A Kennedy Wants To Be The Next ‘Drug Czar’ And He’s Already Drawing Fire
Patrick Kennedy is the cofounder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), a well-known adversary of cannabis reform.
A quick read of his bio reveals that Ted’s youngest boy, Patrick Kennedy, might be a good choice for a leading role in developing drug policy that a new administration needs. But there’s a piece of that policy that looks to be especially problematic for Kennedy the piece dealing with cannabis.
It’s this part of drug policy that has all sorts of trap doors that the new administration doesn’t want to fall into. It regards the workings of an entirely new cash crop industry making billions of dollars growing and selling what is still an illegal drug.
Senator Thomas Umberg (D-Orange County) introduced The California Ethical Treatment of Persons with Addiction Act, (Senate Bill 349) a critical and timely new law to protect California’s most vulnerable patients, those seeking treatment for substance use disorders, from predatory practices.
Senator Umberg shared that 7,121 Californians tragically died of drug overdoses (79,251 nationally) in the 12-month period ending in May 2020. This is part of a skyrocketing rise, with overdose deaths in California up 26.8% in the period between June 2019 and June 2020. Nationally, in that same time frame, deaths were up 21.3%. These numbers are expected to continue to rise as social isolation and limited access to treatment are aggravated by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Acting Director Regina LaBelle.
When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released drug overdose death data last December, it warned about the impacts the ongoing pandemic has had on the addiction crisis.
“The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement. “As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.”
Ohio Valley ReSource
Since 2012, the 2nd Chance Center for Addiction Treatment has served people in Lexington, Kentucky. The office sits on a busy street on the city’s north side. Similar to the heavy traffic that passes by, clients seeking treatment for substance and opioid use disorders steadily stream in and out of the building.
But in 2020, the clinic had to limit that flow of patients as it changed its protocols to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions. Group therapy and individual counseling meetings stopped. In-person meetings moved to online video calls as telehealth appointments became an alternative.
NorthStar Online NA
For one 2nd Chance client receiving treatment, the pandemic’s disruption has been searing.