The Opioid Epidemic Killing the American EmpireThe US has the most medicated citizenry on earth; it’s estimated that 66 per cent of adults take prescription drugs regularly, compared with around 26 per cent in the UK. As this figure continues to rise, so does the number of people misusing prescription drugs – there has been an increase of 250 per cent over 20 years. The epidemic of substance abuse has crept up on the American Empire and is now so widespread that it cannot be simply ignored as a crisis that affects only those on the margins of society. The relationship between physician and pharmaceutical company has regularly compromised the relationship between physician and patient, with none more culpable than Purdue Pharma and their opioid OxyContin. The company and the drug represent ground zero for the opioid epidemic, illustrating in microcosm the problems eating away at the core of the American Empire. First, the numbers. Since 1999, almost 1 million people in the US have died from drug overdoses, and opioids are a factor in seven out of ten of overdose deaths. In 2021, there were over 106,000 deaths from drug overdoses in the US, which was up from nearly 92,000 the previous year – and of these deaths, opioids were involved in around 80,000, with fentanyl being the primary weapon of choice. Stimulants such as cocaine, one of the biggest targets in the traditional “war on drugs”, were involved in the death of around 32,000 people in 2021. Fewer than 5,000 people died from a heroin overdose without other opioids present. To find out what this means for the American Empire, make sure to pay attention carefully to Chapter 3: Society: Decay from within.
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