a medicaid caseworker and spend my days on the street-all over SE, etc. I see an occasional person using in public but nothing like this.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the Democrats just need more time. A Republican has not held the office of mayor for Philadelphia since 1952 --almost 70 years. Maybe 30 more years of Democrat control will make it a better place.

Philly just needs more "Hope & Change" and everything will be all right. If everyone would feel good about making Philadelphia a better place, expressing concern and compassion, maybe get some celebrities up there to broadcast how much they care, why, Philadelphia would become a better place through the combined good will sentiments of the population. And they need more "Drug Free Zone" signs to let the drug dealers know they aren't allowed to sell drugs there, and people aren't allowed to do drugs there either. The people would read the signs and obey, just as they would obey gun laws if enacted that would ban guns in Philly just like the thugs obey the gun laws in D.C.

[Anonymous]

It’s always been a smelly, disgusting city.

[Anonymous]

You see this in Baltimore.

I drove up Route 1 from Howard County straight into the city. It was very sad. People doubled over, with swollen arms from too many injections begging at street intersections, lighting up crack pipes outside in the sunshine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This scene has been playing out since the 70s in inner cities. There didn't seem to be much concern then.

I grew up in LA. Skid row has been in existence for decades pre opioid crisis. Not much has changed.

It's not the same. I am from NYC and grew up in the 70s and 80s and saw some of this first with heroin (the nodding out on the street corners same as with opioids) and then later with crack, but it is so much more widespread now. It's in the cities, the small towns, the Cape, the Rust Belt, Indian Reservations, EVERYWHERE. And it can largely be laid at the feet of the pharmacy industry. There is no fentanyl crisis without Oxycontin.

and that is my point. The only reason why society and people like you are seeing the problem now is because it's now impacting more white people. When it was just black people or inner cities, it wasn't society's problem to solve. But now it is, apparently. Same with AIDS.

The inner city drug problem was created by the US government, largely R administrations.

But ok, that's neither here nor there. So, what should be done about it?

[Anonymous]

It's shocking the number of people who are helpless, barely able to stand. Imagine them as purposeful, healthy individuals. Personally, I'm a believer in methadone/ buprenorphine. I work in the field. My patients don't look like this once they're on maintenance (unless they're also using benzos).