Big Pharma’s Big Connections: Congress Exposed as Protecting Drug Companies While Opioid Problem Worsens
by Kalee Brown October 19, 2017 (collective-evolution.com)
• American is experiencing a major opioid crisis that is killing people every day from an opioid or heroin overdose.
• Opium is first removed from the poppy plant, which is then refined into morphine, and can then be further refined into heroin. Some opiates are entirely synthetic, and others are a cross between the two.
• Big Pharma companies ensure that their market grows by creating products that are addictive and have negative side effects so they can keep people sick and take more drugs.
• During the Vietnam War, the CIA worked with Laotian general Vang Pao in smuggling heroin via “Air America” to create a world hub for heroin in Southeastern Asian countries.
• In the 1980’s, Afghanistan had become the largest suppier of poppies for opium production. The CIA trained, armed, and funded Afghan “rebels” and supplied them with trucks and mules to transport the opium. Then the Taliban moved in and eradicated 90% of the world’s heroin supply. After 9/11, the US military occupied Afghanistan, and under US “protection”, opium production skyrocketed.
• Back in America, doctors were being paid by Big Pharma to prescribe opioids. Through formidable lobbying efforts, the US Congress, led by Pennsylvania Republican Tom Marino, passed laws that weakened the DEA’s ability to stop excessive drug distribution. Corrupt doctors and pharmacists were able to prescribe more pain killers and introduce them into the black market. Big Pharma paid at least $1.5 million to the 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the bills.
• President Trump chose none other than Tom Marino to serve as his “drug czar” to lead the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Marino wisely declined the nomination.
• In response to a renewed crack-down by the DEA, Big Pharma poached 46 top DEA officials and hired them to devise new ways to avoid the DEA’s enforcement.
• [Editor’s Note] It is quite apparent that the CIA relies heavily on the revenue derived from Big Pharma’s legal and illegal sale of opiates to fund its’ hidden Deep State agenda.
Many people often picture drug dealers as these scary individuals selling pills on street corners, but when it comes to the opioid epidemic, these drug pushers don’t exactly fit the stereotype. The true “drug dealers” largely responsible for America’s opioid epidemic aren’t thugs, they’re doctors and members of the U.S. government.
As former DEA agent Joe Rannazzisi put it, “They weren’t slinging crack on the corner… These were professionals who were doing it. They were just drug dealers in lab coats.”
You have physicians heavily pushing and marketing opioids, you’ve got countless doctors being paid by Big Pharma to prescribe opioids, and then you have the U.S. government overseeing the opium trade. This isn’t news to many people, as the reality of America’s war on drugs has lain exposed for decades, but mainstream media has been honing in on the deep ties the people we’re expected to trust share with Big Pharma.
An in-depth investigation into the opioid epidemic and the U.S. government’s ties to it was recently conducted by The Washington Post and 60 Minutes, revealing how U.S. Congress effectively weakened the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) ability to go after drug distributors, despite the worsening opioid epidemic.
The Washington Post‘s report on the opioid epidemic focused on one bill in particular that protected some major drug companies, allowing the flow of opioids to reach more people and creating more profit for their producers in turn. The law was presented as a more “industry-friendly” approach to law enforcement, but it undermined the DEA’s ability to monitor the flow of opioids.
So, corrupt doctors and pharmacists were able to effectively prescribe more pain killers and introduce them into the black market. Big Pharma funded this through lobbying efforts, worked closely with a handful of Congressmen, and even made some hefty donations to political campaigns (to the tune of millions of dollars) to ensure this bill came into fruition.
The Washington Post stated that the key member of Congress who paved the path for this bill was Pennsylvania Republican Tom Marino, as he allegedly spent years attempting to push this bill. The law Marino so desperately wanted to succeed basically acts as a protective barrier between Big Pharma and the DEA, preventing the DEA from freezing suspicious shipments from companies.
Why was Marino so supportive of this particular bill? Though we clearly do not have the full picture, we do know that he received $100,000 by “political actions committees representing the industry” for his efforts. Marino wasn’t the only lawmaker to accept payments though, as the industry paid a collective $1.5 million to 23 lawmakers who sponsored or co-sponsored the bill (and these are only the known amounts).
“The drug industry, the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and chain drugstores, have an influence over Congress that has never been seen before,” explained the former head of the DEA’s division responsible for regulating the drug industry, Joseph T. Rannazzisi. “I mean, to get Congress to pass a bill to protect their interests in the height of an opioid epidemic just shows me how much influence they have.”
As per how this bill truly got passed, it remains a mystery. Yes, Big Pharma and Congressman Marino clearly played a huge role, but how did the DEA and Department of Justice accept this? Were they unaware of the effects this would have on the opioid epidemic? Former President Barack Obama, who was responsible for the final sign-off of the bill in 2016, and multiple DEA officials declined to comment on this matter to the Post.
In addition, the DEA and Justice Department refused or delayed requests made by the Post and 60 Minutes for files under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that could provide more information on the law that passed. A number of these FOIA requests have been pending for a year and a half, and so the Post is now suing the Justice Department in hopes of obtaining these files.
DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II commented on the law, stating that because of it being passed, it’s “all but logically impossible” for the DEA to suspend a Big Pharma company’s operations even when they do not comply with federal law. How can drug companies continue to operate when they’re not even operating under federal law? This is the power that Big Pharma holds over the U.S. government.
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