Monday, July 18, 2016
The Opiate Painkiller Addiction Epidemic:
Christopher Ingraham: How medical marijuana could literally save lives
"...The CDC now calls prescription painkiller abuse an "epidemic." The researchers on the NBER paper, however, found that access to state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries is linked to a significant decrease in both prescription painkiller abuse, and in overdose deaths from prescription painkillers. The study authors examined admissions to substance abuse treatment programs for opiate addiction as well as opiate overdose deaths in states that do and do not have medical marijuana laws. They found that the presence of marijuana dispensaries was associated with a 15 to 35 percent decrease in substance abuse admissions. Opiate overdose deaths decreased by a similar amount. "Our findings suggest that providing broader access to medical marijuana may have the potential benefit of reducing abuse of highly addictive painkillers," the researchers conclude. This paper builds on previous work showing that "states with medical marijuana laws on the books saw 24.8 percent fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses compared to states that didn't have such laws." But the new paper's findings are more robust -- it uses more data, and the authors drew on a broader range of statistical methods to test the validity of their data. Their most intriguing finding is that medical marijuana laws alone aren't enough to cause a significant shift in prescription painkiller use. Rather, the availability of medical marijuana through licensed dispensaries is the key: "We find no impact of medical marijuana laws more broadly; the mitigating effect of medical marijuana laws is specific to states that permit dispensaries," they write..."
Christopher Ingraham: How medical marijuana could literally save lives
"...The CDC now calls prescription painkiller abuse an "epidemic." The researchers on the NBER paper, however, found that access to state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries is linked to a significant decrease in both prescription painkiller abuse, and in overdose deaths from prescription painkillers. The study authors examined admissions to substance abuse treatment programs for opiate addiction as well as opiate overdose deaths in states that do and do not have medical marijuana laws. They found that the presence of marijuana dispensaries was associated with a 15 to 35 percent decrease in substance abuse admissions. Opiate overdose deaths decreased by a similar amount. "Our findings suggest that providing broader access to medical marijuana may have the potential benefit of reducing abuse of highly addictive painkillers," the researchers conclude. This paper builds on previous work showing that "states with medical marijuana laws on the books saw 24.8 percent fewer deaths from painkiller overdoses compared to states that didn't have such laws." But the new paper's findings are more robust -- it uses more data, and the authors drew on a broader range of statistical methods to test the validity of their data. Their most intriguing finding is that medical marijuana laws alone aren't enough to cause a significant shift in prescription painkiller use. Rather, the availability of medical marijuana through licensed dispensaries is the key: "We find no impact of medical marijuana laws more broadly; the mitigating effect of medical marijuana laws is specific to states that permit dispensaries," they write..."
Thursday, July 14, 2016
The 2016 Presidential Race
Murfster35 (DailyKos) Trump is in trouble. A personal analysis
"Donald Trump is one of a kind. To quote the old phrase, he is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. He burst onto the scene about 13 months ago, to widespread scorn, derision and laughter, and proceeded to steamroll his way through a field of 16 other candidates, which the conservative pundits called “the deepest GOP bench in a generation”. It wasn’t a fluke. He very specifically targeted and then manipulated his gullible audience with a well orchestrated mantra of slogans, dog whistles and outright lies. And he made it work.
Rachel Maddow had a brilliant segment on last night to show just how blatant Donald Trump was in stealing ideas and slogans from Richard Nixon. She showed archived videos of Nixon ads in 1968, first of him promising that he would restore “order” to the country, and then another one where he promised that the “law” would be followed in this country. Yesterday, in a speech Mein Trumpf said, “Make no mistake, I am the law and order candidate”. Richard Nixon called his supporters “:The Silent Majority”, insinuating that he would keep them safe from the rabble trying to take over the country. Sound familiar? And don’t even get me started on Trumps blatant plagarism of Reagan with his “Make America great again”. You can click on the applicable segment from the TRMS website HERE.
But the real problem is that Trump is a one trick pony. His ex campaign manager had one mantra and one mantra only, let Trump be Trump. That worked fine in the primaries, where he was throwing the basest type of red meat to the rabid, radical base that show up to vote in primaries, and he used it effectively. But then the dynamics changed.
Once Don of Orange was crowned the presumptive nominee, the campaign, along with the RNC and the Republican establishment watched in horror while he squandered 5-6 weeks of time when he could be first of all slamming Hillary Clinton while she was still distracted by Bernie Sanders, and secondly could be fundraising for the battle to come. Something had to be done.
Paul Manifort saw it, Reince Priebus saw it, and Trumps wife and kids saw it. He had to pivot from the primaries to a general election mode, and the sooner the better. Ergo, adios Corey Lewandowski. Time to bring the A-Team in to make Trump more Presidential. And they did their best.
Trump was never a serious Presidential candidate, this was all supposed to be a big, beautiful branding exercise on his way out the door and back to private life. But suddenly, probably to his shock he ended up being the GOP Presidential nominee! But the allure of the ultimate spotlight, not only in American politics but on the world stage was too much pull for an obsessive narcissist like one Donald J. Trump to resist. So he had to go through with it.
Step one. Make him serious. Aides started coming up with nonsensical policy position speeches that Trump was supposed to deliver. Step two. Hold them in formal settings, with hopefully friendly but more intelligent audience members than Trump was used to. Should be a foolproof plan. What could go wrong?
This. Der Trumpkopf is not a natural politician, especially not at the national level. He is a disaster in front of a teleprompter. His rhythm and cadence are off, he constantly moves his eyes from right to left to keep the teleprompters in sight, which shows a willful disregard from even studying the text enough to be able to allow him to look at the audience for a couple of lines to allow him to make eye contact with the crowd, and he is totally incapable of holding the room.His veterans speech today was a perfect example. Several times he paused, presumably because the teleprompter was blank for audience applause which was only sporadically forthcoming.
But it’s gotten even worse. Since his full body immersion into the world of Presidential politics and teleprompters, Orange Julius has lost his rhythm. In the last couple of weeks, at large rallies and without a teleprompter, Trump almost seems lost. He rambles, he repeats himself with apparently even knowing it, it’s almost like he’s now lost without the teleprompter, and he sucks when he uses that. And it shows. The crowd response is not what it used to be. Maybe its because the old saws have lost their teeth, but I believe it’s mostly because they’re delivered sporadically and without the force and venom that took Trump to the top in the first place. And believe me, since I’m retired, I can see him whenever he’s covered. The magic is gone.
Can Trump turn it around? It’s certainly possible, but fortunately I think it highly unlikely. He will still have his rabid support base of 30-40% of true believers, but his adventure into the world of serious Presidential politics, and the necessary world of teleprompters has thrown him off of his game in a way that I honestly don’t think that he can recover from.
Thanks as always for reading!"
Murfster35 (DailyKos) Trump is in trouble. A personal analysis
"Donald Trump is one of a kind. To quote the old phrase, he is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. He burst onto the scene about 13 months ago, to widespread scorn, derision and laughter, and proceeded to steamroll his way through a field of 16 other candidates, which the conservative pundits called “the deepest GOP bench in a generation”. It wasn’t a fluke. He very specifically targeted and then manipulated his gullible audience with a well orchestrated mantra of slogans, dog whistles and outright lies. And he made it work.
Rachel Maddow had a brilliant segment on last night to show just how blatant Donald Trump was in stealing ideas and slogans from Richard Nixon. She showed archived videos of Nixon ads in 1968, first of him promising that he would restore “order” to the country, and then another one where he promised that the “law” would be followed in this country. Yesterday, in a speech Mein Trumpf said, “Make no mistake, I am the law and order candidate”. Richard Nixon called his supporters “:The Silent Majority”, insinuating that he would keep them safe from the rabble trying to take over the country. Sound familiar? And don’t even get me started on Trumps blatant plagarism of Reagan with his “Make America great again”. You can click on the applicable segment from the TRMS website HERE.
But the real problem is that Trump is a one trick pony. His ex campaign manager had one mantra and one mantra only, let Trump be Trump. That worked fine in the primaries, where he was throwing the basest type of red meat to the rabid, radical base that show up to vote in primaries, and he used it effectively. But then the dynamics changed.
Once Don of Orange was crowned the presumptive nominee, the campaign, along with the RNC and the Republican establishment watched in horror while he squandered 5-6 weeks of time when he could be first of all slamming Hillary Clinton while she was still distracted by Bernie Sanders, and secondly could be fundraising for the battle to come. Something had to be done.
Paul Manifort saw it, Reince Priebus saw it, and Trumps wife and kids saw it. He had to pivot from the primaries to a general election mode, and the sooner the better. Ergo, adios Corey Lewandowski. Time to bring the A-Team in to make Trump more Presidential. And they did their best.
Trump was never a serious Presidential candidate, this was all supposed to be a big, beautiful branding exercise on his way out the door and back to private life. But suddenly, probably to his shock he ended up being the GOP Presidential nominee! But the allure of the ultimate spotlight, not only in American politics but on the world stage was too much pull for an obsessive narcissist like one Donald J. Trump to resist. So he had to go through with it.
Step one. Make him serious. Aides started coming up with nonsensical policy position speeches that Trump was supposed to deliver. Step two. Hold them in formal settings, with hopefully friendly but more intelligent audience members than Trump was used to. Should be a foolproof plan. What could go wrong?
This. Der Trumpkopf is not a natural politician, especially not at the national level. He is a disaster in front of a teleprompter. His rhythm and cadence are off, he constantly moves his eyes from right to left to keep the teleprompters in sight, which shows a willful disregard from even studying the text enough to be able to allow him to look at the audience for a couple of lines to allow him to make eye contact with the crowd, and he is totally incapable of holding the room.His veterans speech today was a perfect example. Several times he paused, presumably because the teleprompter was blank for audience applause which was only sporadically forthcoming.
But it’s gotten even worse. Since his full body immersion into the world of Presidential politics and teleprompters, Orange Julius has lost his rhythm. In the last couple of weeks, at large rallies and without a teleprompter, Trump almost seems lost. He rambles, he repeats himself with apparently even knowing it, it’s almost like he’s now lost without the teleprompter, and he sucks when he uses that. And it shows. The crowd response is not what it used to be. Maybe its because the old saws have lost their teeth, but I believe it’s mostly because they’re delivered sporadically and without the force and venom that took Trump to the top in the first place. And believe me, since I’m retired, I can see him whenever he’s covered. The magic is gone.
Can Trump turn it around? It’s certainly possible, but fortunately I think it highly unlikely. He will still have his rabid support base of 30-40% of true believers, but his adventure into the world of serious Presidential politics, and the necessary world of teleprompters has thrown him off of his game in a way that I honestly don’t think that he can recover from.
Thanks as always for reading!"
