Former U.S. Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/william-barr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill Barr</a> blamed America&#8217;s fentanyl crisis solely on communist China during congressional testimony this week.
Barr made the remarks while testifying on Tuesday in front of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party on a 64-page report titled, &#8220;The CCP&#8217;s Role In The Fentanyl Crisis.&#8221;
Barr said that the death toll in the U.S. every year from drug overdoses was higher than the number of Americans killed during the bloodiest year of World War II.
&#8220;The [People&#8217;s Republic of China] is the source of the fentanyl that is slaughtering Americans,&#8221; he said. &#8220;China produces nearly all the illicit fentanyl precursors used and the fentanyl introduced into the United States. These are the indispensable ingredients that drive the fentanyl trade.&#8221;
&#8220;There is no practical alternative for anywhere near the volume of precursors necessary to fuel this trade,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Simply put, without China&#8217;s production and export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors, there would be no fentanyl crisis in the United States and the mass slaughter would effectively stop.&#8221;
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“We are now sustaining a casualty rate from drug overdoses that exceeds the death toll we suffered in waging a world war.
We have long known that the PRC is the source of the fentanyl that is slaughtering Americans.” — Former AG William P. Barr <a href="https://t.co/6UCgWUNBB8">pic.twitter.com/6UCgWUNBB8</a>
&mdash; Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (@committeeonccp) <a href="https://twitter.com/committeeonccp/status/1780220062013481087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Barr said that the Chinese Communist Party was not just a &#8220;bystander&#8221; in the entire ordeal — they are prime movers.
&#8220;They are knee deep and actively sponsoring, encouraging, and facilitating the production and export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors for distribution in the United States,&#8221; he said. &#8220;First, the committee&#8217;s investigators have found a hidden [Chinese] government website currently fully active that offers complete tax rebates incentivizing the export of all fentanyl analogs and precursors, as well as other synthetic narcotics — drugs that are illegal in the U.S., illegal in China, and have no legitimate purpose.&#8221;
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He said that the tax incentives offered to Chinese companies &#8220;allow companies to effectively operate tax free when they export fentanyl precursors.&#8221;
He added that the investigation found evidence that shows China &#8220;provides grants and awards to companies that are engaged in open and notorious synthetic narcotic manufacturing and drug trafficking.”
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“The CCP are not just bystanders. They are prime movers. 
They are knee-deep in actively sponsoring, encouraging and facilitating the production and export of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors for distribution in the US.”— Former AG Bill Barr <a href="https://t.co/jLYlXICWmx">pic.twitter.com/jLYlXICWmx</a>
&mdash; Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (@committeeonccp) <a href="https://twitter.com/committeeonccp/status/1780233686278926488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Barr said that there was evidence that China was intentionally engaged in this activity and that the U.S. should not expect China to operate in good faith or to have &#8220;goodwill&#8221; toward the U.S.
&#8220;The key point here is that the PRC and the CCP have the capacity to shut this down,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is not taking place in the rain forests of Burma. This is taking place among a manageable number of companies in industrial parks in a modern surveillance state. The Chinese can push a button with a keystroke find somebody in one of their cities within less than a minute, know exactly where they are. They know what&#8217;s on the internet. There&#8217;s no question they&#8217;re aware of what&#8217;s happening.&#8221;
He also said that since President Joe Biden met with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping that he has not been aware of any changes that China has made in its malicious behavior flooding the U.S. with fentanyl.

Former United States Attorney General Bill Barr

Bill Barr Blasts China During Fentanyl Hearing: Solely Responsible For ‘Mass Slaughter’ In U.S.

Communist China

Drugs

Fentanyl

Global Politics

William Barr

World

It’s never a good time to be a baby who’s been exposed to drugs. But the brilliant antiracist minds at Mass General Brigham have somehow found a way to make that situation even more risky. Early this month, the Massachusetts healthcare network announced its latest gambit in the fight against racial disparity in medicine: no longer reporting instances of abuse in cases of fetal drug exposure.
The rationale for this baffling new policy? The DEI-rich language of ‘health equity.’ As per Mass General’s <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing">announcement</a>, “Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to child welfare systems than white pregnant people.” The decision was further portrayed as “the latest step in our efforts to address long-standing inequities in substance use disorder care.” But will it?
As the <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">updated policy</a> reads:
<blockquote>First, the new policy requires written consent for toxicology testing of any pregnant individual or infant outside of emergent situations. At the same time, it limits toxicology testing to circumstances where results will change the medical management of the pregnant person or infant.
The policy also notes that an abuse/neglect report to state child welfare agencies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after delivery should be filed only if there is reasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury and that ‘substance exposure’ alone, including treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, does not require a report of abuse or neglect in the absence of protective concerns for the infant.</blockquote>
Under Brigham’s no-report policies, black babies exposed to drugs can be passed over for potentially life-saving care if their mothers refuse help. How is erecting new barriers to treatment for these children a step toward any serious concept of justice?
As psychiatrist Sally Satel <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/mass-general-brigham-antiracism-maternity">notes</a>, the new policy would reduce not only the amount of reporting involved in the Boston system, but strip healthcare providers of the ability to meaningfully intervene in cases where a baby’s health appears compromised.
This is hardly the first time Brigham’s chosen to mix racial politicking with its patient care. The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as part of its United Against Racism campaign, <a href="https://www.brighamandwomens.org/about-bwh/newsroom/addressing-heart-admission-disparities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently introduced</a> a program where patient admissions to cardiac units would weigh the race of the patient, as a supposed ‘righting of the scale’ against historic health disparities.
Let’s be clear here: these practices, while perhaps palatable to the modern advocates of equity, cannot be conscionable to modern advocates of justice. Brigham has made its stand: prioritizing marginalized patient populations in a bid to right historical wrongs. Yet the obvious problem remains: Such policies attempt to right historical wrongs by risking modern ones.
The system may purport to advance ‘health equity,’ but it runs a real risk of hurting innocent children. We must evaluate these systems based on what they do, not merely on what they purport to do. To do otherwise is to adopt an uncritical perspective on equity that cedes legitimacy to unserious and dangerous solutions.
We are sometimes asked, in the name of charity and good faith, to pretend that arguments over DEI and equity-based policies are low-stakes questions. We’re told that the real diversity argument is between “validating the feelings and lived experience of people of color” or “propping up white supremacy with our complicit silence.” I’ve <a href="https://rlo.acton.org/archives/124960-the-strange-death-of-dei.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written</a> <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2023/12/14/willour-dei-oklahoma-universities-nikole-hannah-jones-racism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">at</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/3-things-my-future-children-need-to-know-about-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">length</a> about how this isn’t the case, but the actions and results of the DEI movement speak far louder than its critics’ most pointed words.
For a further example, let’s take a closer look at Brigham’s cardiology policy. Brigham alerted physicians when a black or “Latinx” patient presented with heart failure to “educate the clinician about the fact that, historically, this population has had inequitable access to specialized cardiology care and offer a recommendation to consider changing admission.” It’s not an override of a clinician’s judgment or even a treatment prescription, meaning that it’s actually a relatively impotent policy in the aggregate. By any modern standard of DEI, it doesn’t even qualify as intersectional. But that’s actually the point — the policies that work aren’t the ones being dreamed up for ‘health equity’ brownie points.
Intersectionality, particularly in medicine, only works at the most basic level: the differentiation of the individual patient. The only morally serious option is for healthcare providers to evaluate patients based on individual history and symptoms — and avoid the kind of DEI-esque language of ‘health equity’ that makes observers and patients alike start raising questions about what forces are actually driving the boat over at Mass General Brigham.
That practical and rhetorical vision isn’t what modern DEI proponents want you to sign up for. Accepting their view of equity, in this case, means systems that risk passing over treatment for innocent children. Is that equity? It’s certainly not equality, it’s certainly not justice, and it’s not what anyone really wants for the future of American healthcare: we can’t validate people’s lived experiences if they die as babies in a maternity ward.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work on race &amp; DEI has been featured at outlets including National Review, USA Today, C-SPAN, and the Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program, and can be found on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Daily Wire.

Ambulance Service In Chelsea, Mass., Grapples With State’s Coronavirus Surge

‘Health Equity’: Why Mass General’s DEI-Infused Policy Update Places Infants At Risk

'Health Equity': Why Mass General’s DEI-Infused Policy Update Places Infants At Risk

Anti-Racism

Boston

Equity

Health Care

Hospitals

Massachusetts

Opinion

Pregnancy

California spent $24 billion on the state&#8217;s homeless crisis over the past five years, but it did not consistently track whether the enormous amount of spending was making a dent in the problem, a state audit has found.
The <a href="https://www.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2023-102.1/index.html#section1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">audit</a> released Tuesday found California “lacks current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs.”
The state agency responsible for the issue “has not consistently tracked and evaluated the State’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness,” the audit discovered.
California has about 30% of the country&#8217;s homeless people, and the number continues to rise.
A total of 181,399 people were homeless in California at some point in 2023, up from 151,278 people in 2019. Last year&#8217;s homeless population was a 53% jump from the 118,552 people who were homeless in 2013, according to the audit.
Billions of taxpayer dollars were spent on more than 30 homeless and housing programs between 2018 and 2023, yet California could not explain why homelessness did not improve in some cities. In some areas, homelessness has become visibly worse, notably in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.
San Francisco&#8217;s downtown has emptied out as drug addicts shoot up in broad daylight and tents line the streets. The city is restricted from removing tents from the streets unless it can prove it is providing shelter for each person.
In September, Sacramento’s top prosecutor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sacramentos-top-prosecutor-sues-city-over-homeless-encampments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> the city over its homeless encampments, accusing city officials of allowing the homeless population to become a public nuisance.
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“This report concludes that the state must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs,” State Auditor Grant Parks wrote in a letter to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers.
The audit examined five state homeless programs to assess their cost-effectiveness and found that two housing-related programs were likely cost-effective. However, the audit was unable to assess the other three programs because the state failed to collect enough data.
The audit recommended that the legislature take action to require the state&#8217;s main homelessness agency to compile and publicly report the costs and results of taxpayer-funded homelessness programs.
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness, the state agency responsible for homelessness programs, responded to the state auditor&#8217;s report, saying it &#8220;generally agrees&#8221; with the recommendations and will take &#8220;appropriate measures to implement where possible.&#8221;
In the wake of the audit, California Republican leaders blasted the state&#8217;s Democratic leadership.
&#8220;This is standard Gavin Newsom – make a splashy announcement, waste a bunch of taxpayer money, and completely fail to deliver,&#8221; California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-gop-leaders-call-accountability-state-cant-account-24b-spent-homeless-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
&#8220;Californians are tired of the homeless crisis, and they’re even more tired of Gavin’s excuses. We need results – period, full stop,&#8221; Gallagher added.
Republican state Sen. Roger Niello called the audit &#8220;troubling&#8221; but criticized the audit itself for focusing heavily on shelter.
&#8220;The one issue I had with the audit was that the focus was mostly on housing and shelter issues, which is certainly important, but really very little about actual results, getting people out of homelessness, not just into shelter,&#8221; Niello <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-gop-leaders-call-accountability-state-cant-account-24b-spent-homeless-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;That&#8217;s sort of half the job, maybe not even quite half the job. And, so that was a little bit of a disappointment.&#8221;

TOPSHOT-US-HEALTH-VIRUS

California Can’t Account For All $24 Billion Spent On Homeless Crisis, Audit Finds

California Can't Account For All $24 Billion Spent On Homeless Crisis, Audit Finds

California

Crime

Homeless

Homelessness

Republicans

A class of drugs even deadlier than fentanyl has contributed to a growing number of deaths in Philadelphia.
Synthetic opioids called nitazene analogues, can be 40 times more powerful than fentanyl, have been connected to at least five deaths in the city, and a dozen more deaths may be attributed to the deadly drugs.
“The health department suspects that a nitazene analogue known as N-desethyl isotonitazene was present in 12 overdose deaths in Philadelphia between November and December 2022,” the Philadelphia Inquirer <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/nitazenes-philadelphia-drug-overdoses-opioids-20240409.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712761220662000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0RLaCGzkDdLL2Bhk8u9NaE">reported</a>.  Two other nitazene analogues were identified in an overdose victim who died in June 2023.
Although the drug naloxone can be used to reverse the effects of fentanyl,  the normal dose of naloxone may not be enough to combat the effects of nitazenes.
Nitazenes apparently cause withdrawal symptoms so intense that sufferers are not able to bear waiting for inpatient treatment. “Often in Philadelphia, people looking to enter inpatient treatment must first go through an intake process that can take hours and sometimes days, researchers at Jefferson University Hospital <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/philadelphia-addiction-treatment-study-jefferson-20240319.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.inquirer.com/health/opioid-addiction/philadelphia-addiction-treatment-study-jefferson-20240319.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712761220662000&amp;usg=AOvVaw30UhSPxFP5CVye35YQCvky">found in a recent study</a>,” the Inquirer noted.
“Someone who’s dependent on a very toxic drug supply has a very small window in which they feel well enough to even consider treatment,” Daniel Teixeira da Silva, the medical director of the city health department’s division of substance use prevention and harm reduction, said. “It’s really a vicious cycle, and this just makes it worse.”
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The U.S. Department of Justice <a href="https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/benzimidazole-opioids.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/benzimidazole-opioids.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712761220662000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1i-vA2ikrNUdHNHNNikAWJ">stated</a> in January of nitazenes, also known as Benzimidazole-Opioids, “Recently, a number of synthetic substances of the benzimidazole structural class are being trafficked and abused for their opioid-like effects. &#8230; The population likely to abuse benzimidazole-opioids appears to be the same as those abusing prescription opioid analgesics, heroin, and other synthetic opioid substances. &#8230; In the illicit drug market, some of these benzimidazole-opioids have been identified in drug seizures. &#8230; Since 2019, there have been over 4,300 reports of benzimidazole-opioids to NFLIS-Drug. &#8230; With no approved medical use, the positive identification of these substances in toxicology cases underscore the public health threat associated with their presence in the illicit drug market.”

Hidden Fentanyl Is Driving a Fatal New Phase in US Opioid Epidemic

Drug 40 Times Stronger Than Fentanyl Plagues Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

U.S.

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Oklahoma GOP Sen. James Lankford <a href="https://www.lankford.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Letter-to-CBP-on-Marijuana-Policy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-sen-security-threat-border-patrols-drug-use-standards&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712678270348000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3h7-emWQ0VGrniIAFAh-UP">wrote a letter</a> warning U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) not to loosen its policy on the use of marijuana by Border Patrol agent recruits before they had applied for the job.
The CPB’s previous policy involved looking back through the prior two years before applying for employment to determine if the recruit had used marijuana; the policy had been changed to only checking the previous 90 days.
“As you are aware, marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act,” Lankford wrote to Troy A. Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the commissioner for CBP. He noted CBP briefers told his staff that the change had been effected in part “because of confusion between Federal law and state law in states where marijuana has been legalized. However, as a Federal agency, CBP should ensure its personnel comply with Federal law regarding the illicit or otherwise prohibited use of controlled substances.”
“Briefers noted to my staff that recruits who admit to marijuana usage during their polygraph often admit to other disqualifying criminal conduct,” he continued. “In addition to users’ decisions, the marijuana industry and markets in states where marijuana has been legalized often are riddled with corruption.”
“&#8230; marijuana use has been shown to increase schizophrenia and psychosis among users, particularly among young adults — an age range that CBP targets as potential recruits for U.S. Border Patrol agents,” he pointed out, noting that a “rogue or corrupt Border Patrol agent has the ‘potential to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security’ and could produce a ‘substantial or even inestimable amount of harm or serious damage to the public trust.’”
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“In evaluating this policy change, was CBP aware of the effects of marijuana on users, including a higher incidence of psychosis or schizophrenia? If so, how did this factor into CBP’s decision?” he asked.
“According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, legislation to regulate marijuana for non-medical purposes or adult usage has been enacted in 24 states, as well as two territories and Washington, D.C. The NCSL&#8217;s data was updated Nov. 8, 2023,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-sen-security-threat-border-patrols-drug-use-standards">Fox News noted</a>.
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Sen. Lankford

Oklahoma’s Lankford Warns CBP On Prior Drug Use By Recruits

Border Patrol

Congress

James Lankford

Marijuana

Politics

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

A major Massachusetts hospital group will no longer automatically file child abuse or neglect reports for babies who are born with illegal drugs in their systems.
Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital network, <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Tuesday that babies born with “substance exposure” will no longer be immediately reported to state welfare agencies unless there are other concerns that the baby is being abused or neglected.
&#8220;&#8216;Substance exposure&#8217; alone, including treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, does not require a report of abuse or neglect in the absence of protective concerns for the infant,&#8221; Mass General Brigham <a href="https://www.massgeneralbrigham.org/en/about/newsroom/press-releases/updating-system-policies-perinatal-testing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a Tuesday release.
An abuse or neglect report to the state should only be filed if there is &#8220;reasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury&#8221; under the new policy.
Under the new policy, hospitals will also require written consent outside of emergencies before conducting a drug test on newborns or mothers.
The hospital system <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-general-brigham-changing-infant-neglect-report/3327237/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cited</a> &#8220;racial and ethnic inequities,&#8221; saying that &#8220;more punitive approaches&#8221; to substance abuse during pregnancy &#8220;disproportionately affect Black individuals.&#8221;
&#8220;Studies — including some within our system — have found that Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to child welfare systems than white pregnant people,&#8221; the hospital system said.
The previous reporting requirement for babies born with drugs in their systems was criticized because it included women taking opioid addiction medications like buprenorphine or methadone, which babies can be born dependent on.
Some women have <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/06/03/study-stop-mandatory-child-abuse-reporting-for-infants-exposed-to-addiction-medications" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> stopping their medications out of fear of losing custody of their babies.
The new policy is meant to &#8220;reduce stigma&#8221; and improve access to substance abuse treatment, the hospital group said.
“Our new perinatal testing and reporting policy is the latest step in our efforts to address longstanding inequities in substance use disorder care and to provide compassionate, evidence-based support to families, while addressing substance use disorder as a treatable health condition,” <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2024/04/02/these-massachusetts-hospitals-wont-automatically-file-neglect-reports-for-babies-born-with-drugs-in-their-systems/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Sarah Wakeman, the hospital system&#8217;s senior medical director for substance use disorder.
“The goal here is balancing the safety of infants and families,” Wakeman <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/04/03/mass-general-brigham-newborn-drug-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.“A positive toxicology test does not tell you anything about someone’s ability to parent. Actually, a positive buprenorphine test tells you this person is engaged in treatment.”
Mass General Brigham has labor rooms in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Boston Medical Center previously made a similar change to its policy on reporting newborns born dependent on drugs their mother was taking.

Newborn Infant

‘Racial Inequities:’ Massachusetts Hospital Group Won’t Automatically File Neglect Reports For Babies Born With Drugs In Systems

Massachusetts Hospital Group Won't Automatically File Neglect Reports For Babies Born With Drugs In Systems

babies

Health

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Immigration and Customs Enforcement&#8217;s</a> (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested an illegal alien in Boston who is wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic.
The federal agents arrested the 27-year-old alleged fentanyl trafficker near his residence in Saugus on March 21, ICE said in a statement on Tuesday.
&#8220;The unlawfully present Dominican citizen is currently facing local fentanyl trafficking charges and was previously arrested for strangulation and assault and battery charges,&#8221; the statement said.
ICE did not release the suspect&#8217;s name and blurred out his face in a photo that was taken as he was arrested.
The suspect &#8220;became the subject of a criminal police warrant for the charge of homicide issued by a criminal court in the city of Bani in the Dominican Republic’s state of Peravia&#8221; in November 2021, ICE said.
The next month, he was charged with trafficking fentanyl in the Newburyport District Court.
He was also charged with strangulation/suffocation and assault and battery of a family household member in the West Roxbury District Court. ICE said the charges in the West Roxbury District Court were dropped.
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Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported that the suspect fled to the U.S. in 2021 and illegally crossed the border as a &#8220;gotaway.&#8221;
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NEW: ICE Boston arrested a Dominican man wanted for murder in the DR who fled to the U.S. in 2021, when he crossed illegally as a “gotaway”, then went on to be arrested for local crimes in Massachusetts, including fentanyl trafficking &amp; strangulation. ICE arrested him near his… <a href="https://t.co/L1tKbKydSa">pic.twitter.com/L1tKbKydSa</a>
&mdash; Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillMelugin_/status/1775217262737408261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
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ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said that the suspect fled the Dominican Republic to avoid being tried for murder.
&#8220;He made his way to Massachusetts and has been repeatedly apprehended by local authorities and charged with crimes of violence and drug crimes,&#8221; Lyons said. &#8220;ERO Boston will not allow the world’s offenders to take refuge in our communities. We will continue to aggressively arrest and remove any such criminal elements in New England.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/once-deported-illegal-immigrant-charged-with-murder-in-shooting-death-of-25-year-old-michigan-woman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Once-Deported Illegal Immigrant Charged With Murder In Shooting Death Of 25-Year-Old Michigan Woman</a>

ICE Agents Detain Suspected Undocumented Immigrants In Raids

ICE Arrests Illegal Alien Wanted For Murder In Dominican Republic

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

Oregon has made possessing small amounts of hard drugs a crime again after a failed experiment with decriminalization.
Governor Tina Kotek, a Democrat, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-drug-recriminalization-law-signed-governor-96e36ed60e999572bbf47c160b412a73" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a bill into law on Monday that makes personal use possession a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
The new bill rolls back Measure 110, which was approved by about 58% of Oregon voters in 2020, and scrapped criminal charges for possessing small amounts of any drug, even hard drugs like fentanyl. The measure was the first of its kind in the country.
Instead of criminal penalties, offenders were hit with a maximum fine of $100 that was rarely enforced. Drug users could also get their fine dismissed if they called a hotline to get an addiction screening, but in the law’s first year, only 1% of people who received tickets for drug possession called the hotline, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/ap/ap-health/ap-oregons-first-in-the-nation-drug-decriminalization-law-faces-growing-pushback-amid-fentanyl-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to state auditors.
In the years since Measure 110 took effect, however, the law has become increasingly unpopular as residents deal with public drug use in their daily lives.
Two years later, more than 6 in 10 voters said they thought decriminalization has made drug addiction, homelessness, and crime worse in Oregon, according to a May <a href="https://www.dhmresearch.com/oregon-voters-support-bringing-back-criminal-penalties-for-drug-possession/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from DMH Research. A combined 63% said they “strongly” supported or would be “somewhat” interested in once again criminalizing hard drugs.
Meanwhile, fatal drug overdoses in Oregon have spiked, driven by the fentanyl crisis.
The state is on track for 1,250 overdose deaths last year, <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/28/data-show-overdoses-deaths-rising-in-oregon/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20280%20people%20died,year%2C%20reaching%20628%20in%20June." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to data that is still being compiled. This is a stark rise from the 280 people who died of an overdose back in 2019.
Some of the worst scenes of the drug crisis come out of Portland, where addicts shoot up daily in broad daylight downtown.
In September, the Portland City Council passed a ban on using hard drugs on public property.
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However, Portland&#8217;s new rules have been in limbo while drugs were still decriminalized at the state level.
Mayor Ted Wheeler, another Democrat, has expressed support for Oregon&#8217;s new law, which takes effect on September 1.
&#8220;People are exhausted from feeling like they’re under siege. They want order restored to their environment,&#8221; Wheeler <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/oregon-drug-law-portland-mayor.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Although the new state law brings back criminal penalties for drug possession, it also encourages law enforcement to establish programs to send drug users to addiction and mental health services rather than the criminal justice system if possible.

US-HEALTH-DRUGS-OREGON

Oregon Recriminalizes Drug Possession

General

Opioid Crisis

Oregon

Portland

The Washington Post has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/10/11/washington-post-buyouts-metro-cuts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hemorrhaging</a> subscribers and web traffic for years. Late last year, the paper <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/business/media/washington-post-job-cuts.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> yet another round of layoffs, impacting hundreds of employees.
Jeff Bezos purchased the paper for $250 million a decade ago, and last year alone, it managed to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2023/10/11/washington-post-buyouts-metro-cuts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lose</a> roughly $100 million. This is not a profitable venture, and in normal circumstances, businesses that lose this much money don&#8217;t stay around very long. But the Washington Post has stuck around. Jeff Bezos has kept it on life support to fulfill a specific mission, which is to harangue and censor independent voices on behalf of Jeff Bezos&#8217; donors in the Democratic Party.
A couple of days ago, that mission was on full display.
On March 21st, The Washington Post published an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/03/21/stopping-birth-control-misinformation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> entitled, &#8220;Women are getting off birth control amid misinformation explosion.&#8221; The Daily Beast ran a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/explosion-of-women-ditching-birth-control-amid-misinformation-blitz-docs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">similar story</a>, warning ominously of an &#8220;explosion&#8221; of women who are ditching birth control amid a &#8220;misinformation blitz.&#8221;
First of all, it needs to be said that any time the media collectively decides to label something &#8220;misinformation,&#8221; they really mean &#8220;information that we find personally or politically inconvenient.&#8221; They&#8217;re not interested in proving you wrong, they&#8217;re interested in shutting you up. And that&#8217;s exactly what&#8217;s happening here.
As the Washington Post piece says: &#8220;Brett Cooper, a media commentator for the conservative Daily Wire, argued in a viral TikTok clip that birth control can impact fertility, cause women to gain weight and even alter whom they are attracted to. It racked up over 219,000 &#8216;likes&#8217; before TikTok removed it following The Post’s inquiry.&#8221; The piece goes on to describe other similar videos that the Post also wants to be deleted from the internet. 
For example, this one, from Ben Shapiro&#8217;s show a year ago:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Is the Birth Control Pill Wrecking Your Health?" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ErrWNrFDcqI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It&#8217;s hard to imagine a more anodyne clip than that. This is not a woman making up crazy, unhinged conspiracy theories about birth control. She&#8217;s not expressing some dangerous, unscientific opinion. She doesn&#8217;t even appear to be political. She&#8217;s just articulating a very reasonable, increasingly common concern, which is that taking unnatural hormones might have some unexpected and unwanted effects on the human body. Even if you don&#8217;t know anything about the scientific data on this point, that&#8217;s not a crazy thing to believe.
But as that clip goes on, they do talk about some of the research on this point. None of this is quack science. It&#8217;s widely accepted in medical literature.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1332-the-media-panics-as-more-and-more-women-choose-to-dump-their-birth-control-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
For example, a recent <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6193788/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> out of Denmark, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that, &#8220;hormonal contraception use doubles the risk of suicide attempt, and triples the risk of suicide.&#8221; The study specifically found that &#8220;the association between hormonal contraception and primary outcomes peaked at 2 months, but continued even after the cessation of hormonal contraception for some years.&#8221; The researchers also reported that hormonal contraceptives were connected with a 70% increase in rates of depression.
Before I get into the specifics of what other studies have found, it&#8217;s important to pause here and take another look at how the Washington Post is framing this story. Here&#8217;s the first paragraph: 
<blockquote>Search for &#8216;birth control&#8217; on TikTok or Instagram and a cascade of misleading videos vilifying hormonal contraception appear: Young women blaming their weight gain on the pill. Right-wing commentators claiming that some birth control can lead to infertility. Testimonials complaining of depression and anxiety. &#8230; Physicians say they’re seeing an explosion of birth-control misinformation online targeting a vulnerable demographic.</blockquote>
The implication of what the Post wrote is that it&#8217;s &#8220;misinformation&#8221; to say that birth control is related to &#8220;depression and anxiety.&#8221; But that&#8217;s not true. At no point in the Washington Post&#8217;s article did they debunk the study from Denmark. They don&#8217;t even mention it. Instead, they simply state, as a matter of fact, that you&#8217;re crazy if you link birth control to weight gain, infertility, or depression. They claim the only significant side effects of birth control medication are blood clots. But they&#8217;re wrong, on all counts.
One of the main reasons they&#8217;re wrong is that hormonal birth control inhibits the body&#8217;s natural reaction to stress. As a UCLA Health study put it late <a href="https://www.uclahealth.org/news/study-shows-how-birth-control-pills-affect-womens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">last year</a>:
<blockquote> Researchers at the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences’ Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research found contraceptive users and non-users processed stress differently at the molecular level, with contraceptive users also reporting a more negative psychological response to stress compared to non-users.</blockquote>
Is it possible that disrupting the body&#8217;s natural stress response might lead to weight gain, given that weight gain is one of the most common symptoms of stress? The Washington Post thinks you&#8217;re a science denier if you even suggest that. They&#8217;ll have you pulled off TikTok if you even mention the possibility. And that&#8217;s weird, because less than a year ago, NBC News ran this report, in which their medical experts explain that weight gain and hair loss are among the symptoms of hormonal birth control. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Why some women are quitting hormonal birth control" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u3Z-1JXyIvA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I guess we&#8217;re expected to believe that at some point between May and this week, the science changed. But actually, it didn&#8217;t. Going back to the UCLA study, researchers confirmed existing research which found that: 
<blockquote>hormonal contraceptive pills may increase women’s risk for chronically elevated inflammation, which carries the long-term risk of developing illnesses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disorders, as well as potential mood disorders, including depression.</blockquote>
The lead author at UCLA added: 
<blockquote>Cortisol gets a bad rap, but increases in cortisol in response to stress help the body manage stressful situations. &#8230; If women on the pill are having these increases in cortisol but their mood is getting worse, it could mean that the pill is preventing their bodies and minds from returning to normal following stress.</blockquote>
The truth is that hormonal birth control does come with all kinds of risks and side effects. All drugs do. Drugs that suppress the normal, healthy functions of the body are always especially risky. And that includes potential impacts on fertility, as much as the Washington Post doesn&#8217;t want to admit it. Right now, if you go to the Planned Parenthood <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/birth-control-shot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>, you&#8217;ll find that they recommend a method of hormonal birth control known as &#8220;the Depo shot.&#8221; 
<blockquote>The depo shot (AKA Depo-Provera) is an injection you get once every 3 months. It’s a safe, convenient, and private birth control method that works really well if you always get it on time.</blockquote>
What Planned Parenthood doesn&#8217;t mention on their website is that the &#8220;depo shot&#8221; has clear and proven impacts on fertility. This is from the WebMD website, which on most days, the Washington Post agrees is a <a href="https://www.webmd.com/baby/get-pregnant-after-birth-control">reliable source</a>: 
<blockquote>Injectable birth control (Depo-Provera): Unlike other forms of hormonal birth control, it may be harder to get pregnant after you stop getting these shots. It may take 10 months or more before you ovulate again. For some women, it will take up to 18 months for periods to start again.</blockquote>
So this is a method of hormonal birth control that does impact fertility after you stop taking it. In fact, it can make women infertile for a very long time. This isn&#8217;t some conspiracy theory — and neither is the idea that hormonal birth control can contribute to weight gain, depression and suicide. The same sources that the Left tells us to trust at every opportunity — established medical researchers — are very clear on this. But the &#8220;trust the science&#8221; crowd has suddenly become very distrusting of science.
And that&#8217;s not the only platitude they&#8217;re abandoning in order to censor anyone who speaks critically about birth control. Remember &#8220;my body, my choice?&#8221; If these people really believed in the &#8220;my body my choice&#8221; mantra, they would celebrate, or at least accept, that an increasing number of young women are choosing to forgo birth control. But birth control is central to their cultural agenda.
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With fewer women on the pill, more women will become mothers, and some of them will drop out of the workforce and discover fulfillment and happiness as wives and homemakers. This is the real crisis that the Washington Post and the other Left wing rags are worried about. The last thing that the elites want to see is a movement of women fully embracing their own womanhood, and men fully embracing their manhood. A move back towards the family, away from materialism and self-preoccupation and towards marriage and parenthood. These people have been waging a war on the family for decades, and the birth control pill is their nuclear bomb. The family is the greatest threat to them. And a society full of families — of intact, happy families, with attentive mothers and strong fathers — that is a society that has rendered these people powerless. That is their fear. And they fear it like they fear nothing else.
And politically, of course we know that unhappy career middle managers at Citibank are one of the core constituencies of the Democratic Party. If they rebel, Democrats will have real trouble winning another election. And they&#8217;re willing to do anything — including lying to women about the serious and even fatal drug side effects of birth control, and so many other drugs — to prevent that from happening.

contraceptive pill

The Media Panics As More And More Women Choose To Dump Their Birth Control

Birth Control

Brett Cooper

Jeff Bezos

Matt Walsh

Readers Pass

Washington Post

Women

Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro visited one of America’s forgotten cities devastated by the fentanyl crisis to speak with family members of people who have died from drug overdoses in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/fentanyl-america-s-silent-epidemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest episode</a> of his docu-series, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-divided-states-of-biden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Divided States of Biden</a>.” 
In the episode, Shapiro traveled to Camden, New Jersey, a city that has been completely ravaged by drugs, overdose deaths, and homelessness. He spoke with those who have been negatively impacted and why advocates are demanding that the Biden administration do more to fight the spread of fentanyl throughout America. 
“In the heart of America&#8217;s towns and cities, a silent crisis brews, one that knows no boundaries, spares no community, and leaves a trail of devastation in its wake,” Shapiro said. “The fentanyl crisis has become America&#8217;s deadliest drug epidemic, claiming lives with unprecedented potency and stealth. Behind the statistics lie the real stories of loss and despair, and a growing sense of abandonment by those who know that Joe Biden and his administration have not done nearly enough to protect American citizens.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
China sends it to Mexico. The Mexican drug cartels move it across our border. 100,000+ Americans die of fentanyl poisoning every year &#8211; it kills more Americans 18-45 than any other cause. This is the on-the-ground story of America’s silent epidemic &#8211; an act of war against the… <a href="https://t.co/nml57CtMJw">pic.twitter.com/nml57CtMJw</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1772299767428620460?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The episode “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/fentanyl-america-s-silent-epidemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fentanyl: America’s Silent Epidemic</a>” features interviews with advocates, lawmakers, and investigators who have dug into the worsening crisis. It was released on Sunday on DailyWire+. 
Fentanyl overdoses have skyrocketed in recent years, rising from just 3,000 in 2013 to more than 73,000 in 2022. Death by fentanyl overdose is, by many estimates, the leading cause of death for those ages 18 to 45. To get a firsthand look at the crisis, Shapiro went to Kensington Avenue in Camden, where drug use is rampant and out in the open. Shapiro said that once someone enters the area, “all hell breaks loose.” 
“It&#8217;s just miles of drug addicts, people who are missing limbs and toes and fingers,” Shapiro said. “You&#8217;re seeing people who are bent over at the waist because the drugs have done such horrific things to their body they&#8217;re not capable of standing up straight. It looks like something out of ‘The Walking Dead.’”
<h3><a class="c-link" href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/fentanyl-america-s-silent-epidemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/fentanyl-america-s-silent-epidemic" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-1928">WATCH: Fentanyl: America’s Silent Epidemic</a></h3>
During the episode, Shapiro spoke with several women who lost family members to drug overdoses. They are now advocates for cracking down on those who distribute illicit drugs and called on the Biden administration to do more to shut down the flow of drugs coming over the U.S. southern border. 
April Babcock, whose son Austen died of fentanyl poisoning, said Biden’s border policies are a “punch” to her face. 
“I thought the sitting president is supposed to put Americans first,” she told Shapiro. “He has given operational control to the Mexican cartels. That&#8217;s exactly what he&#8217;s done.”
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Shapiro agreed, saying that decisive action was needed to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border. 
“It&#8217;s simply not in China&#8217;s and Mexico&#8217;s interest to stop the fentanyl trafficking, which means that absent strong American action, nothing is going to get done,” Shapiro said. “Solutions like increased funding for detection technology at our border or say, you know, shutting down the border itself haven&#8217;t been tried either. All of this information leads to the same conclusion: Joe Biden is unserious about fentanyl, and people are dying in unprecedented numbers because of it.”

Screen Shot 2024-03-18 at 1.19.04 PM

Ben Shapiro Shows How Biden Has Made Fentanyl Crisis Worse In New Docu-Series Episode

Ben Shapiro

Biden Administration

New Jersey

The Daily Wire

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/drugs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drug</a> overdoses topped records again in 2022, new government data show.
Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db491.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A total of 107,941 people died from drug overdoses that year, about 1,200 more or 1% higher than those who died in 2021.
The number of overdose deaths has been rising for two decades, hitting new records nearly every year.
The overdose death rate for teens and adults younger than 35 decreased slightly, while rates increased for adults age 35 and older.
Men consistently make up the vast majority of overdose deaths by far, about 70% of all deaths. In 2022, the female overdose death rate declined for the first time in five years, but the male rate continued to climb.
American Indian and Alaska Native people continued to have the highest overdose death rate, which spiked 15% in 2022. Black, Hispanic, and Asian people also saw their overdose death rates rise, while rates decreased among white Americans.
Powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl continue to drive the death rate up precipitously.
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Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-sees-biggest-fentanyl-bust-in-sheriffs-office-history">about</a> 50 times more potent than heroin, has been on the rise in the U.S. for years. The deadly synthetic opioid is inexpensive to make, easily transported, and has been increasingly smuggled over the southern border by Mexican cartels.
As little as two milligrams of fentanyl weighing the same as a few grains of salt can cause a fatal overdose, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/portland-sees-biggest-fentanyl-bust-in-sheriffs-office-history">according</a> to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Because it is frequently cut with other drugs, users may often be unaware that they are consuming the powerful substance, which can be deadly even in small doses.
Synthetic opioids caused about 23 deaths for every 100,000 people in 2022, 4% higher than in 2021. Meanwhile, deaths due to natural opioids such as heroin decreased.
Deaths involving cocaine also spiked 12% in 2022. Deaths involving psychostimulants such as methamphetamine also increased 4%.
Overdose death numbers for 2023 have not yet been reported.
The new data also showed that overall life expectancy increased for Americans by more than a year up to 77.5 years.
This is partially due to the COVID death rate declining, but it does not quite make up for the 2.4 years of life expectancy lost since the pandemic. Life expectancy remains lower than it has been in about two decades.
The death rates for infants and children up to 14 jumped between 2021 and 2022 while the death rate for age groups above 14 decreased.
Heart disease remained the leading cause of death, with cancer in second place.
Those conditions cause about two out of very five deaths in the country, although the death rates for both decreased 4% and 3%, respectively, in 2022.

Handcuffs on wrist, drug syringe

Drug Overdose Deaths Smashed Records Again In 2022

overdose

You may have seen this week that Oprah was back on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oprah-insists-obesity-is-a-disease-in-new-doc-touting-ozempic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">primetime</a> television. 
She hosted a special on Monday called &#8220;Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution.&#8221; Really, it was more of an infomercial for drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which millions of Americans are taking to lose weight.
Previously, I&#8217;ve <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshShow/status/1661507373851131909" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gone into</a> the various side-effects of these drugs. Ozempic, for example, can potentially <a href="https://www.ozempic.com/important-safety-information.html#:~:text=It%20is%20not%20known%20if%20Ozempic%C2%AE%20will%20cause%20thyroid,type%202%20(MEN%202)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">cause</a> thyroid tumors, cancer, and projectile vomiting. Maybe even more alarming is that we also don&#8217;t really understand how these drugs work. Ozempic essentially tricks the pancreas into releasing more insulin. In turn, Ozempic&#8217;s artificially created hormones, &#8220;appear to actually bind to receptors on neurons in several parts of the brain,&#8221; <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2023/05/ozempic-addictive-behavior-drinking-smoking/674098/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a biologists quoted last year by The Atlantic. What do these hormones do when they bind to receptors in the brain? Apparently, they reduce people&#8217;s urge not simply to eat, but also to shop, and to engage in a range of other compulsive behaviors. If that&#8217;s true, no scientist in the world has any idea why it&#8217;s happening, or what other modifications this drug might be making to the brain. 
As if to prove that point, as recently as this month, the Atlantic published a follow-up piece <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/03/ozempic-glp1-weight-loss-brain-gut/677645/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entitled</a>, &#8220;The Science Behind Ozempic Was Wrong.&#8221;
It all sounds very much like an elixir, a wonder-drug that can magically solve all of your problems. But if you&#8217;re the cynical type — or if you just paid any attention at all to big pharma over the past few years — you might have some questions. These are the questions that Oprah&#8217;s infomercial on Monday was intended to address. And to be fair, some of the side effects did come up; one woman in the special said that she had to stop taking one of these weight-loss drugs due to the nausea symptoms, for example.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1330-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
But by and large, this was a puff-piece that centered on a lie. It&#8217;s a lie that Oprah repeated several times, and that every television medical expert in this country repeats as well. It&#8217;s the claim that obesity is a &#8220;disease,&#8221; rather than a symptom of poor life choices. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Oprah" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9YPZoLQd_xU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Oprah uses this idea that obesity is a &#8220;disease&#8221; to justify &#8220;treating&#8221; it with drugs instead of diet and exercise. This is an idea that, if you listen to medical experts, is something you&#8217;re not supposed to question. As you just heard from that CBS doctor: &#8220;It&#8217;s a chronic disease! Go to the C.D.C. website! Everybody will tell you the same thing! It&#8217;s just like asthma or diabetes!&#8221; And then everyone nods around the desk.
Except, obesity is nothing like asthma or diabetes, actually. People with obesity can cure themselves. That&#8217;s true in literally every case of obesity. You can lock someone in a room and feed them 1,000 calories of fruit every day, and they will be cured with one-hundred percent certainty. All you have to do is eat a healthy diet, and you&#8217;re cured. You can&#8217;t say the same for everyone with asthma or diabetes (at least not Type 1 diabetes). And if obesity is a disease, you’d need to explain why almost nobody in the country had this “disease” in the 1930s. And why nobody in Ethiopia has it today.
There seems to be a very curious correlation here. The “disease” of obesity only takes hold in places where people eat a lot of food and don’t get a lot of exercise. 
They say correlation isn’t causation, but I think in this case the causation is pretty clear. This is such an obvious, self-evident point that it made me wonder: When exactly did medical experts suddenly decide that obesity is a &#8220;disease,&#8221; and why did they do it? What definition were they using, exactly?
It turns out that the esteemed medical journal The Lancet has already answered this question. Back in 2013, the American Medical Association simply decided to arbitrarily classify obesity as a disease, even though they admitted that it didn&#8217;t meet the scientific definition of a disease. 
As <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370%2823%2900139-6/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Lancet</a> notes: 
<blockquote>A disease, by definition, needs to have characteristic symptoms and signs, and even though excess [body fat] is a characteristic sign, there are no symptoms that are unique to obesity. &#8230; The American Medical Association (AMA) applied a different approach to this conundrum in 2013. Instead of trying to determine whether obesity fits specific definitions of disease, the AMA used a utilitarian approach to determine whether the recognition of obesity as a disease would have a positive impact on the individual patient, the healthcare system, and the wider society.</blockquote>
In other words, they realized that obesity doesn&#8217;t meet the definition of a disease, because there are no unique symptoms that only obese people suffer from. But they just decided to call it a disease anyway, to raise awareness (otherwise known as, to sell more medications). That&#8217;s what one of the top medical journals in the world is admitting. And by the way, it wasn&#8217;t just the AMA that took this approach. The Lancet <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370%2823%2900139-6/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noopener">continues</a>: 
<blockquote>In the U.K., the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) recognised obesity as a disease in 2019. The main argument of RCP and those in favour of this recognition is that, unless obesity is defined as a disease, the funding for effective treatment options will be inadequate to stop its increasing prevalence and the health and socioeconomic costs associated with it.</blockquote>
This is almost too absurd to be real. But it is real. Leading medical associations all over the world decided to lie about obesity being a &#8220;disease,&#8221; and they admitted it out loud, and everyone just went along with it. We&#8217;re still seeing this today, of course, with nonsense like &#8220;Long COVID.&#8221; But with obesity, they just came out and told us they were lying. And no one saw a problem with it.
Take for example this remarkable clip from 2013, which is the year the AMA decided to just invent the idea that obesity is a disease. Watch as Charlie Rose asks the medical expert about this. You can tell Rose is a little confused as to why the AMA has suddenly made this decision out of nowhere. What &#8220;science&#8221; changed all of a sudden, Rose wanted to know, that explains why the AMA abruptly decided to label obesity as a disease? 
Watch how the in-house medical expert responds:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 AMA" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZxhITy-iKDM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It&#8217;s just one non-answer and non-sequitur after another. &#8220;It&#8217;s a disease because it hurts your body!&#8221; exclaims the T.V. doctor. But that&#8217;s not what a disease is. Shooting yourself in the foot would hurt your body, too. That doesn&#8217;t mean that shooting yourself in the foot is a disease. 
Drowning yourself in the river will hurt your body. But when they pull your corpse out of the water they aren’t going to say, “Wow, it looks like he died from the drowning disease.” It doesn’t make sense. So when Charlie Rose puts some more mild pressure on this guy, he just says, well, the AMA overwhelmingly agrees with me. So shut up and accept the fact that obesity is a disease. Science commands it. You don&#8217;t get to ask questions.
It&#8217;s not hard to see what&#8217;s going on here. The point is to medicalize the human condition and remove human agency by turning all vice into an illness. And in the process, big pharma makes a lot of money. It&#8217;s less clear why exactly anyone should take Oprah seriously concerning this topic. Back in December, Oprah <a href="https://people.com/oprah-winfrey-reveals-weight-loss-medication-exclusive-8414552" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disclosed</a> that she has been taking a nonspecific weight-loss medication herself. More recently, just weeks before this primetime infomercial aired, Oprah <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/03/01/1235100405/after-nearly-a-decade-oprah-winfrey-is-set-to-depart-the-board-of-weightwatchers#:~:text=Oprah%20Winfrey%20plans%20on%20leaving,next%20shareholder%20meeting%20in%20May." target="_blank" rel="noopener">stepped aside</a> from her role on the board of Weight Watchers this month, claiming it could present a conflict of interest.
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In reality, the conflict is so obvious and so significant, that it completely undercuts the integrity of Oprah&#8217;s special, no matter what she does. Last year, Weight Watchers <a href="https://corporate.ww.com/news/news-details/2023/WW-International-Inc.-Completes-Acquisition-of-Sequence/default.aspx#:~:text=(NASDAQ%3A%20WW)%20(%E2%80%9C,specializing%20in%20chronic%20weight%20management." target="_blank" rel="noopener">purchased</a> a tele-health startup called Sequence that connects customers with doctors who are ready and willing to prescribe Ozempic. Weight Watchers realized that its model of preaching personal willpower and self-control was going out of style, so in a last-ditch effort to save the company, they started <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/14/business/weightwatchers-ozempic-weight-loss/index.html#:~:text=The%20support%20program%20is%20included,care%20physician%20if%20they%20prefer." target="_blank" rel="noopener">selling</a> $99-a-month subscriptions to connect their customers with these weight-loss drugs. Oprah was on the board of Weight Watchers during that period.
Given that background, it&#8217;s hard to be impressed with the fact that Oprah left Weight Watchers&#8217; board *right before* airing a special that stands to benefit both Weight Watchers and their new partners in big pharma. This would be a little like Hunter Biden suddenly leaving his extremely well-paying job on the board of a Ukrainian oil company, a few days before flying Joe Biden into Kiev on a private jet to fire the attorney general looking into the oil company. It doesn&#8217;t really look good, under any circumstances.
But the possibility that Oprah is a corrupt saleswoman isn&#8217;t really the story here. Everyone knew that already. The fact that virtually every medical expert in the country has been lying to you about obesity is the story. It&#8217;s not a disease. It&#8217;s not a chronic disorder that only some miracle drug can fix. That whole idea is a scam — one that the AMA deliberately started spreading more than a decade ago. And everything we&#8217;ve heard from the medical community since — including this transparent, cringeworthy Oprah infomercial this week — has been designed to perpetuate that scam. They want you to believe you don&#8217;t have any agency over your body or your life, so they can sell you a supply of drugs that cost $1,000 a month. Don&#8217;t fall for it.

Oprah Winfrey

Virtually Every Medical Expert Is Lying To You About Obesity. Here’s The Proof.

Virtually Every Medical Expert Is Lying To You About Obesity. Here's The Proof.

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