Louder with Crowder - The American Opioid Crisis Explained | Louder with Crowder

00:00:00.000 ["Hit The Road With Me"]

00:00:17.000 ["Detroit Sucks"]

00:00:38.000 Time to listen up, you silly liberal fruitcake students!

00:00:46.000 You didn't take that turn, you didn't build that!

00:00:49.000 Four years ago when things got dumb, I made me some calls and got me some money.

00:00:56.000 Yes, Lotto and Trotter has gone daily.

00:00:59.000 And since 2016 on election night, my club has survived.

00:01:06.000 And Mug Club can survive! 0.92

00:01:12.000 And then last year when the Vox thing hit, they tried to make me a hippie.

00:01:21.000 Stephen Cotter is YouTube's ideal creator.

00:01:26.000 He makes cheap, long content.

00:01:29.000 We were at 40,000 people watching on YouTube, and then ABC decided to hit us with the copyrights today.

00:01:37.000 Everyone's an idiot, asshole.

00:01:38.000 I apologize, cause mug club can't survive.

00:01:42.000 Cause mug club can't survive.

00:01:44.000 Everyone, idiot, asshole, fat, hard, stupid!

00:01:48.000 No, you can't knock us down and we ain't gonna run.

00:01:53.000 No matter what you try, you know we ain't done.

00:01:57.000 If it's a new police officer, that ain't a man.

00:02:01.000 If they don't like that, we don't give a damn.

00:02:06.000 But you should respect women.

00:02:12.000 I'm sorry, I am a woman.

00:02:15.000 And in the end we decided that it was not violative of our policies for harassment.

00:02:20.000 This guy's a fascist.

00:02:20.000 He said we abided by, and a mug club can survive.

00:02:25.000 This guy's a fascist.

00:02:26.000 I don't know about that.

00:02:27.000 A mug club can survive.

00:02:28.000 Oh, f***.

00:02:29.000 You're gonna say I'm even proud of you?

00:02:31.000 Yeah.

00:02:31.000 I didn't f***ing want a piece of meat for a long time.

00:02:33.000 Now I'll log into YouTube and what do I see?

00:02:37.000 Want to scroll past Noah and Samantha Bean My YouTube page is re-monetized

00:02:48.000 Cause Mug Club can survive A5 fun! 0.85

00:02:52.000 And Mug Club can survive! 0.92

00:02:57.000 We're going to call the police.

00:02:59.000 Leave my restaurant or I'll call the cops.

00:03:01.000 No you can't knock us down and we ain't gonna run.

00:03:05.000 No matter what you try, you know we ain't done.

00:03:10.000 Hold on you're ****ing me.

00:03:11.000 We say sir and ma'am.

00:03:16.000 Yeah, why not?

00:03:18.000 Good, good.

00:03:19.000 You're a very violent and dangerous fellow!

00:03:21.000 If you think this will soften us up, then YouTube's got them a new lap of...

00:03:27.000 Nope!

00:03:31.000 Don't worry, we're a big surprise, cause Mug Club can't stop us. 1.00

00:03:36.000 You're here to shut me down.

00:03:38.000 We've been remonitized The lies we let our brothers hear

00:03:42.000 My club can survive You quit, what's that?

00:03:45.000 My club can survive I'm here to shut down your club

00:03:49.000 You're here to shut me down Who the hell lets you back on this team?

00:03:52.000 Thanks for watching!

00:03:59.000 FRIEND OR SCAR?

00:04:03.000 Stop! 1.00

00:04:03.000 dot com. 1.00

00:04:05.000 This is a test.

00:04:06.000 our dad

00:04:16.000 dad dad

00:04:24.000 dad dad

00:04:33.000 dad and cut

00:04:43.000 uses what i do it I do this for you.

00:04:45.000 I try and subject myself to the sippage, because the ASMR freaks get really into it.

00:04:51.000 Do they?

00:04:51.000 And then, unfortunately, there was too much... Like, with wine, you're supposed to bring air in with it, right?

00:04:55.000 It's called turling, though.

00:04:56.000 It's not sipping.

00:04:57.000 Oh, well, that's affected.

00:04:58.000 So my point is that I inhaled, and I did it wrong.

00:05:01.000 It went down the wrong pipe.

00:05:03.000 Glad to be with you!

00:05:03.000 It's the sound of Tuesday, I suppose.

00:05:06.000 We'll be talking about a lot today, and...

00:05:10.000 Brian Stelter makes an appearance, as does Second Lunch.

00:05:16.000 Real journalist, right?

00:05:17.000 Yes.

00:05:17.000 So, Second Lunch.

00:05:19.000 Second Lunch is?

00:05:20.000 Not quite linner, not quite lunch.

00:05:23.000 Don't even get me started on dinner.

00:05:24.000 That's way, way, way.

00:05:25.000 Dinner is right out!

00:05:27.000 We're talking about Second Lunch.

00:05:30.000 And then there's Third Lunch, and then there's linner, and then there's a two mimosa brunch, but we're talking about that.

00:05:33.000 But another thing that I really wanted to talk about is the opioid crisis.

00:05:38.000 So first off, A lot of folks don't consider, again, the collateral damage, the unintended consequences of keeping the borders open or allowing more people, of course, to come into this country, record numbers.

00:05:50.000 The fentanyl issue, right?

00:05:52.000 This is something we say that we're doing it out of empathy because people want to come to this country. 0.72

00:05:55.000 They're not actually asylum seekers.

00:05:57.000 They're just leaving a country that's crappier than the United States.

00:05:59.000 That's it.

00:05:59.000 That's not a reason to be able to enter here illegally, but that's a subject for another day.

00:06:02.000 Fentanyl has increased dramatically, and unfortunately that's been conflated with what has now been coined the opioid

00:06:09.000 crisis.

00:06:10.000 And I will tell you, it bothers me. Just hear me out.

00:06:13.000 I have some unpopular opinions on this, especially having just gone through some major surgeries.

00:06:17.000 There is a huge difference between street drugs and what people consider the opioid crisis,

00:06:22.000 but it's a third rail that no politician wants to touch.

00:06:24.000 So my question of the day is, first off, do you know anyone who has been affected by the opioid crisis?

00:06:31.000 I'd like you to comment below.

00:06:32.000 We'll read some of those comments here probably next week.

00:06:35.000 I know some people who have been affected by it, not in the ways that you may think, and it's tragic.

00:06:40.000 But then my question to you also is, what is your opinion on the prescriptions Of opiates, of actual prescription opiates to people who are, you know, actually suffering from pain or have been through major surgery.

00:06:53.000 So we'll be talking about that a little bit because I think the pendulum may have swung too far the other way before we get to any of that.

00:06:59.000 Oh, I should let you know.

00:07:01.000 There's no show this Thursday.

00:07:03.000 So I'm telling you, there's no show on Thursday for good reason, and I'll be in Michigan, Royal Oak.

00:07:07.000 Those tickets are sold out, but the people in Royal Oak, we are going to see you this Saturday.

00:07:12.000 No show Thursday.

00:07:13.000 Every other day, though, if you miss a show and we have not told you, if you don't see it here on YouTube, Go on over to Rumble.

00:07:18.000 Go to Mug Club. 0.78

00:07:19.000 We're still streaming live, Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.

00:07:22.000 Eastern.

00:07:23.000 Just because we're not here on YouTube doesn't mean that the show is not streaming.

00:07:27.000 Nothing would make me happier than you guys leaving the tube that is you and going over to the Rumble.

00:07:33.000 Because Rumbles bounce!

00:07:35.000 All right, Gerald A. is here.

00:07:37.000 How are you?

00:07:37.000 I am well, sir.

00:07:38.000 How are you?

00:07:38.000 I'm okay.

00:07:39.000 Doing all right?

00:07:40.000 Yeah, I'm okay.

00:07:41.000 Got a little bit of sleep, which was nice.

00:07:42.000 Well, that's...

00:07:44.000 Every once in a while.

00:07:44.000 It's a rarity.

00:07:45.000 It is, yeah.

00:07:45.000 It's hard to come by.

00:07:46.000 By the way, he's addicted to opioids all the time, right now.

00:07:50.000 He's just literally, when he walks, he sounds like Dan Maracas.

00:07:53.000 I did do the show one time on opioids.

00:07:56.000 Yes, of course you did.

00:07:57.000 After surgery!

00:07:58.000 And by that, you mean you one time did a show not on opioids.

00:08:01.000 No, no, it was back surgery.

00:08:03.000 You should just see what he does in the alleyway for a bottle of Percocet.

00:08:06.000 And we have in third chair, Dave is not here with us today, but it is Porter Black Garrett!

00:08:12.000 Wait.

00:08:13.000 It's, uh, it's not Black History Month.

00:08:16.000 No, I know, we just thought we'd do it for you.

00:08:17.000 Yeah.

00:08:17.000 With you, every month is Quarter Black History Month.

00:08:20.000 I see what you did there.

00:08:21.000 And you work, of course, now on the YouTube channel.

00:08:23.000 He's not here anymore.

00:08:23.000 We miss him, but, uh, Nerd-Rotic?

00:08:25.000 That's right, Nerd-Rotic. 0.63

00:08:27.000 And also, I have a YouTube channel.

00:08:28.000 Right.

00:08:28.000 Where I play video games and talk about movies, so.

00:08:30.000 Ah, nice.

00:08:30.000 Right, yeah.

00:08:31.000 For people who want to watch someone else have fun.

00:08:33.000 That's right!

00:08:33.000 Play video games.

00:08:34.000 It happens a lot!

00:08:36.000 Do they pay you, like, to eat cheeseburgers?

00:08:37.000 Like, the Tess Holiday stuff on webcam?

00:08:39.000 Or like, yeah.

00:08:41.000 Like a mukbang. 0.99

00:08:41.000 Have you seen that? 0.99

00:08:42.000 That's what it's called.

00:08:42.000 You've seen that though, where like the people like the green ladies?

00:08:44.000 I try not to see it.

00:08:45.000 I'd like to avoid that.

00:08:46.000 Right.

00:08:47.000 Well, you know what?

00:08:48.000 It's gonna cost years of therapy.

00:08:49.000 Also, lotofconda.com slash tour.

00:08:52.000 We are going to be in Colorado Springs June 18th.

00:08:54.000 There's still some shows left for the second show.

00:08:57.000 Tickets left.

00:08:58.000 Tulsa?

00:08:58.000 I don't know if it's... I think it's kind of sold out.

00:09:00.000 I don't want to... I think it's... basically it's sold out, Tulsa, so I apologize.

00:09:04.000 But Colorado Springs, the second show.

00:09:05.000 Go to livewithcolorado.com slash tour.

00:09:06.000 We have a big fall tour that we'll be doing.

00:09:08.000 But first, before any of this, time to react to something.

00:09:13.000 New Jersey just created a new... what they refer to as model school instruction materials.

00:09:18.000 I don't like where this is going.

00:09:23.000 Oh, I have seen this video.

00:09:24.000 They asked me to not watch, but I have seen this video.

00:09:28.000 What?

00:09:28.000 I haven't.

00:09:29.000 So, if you have children, they should leave the room, even though these materials... They should leave the house.

00:09:33.000 They should leave the country. 0.97

00:09:36.000 Even though the materials are designed to be presented to kids, which again, the whole grooming thing is a conspiracy, so here's just one video from the Amaze.org website.

00:09:46.000 Again, if you have kids, they should leave because they'll just see this in their public schools.

00:09:51.000 Watching porn doesn't make you a bad person.

00:09:53.000 What?

00:09:54.000 It means you're curious.

00:09:56.000 It's normal to want to know about sex and naked bodies. 0.94

00:09:59.000 I mean, look at this guy's penis. 0.80

00:10:04.000 Isn't it just unreal?

00:10:06.000 Yeah, we blurred it.

00:10:06.000 We blurred that.

00:10:07.000 Whoa! 0.71

00:10:10.000 What?

00:10:10.000 Hold on.

00:10:10.000 Why is his Johnson so, you know, large?

00:10:14.000 Wait, what are you talking about?

00:10:19.000 That's more of a you problem, Gerald.

00:10:22.000 Here's another topic we're going to discuss.

00:10:24.000 A college freshman.

00:10:26.000 Just take the L. Last week, the University of Chicago.

00:10:31.000 You comment below.

00:10:32.000 Does that seem abnormal to me?

00:10:35.000 I have that problem.

00:10:36.000 I have to worry about being knocked back.

00:10:40.000 And just stick it up like a flagpole.

00:10:43.000 Sometimes you raise it up like it ponches.

00:10:45.000 Yeah, and at the end of the level, if Mario hits the top of it, you get double points.

00:10:49.000 That's right.

00:10:50.000 Look at video games, Gerald.

00:10:52.000 Listen, it's not at all.

00:10:54.000 That was for your neurotic people, the video game.

00:10:56.000 That's a little old school for them.

00:11:00.000 Last week, here we go to Brian Stelter, which I just, I want him to be on the air forever.

00:11:06.000 Please, give him a lifetime contract, CNN.

00:11:09.000 On Lifetime.

00:11:10.000 And if not, we will give him a Lifetime Cutter.

00:11:12.000 We'll pay you, CNN, just to host his show.

00:11:15.000 There you go.

00:11:16.000 We'll pay for the show.

00:11:17.000 It's free airtime, and I'll pay for it.

00:11:19.000 We'll start a GoFundMe if we have to.

00:11:20.000 Yes.

00:11:21.000 Crowdfund this.

00:11:22.000 Keep Stelter on the air.

00:11:24.000 Stelter's like, me?

00:11:25.000 GoFundMe.

00:11:26.000 Fund F-U-N-D.

00:11:27.000 GoFundMe.

00:11:28.000 Well, I guess.

00:11:29.000 I think he's still looking at that previous little video we just watched.

00:11:33.000 I can just wire transfer it to the guy.

00:11:35.000 He's like, do I get to watch this every day?

00:11:39.000 And by every day, I mean me in the mirror?

00:11:41.000 Oh my gosh.

00:11:44.000 I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start it this way, but we live in a horrible culture.

00:11:47.000 So last week, the University of Chicago and the Atlantic, they hosted a quote, disinformation and erosion of democracy conference.

00:12:00.000 It's ironic that they hosted it.

00:12:04.000 Boy, this is where I just- It's on the nose.

00:12:05.000 This is just really where I wish I just did cocaine.

00:12:09.000 It'd be easier to process this.

00:12:11.000 And of course, so it's the Disinformation and Erosion of Democracy.

00:12:17.000 Was this a panel about how to do that?

00:12:19.000 By the way, Chicago.

00:12:20.000 Yeah, Chicago.

00:12:21.000 How to.

00:12:22.000 Yeah.

00:12:24.000 It should have been How to Disinformation and Erosion of Democracy for Dummies Conference. 0.98

00:12:29.000 And of course it featured CNN's heavyweight champion Brian Stelter.

00:12:36.000 I mean, assuming he makes the cutoff weight, or he still has to cut.

00:12:38.000 He has to spend some time in a sauna.

00:12:40.000 That's true.

00:12:41.000 So, a freshman student, Christopher Phillips, lobbed this final question to Stelter, and I think it's worth watching.

00:12:51.000 Hi, thank you for coming.

00:12:53.000 My name is Christopher Phillips.

00:12:54.000 I'm a first year at the college.

00:12:56.000 My question is for Mr. Stelter.

00:12:59.000 You've all spoken extensively about Fox News being a purveyor of disinformation, but CNN is right up there with them.

00:13:06.000 They pushed the Russian collusion hoax, they pushed the Jussie Smollett hoax, they smeared Justice Kavanaugh as a rapist, and they also smeared Nick Salmon as a white supremacist, and yes, they dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop affair as pure Russian disinformation.

00:13:22.000 With mainstream corporate journalists becoming little more than apologists and cheerleaders for the regime, is it time to finally declare that the canon of journalistic ethics is dead or no longer operative?

00:13:36.000 All the mistakes of the mainstream media, and CNN in particular, seem to magically all go in one direction.

00:13:43.000 Are we expected to believe that this is all just some sort of random coincidence, or is there something else behind it?

00:13:50.000 Too bad, it's time for lunch.

00:13:52.000 Of course it is.

00:13:53.000 You have 30 seconds.

00:13:54.000 There's a clock that says 30 seconds.

00:13:56.000 But I think my honest answer to you, and I'll come over and talk in more detail after this, is that I think you're describing a different channel than the one that I watch.

00:14:05.000 But I understand that that is a popular narrative about CNN.

00:14:08.000 I think it's important, when we talk about shared reality and democracy, all these networks, all these outlets have to defend democracy.

00:14:14.000 And when they screw up, admit it.

00:14:17.000 But, when Benjamin Hall, the Fox correspondent, was wounded in Ukraine, the news crews at CNN and the New York Times stopped what they were doing, and they tried to help.

00:14:25.000 They tried to help him get out of the country, they tried to find the dead crew members.

00:14:29.000 That's what news outlets do.

00:14:30.000 That's how they actually do work together, to your question about sharing those kinds of connections and trusts.

00:14:35.000 We don't share that reality about how that happens.

00:14:40.000 It's just a maid. 1.00

00:14:41.000 In regards to the regime, I think you mean the President Biden?

00:14:43.000 The President Biden?

00:14:44.000 The last time I spoke with a Biden aide, we yelled at each other.

00:14:47.000 So that's the reality of the news business.

00:14:49.000 No, come on. 0.85

00:14:49.000 The people don't see, the people don't hear. 0.85

00:14:51.000 That was just dirty talk.

00:14:52.000 They imagine that it's a situation that simply is not.

00:14:55.000 They were listening to Screamo.

00:14:55.000 But I think your question, it speaks to the failure of journalism to show our work and show the reality of how our profession operates.

00:15:03.000 We have a lot of work to do, I think.

00:15:06.000 Okay, well... I've got a blinking red eye.

00:15:09.000 I know, you keep doing it, but there's lunch right out in the hallway!

00:15:12.000 I know, it's lunch time.

00:15:13.000 There's lunch right out in the hallway.

00:15:14.000 I can smell it!

00:15:15.000 I'm flying to it!

00:15:18.000 There's the craft table for everyone else, and a trough labeled Skelter.

00:15:23.000 One of those giant, full-bodied bits.

00:15:27.000 Don't go bacon my heart.

00:15:28.000 Don't get close to him.

00:15:29.000 He gets aggressive when you get close to his food.

00:15:32.000 Oh gosh.

00:15:33.000 Look, he ignores all of the claims.

00:15:35.000 This is actually a perfect example of, you know, I hate to use the term mainstream media, legacy media, because they have a platform.

00:15:43.000 They have a platform on television, and it's one-way.

00:15:45.000 You know what I mean?

00:15:46.000 It's a one-way platform where there's no interaction, where they can just go on there and they can spout their information, and they get to ignore all of the actual claims, all of the actual criticisms, and they just act as though they don't exist.

00:15:56.000 For example, we saw this at CNN with Cuomo and his brother.

00:15:59.000 Only when there were actual legal ramifications did anything happen.

00:16:03.000 And it's the same thing with Stelter right here.

00:16:04.000 You're just seeing it happen in real time.

00:16:05.000 He's so ill-equipped to deal With, not even really accusations, just factual claims about inaccuracies in the media, what does he do?

00:16:14.000 He ignores it, he points to the chambermaid saying, your question?

00:16:18.000 Kay?

00:16:18.000 Your question?

00:16:20.000 And then he uses the appeal to emotion fallacy, right?

00:16:22.000 He's saying, well, journalists are still good because they don't let fellow American from Fox, they didn't let him, like, bleed out one time.

00:16:32.000 Okay, that's good.

00:16:33.000 Yeah, good.

00:16:33.000 I'm glad you answered the question.

00:16:35.000 Yeah.

00:16:35.000 You're a human being.

00:16:36.000 Right.

00:16:36.000 Thank you very much.

00:16:37.000 Oh, and then you actually went the opposite direction, and oh, by the way, I yelled at someone, too.

00:16:41.000 It's like, see, okay, we help, and then we yell, so we can't be bad.

00:16:44.000 Yeah.

00:16:44.000 Like, well, that didn't answer any of the questions.

00:16:46.000 And right away, he's scanning the room.

00:16:47.000 Yeah.

00:16:48.000 He's scanning the room for allies.

00:16:49.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:16:50.000 It's like Tom Hanks in Punchline.

00:16:51.000 Like, someone help me!

00:16:52.000 Help! 0.98

00:16:53.000 He's like, allies, allies, allies.

00:16:55.000 And even his ally on the right is like, okay, even for me, that was pretty bad.

00:17:02.000 I think we should all do better.

00:17:03.000 Lunchlop!

00:17:04.000 Brian, do you want to fix that?

00:17:05.000 No, there's lunch.

00:17:06.000 There's lunch!

00:17:07.000 It's right out the hallway.

00:17:08.000 I can smell it.

00:17:09.000 It's second lunch.

00:17:11.000 When they're calling him for lunch, it's just the Taco Bell gong.

00:17:16.000 By the way, I have a bit of an update for you.

00:17:18.000 The guy who asked that question actually tweeted out, I just saw it before the show, and he said, I mean it's been out for a little while, but I just saw it, he said that Brian did talk to him afterwards, but failed to answer any of his questions still.

00:17:31.000 Yeah, he just asked for his phone number.

00:17:34.000 You see him scanning the room for allies.

00:17:36.000 Yeah, and by the way This is also why we've been in legal battles to one degree or another with CNN.

00:17:42.000 That's Turner Broadcasting, ABC Disney, NBC Universal.

00:17:47.000 I don't know if it's CBS, Fox, because what happens is once they get

00:17:50.000 into the kinds of platforms, you know, we're like, you guys do,

00:17:53.000 there's two-way communication to some degree.

00:17:55.000 They can't compete.

00:17:56.000 And so then YouTube changes their algorithms to favor legacy media

00:18:00.000 because they spend more money on advertising.

00:18:02.000 They can't compete on the playing field, not only of ideas, but of quality of content.

00:18:06.000 And so that's why they want more government control, regulation over YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify,

00:18:13.000 because they want to have an unfair playing field, just like big banks with never-ending bailouts.

00:18:19.000 So anytime you look at the behemoths, you look at the Goliaths,

00:18:22.000 you look at the mojos like Stelter, you do see people who you have to take into account 1.00

00:18:29.000 that they're not looking out for your best interest.

00:18:31.000 So he's scanning the room, anyone gonna help me?

00:18:33.000 Who's going to help me?

00:18:34.000 Let's contrast that with Stelter, the who's going to be my friend body posture in this clip.

00:18:42.000 Time to listen up you silly liberal fruitcakes! 0.99

00:18:46.000 I came out here, I wanted to tell some jokes.

00:18:48.000 Let's do some reality checks here.

00:18:49.000 Do you have any idea, sir, how pathetic it must be to be you?

00:18:53.000 These people wanted to come out and have a good time, hear a few jokes, some thoughtful discussion, but your head pops off the pillow in the morning with, oh, how can I be a professional victim today?

00:19:03.000 Let me go in and screw with their act just because, oh my God, your parents didn't tell you that your opinion wasn't worth that much.

00:19:16.000 Look, look, they're confused.

00:19:18.000 They're confused.

00:19:18.000 You know why?

00:19:19.000 Because I'm not your gender studies professor who has to cater to your trigger warning, microaggression, safe space bullshit. 0.52

00:19:26.000 Oh, well, that wasn't Brian Stelter.

00:19:27.000 Oh, no.

00:19:28.000 You guys fit that one in.

00:19:29.000 That was the classic.

00:19:30.000 Thank you for subjecting me to having to watch myself.

00:19:32.000 No, Brian was in the audience.

00:19:34.000 Yeah, yes, he was.

00:19:35.000 He was eating, so he was happy, though.

00:19:37.000 Totally fine.

00:19:40.000 That's the only time he's silent, is when he's gorging.

00:19:46.000 Are you making fun of an immutable characteristic?

00:19:48.000 Nope.

00:19:48.000 No, it's an entirely immutable characteristic, just so you know.

00:19:51.000 By the way, you don't have to.

00:19:52.000 You can just get Richard Simmons' calorie counter and it would go a long way.

00:19:55.000 Mojo reference.

00:19:56.000 That was okay.

00:19:56.000 I mean, it's a bad Marvel character, but, you know, I got it.

00:19:59.000 Yeah.

00:20:00.000 As evil.

00:20:00.000 Yeah.

00:20:01.000 He's a good Marvel character.

00:20:02.000 But a remarkable, striking similarity to Brian Stelter.

00:20:06.000 Hey, before we move on too, it's birthday time for a super straight, white, cis, hetero male, who's, well, not necessarily white, Token Owen's birthday!

00:20:17.000 Happy Birthday Toka Dalan!

00:20:18.000 Yeahh! 1.00

00:20:19.000 hahaha hohoho

00:20:25.000 Told ya, talented man....

00:20:29.000 He was dancing earlier to that.

00:20:30.000 You get nothing!

00:20:32.000 Yeah, well, that's true.

00:20:33.000 I just have one comment.

00:20:35.000 That's hot.

00:20:36.000 That's hot.

00:20:39.000 A little teaser for later.

00:20:40.000 That's hot.

00:20:43.000 No.

00:20:43.000 I don't know what we'll be discussing on Mug Club, but I don't know if I want a teaser.

00:20:46.000 I'm scared now that that's the teaser.

00:20:48.000 We showed the village people and he said, that's hot.

00:20:53.000 I'm a narcissist.

00:20:54.000 I was talking about myself.

00:20:58.000 He's like, what's worse, saying the village people are hotter?

00:21:00.000 Wait, the village people were in that?

00:21:02.000 Yeah, the village people.

00:21:03.000 You are the village people.

00:21:04.000 He's very focused.

00:21:06.000 The village people are yours now.

00:21:07.000 They belong to you.

00:21:08.000 So here's another story before we get to the opioid crisis and the epidemic right now.

00:21:12.000 Really, the problem is what's happening at the border with fentanyl.

00:21:15.000 And I don't know if you know this, the cartels, not really looking out for your best interest in the cartels, big fans of the Biden open, not open border, but you know, more open border policy, super open border.

00:21:25.000 But before that, this is important, last week, a man was arrested, uh... I'm trying to think of how to... A man was arrested for servicing himself...

00:21:36.000 on a Southwest flight from Seattle to Phoenix four times.

00:21:41.000 Southwest, makes sense.

00:21:42.000 Well, no, for context, that's only a two-hour, 48-minute flight.

00:21:47.000 Wow!

00:21:48.000 We actually, and by the way, I think we actually have a picture of the man in question.

00:21:51.000 We have the exclusive, yeah.

00:21:53.000 Oh, wow.

00:21:54.000 Okay.

00:21:54.000 He just backdoors it in with the asexual.

00:21:56.000 That's not it at all.

00:21:58.000 Let me read a quote for you.

00:21:59.000 It says, the man in question is accused of masturbating four times in the seat next To a female passenger.

00:22:06.000 The woman took pictures of the man while he was asleep and gave them to Phoenix Police when she landed.

00:22:11.000 I mean, she's lucky that she caught him when he was sleeping.

00:22:13.000 I mean, after what, a 20... He had time to sleep?

00:22:15.000 Yeah, after a 24 second refractory period.

00:22:20.000 That's so terrible.

00:22:22.000 He had time to sleep, guys.

00:22:23.000 Everything is connected, just so you know.

00:22:25.000 You can't have men beating women in NCAA swimming competitions, and videos like you just saw being a part of a school curriculum, and not expect serial masturbators on your JetBlue flights. 0.61

00:22:39.000 He just has flying anxiety, and this is the only way.

00:22:41.000 The only release he has.

00:22:42.000 Get some sleep.

00:22:43.000 His penis was his therapy dog. 0.97

00:22:46.000 Look, it has a vest!

00:22:49.000 Now, here's the thing, of course, that guy should have been punched immediately.

00:22:54.000 Just like, remember the Detroit fire crotch bomber? 0.87

00:22:56.000 I don't know if you remember, right when Barack Obama became president, there was a terrorist who tried to blow up Detroit, which is hysterical by the way, and he had a bomb in his pants.

00:23:06.000 The underwear bomber.

00:23:07.000 The underwear bomber!

00:23:08.000 I'm gonna blow up Detroit with my underwear!

00:23:11.000 And what happened is, he only ended up blowing up his nether regions, and a black guy, he got punched in the face.

00:23:21.000 So he went, he thought he was going to die in a glaze, a glaze?

00:23:25.000 Back to Stelter.

00:23:26.000 In a blaze of glory for Allah and instead he blew off his penis and was punched in the face. 0.92

00:23:31.000 Is he still alive?

00:23:33.000 I don't know.

00:23:34.000 Poor eunuch.

00:23:35.000 He'll never show his face with Isis again. 0.98

00:23:37.000 Oh my gosh.

00:23:39.000 Just laugh him out of the room. 1.00

00:23:40.000 Strip off his patch.

00:23:42.000 Now he can be a female in sports. 1.00

00:23:45.000 Break all them rules.

00:23:48.000 He wouldn't be able to do the swimming though.

00:23:50.000 You can't trim the body hair enough.

00:23:53.000 Too much drag.

00:23:54.000 Yeah.

00:23:55.000 Now, of course, look, I get it.

00:23:57.000 This would be a traumatic experience for the lady, and we feel badly for her.

00:24:02.000 Our heart goes out to her.

00:24:03.000 But the woman has been gracious enough, the woman in question, to share her story with us.

00:24:08.000 I believe we have her on deck.

00:24:12.000 Skyping into the show here.

00:24:13.000 Oh yeah, here she is. 0.99

00:24:13.000 Oh, nice. 0.99

00:24:14.000 Yes.

00:24:16.000 There she is.

00:24:17.000 Hi, Steven.

00:24:17.000 Hello!

00:24:18.000 Hey, can you hear me?

00:24:20.000 First off, we don't want you to be doxed, but thank you for calling in.

00:24:23.000 Where are you now?

00:24:25.000 Oh, yeah, sorry.

00:24:26.000 I actually just boarded another flight, so I'm sorry for the noise, but I'm happy to share my story and maybe just, like, be a source of courage for other ladies out there who have also been seated next to masturbators.

00:24:37.000 It's gross.

00:24:38.000 Yeah, well, I can imagine.

00:24:39.000 Can you, um... Can you tell us about that a little bit, your, you know, your incident?

00:24:42.000 Yes, yeah, of course.

00:24:44.000 So, I was flying from Seattle to Phoenix, and maybe, like, I don't know, like two minutes into the flight, I start hearing this really weird, like, sound, and I...

00:24:56.000 Oh my God.

00:24:57.000 Guys, look.

00:24:58.000 What's going on?

00:24:59.000 Is that the same guy from before?

00:25:01.000 That's the same guy.

00:25:02.000 That's the same guy.

00:25:03.000 Yeah, I'm not flying Southwest again.

00:25:05.000 Okay.

00:25:05.000 I'm only flying American from here on out.

00:25:07.000 This is ridiculous.

00:25:08.000 Yeah, well, you know what?

00:25:10.000 We'll pay for spirit.

00:25:11.000 Thank you for dealing.

00:25:11.000 I appreciate it.

00:25:12.000 Goodbye.

00:25:13.000 Thank you very much.

00:25:14.000 Yeah.

00:25:14.000 I feel uncomfortable.

00:25:15.000 It gets so fast.

00:25:17.000 I don't know.

00:25:17.000 That's service right there.

00:25:19.000 Ma'am, can I get a blanket, please? 0.86

00:25:21.000 Cover myself right away.

00:25:22.000 That better have been economy plus.

00:25:25.000 Extra leg room.

00:25:26.000 Yeah.

00:25:26.000 It's true.

00:25:27.000 Otherwise I get a toe cramp.

00:25:29.000 There are trade-offs.

00:25:32.000 I'm still amazed that he had time to sleep in a two-hour flight.

00:25:36.000 Four times and he slept.

00:25:41.000 Like a baby.

00:25:41.000 That is some skill.

00:25:44.000 What in the world?

00:25:44.000 Okay, so look, saying one time would have been like enough to blow my mind, right?

00:25:49.000 That's enough.

00:25:50.000 Somebody sitting there, four times.

00:25:52.000 If I say the words.

00:25:54.000 And a nap.

00:25:55.000 If I play Bomberman on my cell phone, they ground the flight.

00:25:59.000 A guy can service himself four times and... We're good, keep going.

00:26:03.000 You don't just at least get the air marshal to lock him in the bathroom?

00:26:07.000 Well, he was, in all fairness, still wearing his mask.

00:26:11.000 So that was, you know, it's totally fine.

00:26:13.000 Does it count as Mile High Club?

00:26:15.000 No!

00:26:16.000 Not with yourself it doesn't!

00:26:18.000 No, I think at four times it crosses over.

00:26:21.000 Is this a dare?

00:26:22.000 Like, is this a bet?

00:26:23.000 Like, alright, I bet you could do it three times, but you can't possibly do it four times.

00:26:27.000 You've got two and a half hours.

00:26:29.000 How many can you crank out?

00:26:31.000 Let's go!

00:26:33.000 Guys, you know what?

00:26:34.000 Comment below, uh, wouldn't you just, wouldn't you just strike him as hard as you can?

00:26:39.000 Yes!

00:26:39.000 Can't we create a law, like, we'll give you the, we'll give you what we call the grace masturbation.

00:26:45.000 One time.

00:26:46.000 No!

00:26:46.000 In the air.

00:26:47.000 But time number two or three.

00:26:49.000 You gotta experiment, you never know.

00:26:51.000 Did the flight attendants come over, like, sir, excuse me, we're gonna have to ask you to stop.

00:26:55.000 The fasten seatbelt sign is on.

00:26:58.000 Sir, would you like a Diet Coke?

00:27:00.000 Or maybe some water?

00:27:01.000 You're gonna need water.

00:27:02.000 That being said, if he grabbed a vape pen, if he grabbed his Juul, they would have kicked him off and grounded the flight.

00:27:08.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:27:09.000 Oh, gosh.

00:27:11.000 Okay.

00:27:11.000 So let's move on here to... We live in a weird, weird world.

00:27:15.000 We live in a sick...

00:27:16.000 Sick world with sick people! 0.99

00:27:18.000 Name that movie line.

00:27:19.000 Also, smash the like button if you're watching on YouTube because that helps with the algorithm.

00:27:23.000 Especially, you know what, if you want more Change My Minds like yesterday, if we don't get 50,000 likes, I'll never do another Change My Mind as long as I live.

00:27:30.000 50,000 likes.

00:27:31.000 Do it.

00:27:31.000 I'll never do it again.

00:27:34.000 I don't want to pressure you, threaten you, but...

00:27:36.000 Well, it sounds like a threat, though.

00:27:39.000 A little bit of a threat.

00:27:40.000 Let's talk about the opioid crisis. And this is something that I've wanted to discuss for a while,

00:27:44.000 and I know that I'm going to get crap for it. So let me be very clear in separating

00:27:50.000 the issue that we do have that we need to address that a huge portion of those in the swamp don't

00:27:56.000 want to address because they want to conflate these issues and have more control over medical

00:28:01.000 practitioners. And it goes back to the DEA. And this is important because a lot of people who

00:28:06.000 are against the drug war, and I understand that, I agree, a lot of people who are pro-medical

00:28:11.000 legalizing all of marijuana and I certainly think that it should be

00:28:14.000 removed from the scheduled substance list and states should be able to do

00:28:16.000 what they want with it but a lot of these same people are then advocating

00:28:20.000 for another drug war only it's on prescription painkillers that are being

00:28:24.000 given by physicians and I think that that is a problem. I think it's a problem

00:28:28.000 if you now give the government the authority to pressure physicians and

00:28:32.000 pharmacies into not being able to provide care to people.

00:28:36.000 And in some instances, opiates are appropriate.

00:28:39.000 In some instances, I just want to be clear.

00:28:42.000 That being said, we do have a serious problem right now going on.

00:28:46.000 As discussed, I think we discussed it briefly last week, you know, the Biden administration.

00:28:51.000 They're ending the enforcement of Title 42, which is during a health crisis, they're able to actually deport people.

00:28:58.000 There are certain parameters that if they meet, it gives them more control over handling immigration at the border and being more stringent.

00:29:07.000 He decided, no, we're not going to do that.

00:29:09.000 So the daily arrivals at the border have tripled up to 18,000 per day.

00:29:15.000 Now, keep in mind, this comes at a time when seizure of fentanyl is already at record highs.

00:29:21.000 So there is a direct correlation.

00:29:22.000 In 2019, we had 2,800 pounds of fentanyl.

00:29:26.000 2020, that went up to 4,800 pounds.

00:29:28.000 2021, that went up to 11,200 pounds.

00:29:33.000 So you're basically talking about a doubling year over year.

00:29:35.000 We don't have the 2022 numbers because, you know, we only have half of the numbers.

00:29:39.000 And of course, you know, they make their killing during the holiday season.

00:29:42.000 It is a season.

00:29:43.000 I think we're already over 2020 numbers for this year.

00:29:46.000 I don't know the exact numbers.

00:29:47.000 They're not fully reliable because they report end of year.

00:29:49.000 And again, it's one of those businesses, you know, it's feast or famine.

00:29:52.000 During the holiday season, that's when it's the holiday season.

00:29:56.000 And by the way, I just want to make sure we understand this.

00:29:59.000 That little grain of rice of fentanyl is enough to kill you, right?

00:30:01.000 Yes, it's enough to kill you.

00:30:04.000 A pound of fentanyl could kill all of Chicago.

00:30:07.000 Yeah, it took care of a big...

00:30:09.000 Big guy, recently.

00:30:10.000 Yes.

00:30:12.000 Kind of a big deal.

00:30:12.000 Yeah.

00:30:13.000 I'm trying to remember.

00:30:15.000 Seems like it was in the news.

00:30:16.000 Yeah, something about... I have no idea.

00:30:19.000 It'll come to us.

00:30:20.000 There's a mural somewhere.

00:30:21.000 So, where does most of fentanyl come from in the United States?

00:30:26.000 Take a wild guess.

00:30:27.000 It's not a trick question.

00:30:28.000 Look, I'm not doing this to try and trick you.

00:30:33.000 There you go.

00:30:36.000 Speedy Gonzalez?

00:30:37.000 Arriba! 0.78

00:30:38.000 On a slow news day, who would have thought that discussing something everything is on board with, fentanyl being bad on the street, is what gets us banned.

00:30:52.000 I never knew.

00:30:52.000 So it mostly comes from Mexico.

00:30:54.000 And it's mostly made in China.

00:30:56.000 Of course.

00:30:56.000 Keep in mind, the fiscal year of 2021, South Texas, of course, they reported a 1,066% increase in fentanyl seizures.

00:31:06.000 Those are just the seizures.

00:31:07.000 So you now have the numbers of how much is being shipped across the border.

00:31:10.000 You now have the numbers of the seizures that they've increased.

00:31:12.000 And we have more references available, all available at LatterEarthCounter.com.

00:31:15.000 And I would highly recommend today that you look at the references because I'm going to hit you with some

00:31:20.000 facts that most people don't know. Three key facts on the opioid crisis that may

00:31:23.000 change your point of view

00:31:25.000 on how it's been presented and I will say Republicans have failed us just as

00:31:29.000 badly as Democrats have because it's one of those issues where it's for political

00:31:32.000 clout if anyone goes out and says the opioid crisis, the opioid crisis, we have

00:31:35.000 to stop the opioid crisis with these sort of general, these vague platitudes.

00:31:41.000 People go, well, that's great.

00:31:42.000 I know someone who is addicted to painkillers.

00:31:43.000 Good.

00:31:44.000 This person's going to stop it.

00:31:45.000 Three key facts that may change your point of view.

00:31:47.000 May not like to hear them.

00:31:49.000 But first, let's start with fentanyl bad.

00:31:51.000 Drug cartels bad.

00:31:52.000 Open borders bad.

00:31:53.000 We've had a dramatic increase in seizures just in Texas in the last few months.

00:31:56.000 There have been major busts all across the southern border.

00:32:00.000 The DEA has actually been working in Arizona, in this area of Arizona, for the past couple of months, addressing a surge in fentanyl drugs that have been found in this area.

00:32:10.000 They say that all the drugs found in recent months could have saved, all the drugs that were found that we mentioned here earlier this week, could have saved 700,000 lives.

00:32:21.000 This is not a recreational drug.

00:32:26.000 This is death.

00:32:27.000 1.7 million fentanyl pills seized in a drug bust.

00:32:30.000 The largest on record.

00:32:31.000 Looks bigger than a grain of rice.

00:32:32.000 These drugs, in this form, and fentanyl, which is... Smaller than a bread basket.

00:32:37.000 It's what is driving our opioid crisis, not just in Arizona, not just in this region, but across the country.

00:32:45.000 So, fentanyl related, they're getting so bad that the DEA actually sent a letter out to law enforcement agencies warning of mass overdose events.

00:32:53.000 So you don't even need to join a cult anymore, just have mass overdose events.

00:32:56.000 Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate.

00:32:58.000 Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea that they are ingesting deadly fentanyl until it's too late.

00:33:04.000 Yeah, they're lacing it into cocaine.

00:33:05.000 Yeah.

00:33:05.000 That was one of the busts that we had.

00:33:08.000 Oh man, where do you get some of that?

00:33:09.000 I just want to test it out.

00:33:09.000 No, but why would you do that?

00:33:11.000 I get it off the streets.

00:33:12.000 You just killed your clients.

00:33:13.000 It's a bad business model.

00:33:15.000 I mean, normally you kill them over time.

00:33:16.000 This is doing it really quickly.

00:33:18.000 Well, I just don't think, I don't think so much as that they want to kill off their customer base.

00:33:22.000 Just they're not very good at math.

00:33:24.000 It's made in China, but it comes through Mexico.

00:33:26.000 There's a middleman who's not doing, he's not carrying the one.

00:33:29.000 They're not cutting it right.

00:33:30.000 Right.

00:33:30.000 Uno.

00:33:31.000 Yeah.

00:33:32.000 So 2021 uh there's a record number what was it a hundred and um see I'm almost as unprofessional sir I'm looking down at my this is my prompter as I look down at my iPad to make sure I have the numbers right she's sitting there she's like and there have been Ten!

00:33:47.000 I gotta scroll.

00:33:48.000 I gotta find it.

00:33:49.000 It's... I mean, nine!

00:33:50.000 It's here somewhere.

00:33:51.000 Journalism is dying because of Trump.

00:33:54.000 So, uh, 2021, a record.

00:33:56.000 Just do your research.

00:33:56.000 Just have the number.

00:33:57.000 Have you seen us do a change?

00:33:59.000 I might have to remember so much crap.

00:34:01.000 105,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2021.

00:34:05.000 Huge amount of which, most of which involved fentanyl.

00:34:07.000 For example, in Milwaukee, Well, I guess all of Milwaukee County, they set a record for ODs.

00:34:13.000 80% involved fentanyl.

00:34:16.000 Jeez.

00:34:17.000 And last year, this shouldn't be surprising, but this is just for, you know, if you're watching and you're a liberal, you're a leftist, and you still think that COVID is the...

00:34:26.000 I'm not allowed to say what it is.

00:34:28.000 Still think COVID's a thing.

00:34:29.000 Meaning a thing as far as an actual threat right now.

00:34:32.000 In the Bay Area, more people died of fentanyl overdoses than COVID.

00:34:37.000 Also died from hate crime attacks against Asians than COVID.

00:34:40.000 Yeah, that's a rise.

00:34:42.000 It's terrible.

00:34:43.000 Also, more people died from toasters than COVID.

00:34:46.000 Vending machines falling on people.

00:34:47.000 Those last two I can't substantiate.

00:34:49.000 But definitely more people died from fentanyl than from COVID.

00:34:52.000 And fentanyl has gotten so bad in San Francisco that it's actually it's become now a part of just the tourist experience.

00:34:59.000 These mothers have a message, and they want everyone to read it.

00:35:02.000 So it's writ large in billboard form, looming over Union Square.

00:35:06.000 It says famous the world over for our brains, beauty and now dirt cheap fentanyl.

00:35:12.000 We're frustrated and that's why we're doing this.

00:35:15.000 It's bad.

00:35:15.000 Pressure where we think it might be helpful.

00:35:19.000 Pressure because they want what they call the open-air drug markets shut down.

00:35:23.000 Jackie's son is a fentanyl addict on the streets of San Francisco. So is Cory's

00:35:28.000 and so are dozens of their son's friends. Gotta love lawless cities. There's Tyler, there's Kyle,

00:35:32.000 there's George, there's Chris, there's Sarah. Ringo. The list goes on. They all wish they

00:35:37.000 had their mother come to see them. The problem, they say, fentanyl is too

00:35:41.000 affordable and too available.

00:35:43.000 Why don't you just get him?

00:35:44.000 Just like the Southwest Masturbator.

00:35:46.000 He's buckled.

00:35:46.000 He's not going anywhere.

00:35:47.000 He can't get anywhere.

00:35:47.000 and not get no consequences here.

00:35:50.000 Just like why don't you just get him just like this just like the Southwest

00:35:53.000 masturbator. He's the Southwest masturbator. He's already he's buckled. 0.96

00:35:57.000 He's not going anywhere.

00:36:00.000 He can't get anywhere. Come on.

00:36:03.000 So okay we've gone through fentanyl.

00:36:06.000 All right, so you understand that now, and that's a real problem.

00:36:08.000 And yes, they're lacing a lot of things with fentanyl because it's cheap, it increases the high, it's something that you can't really monitor because it is so, so potent, and you don't know what street drugs are incorporating fentanyl.

00:36:21.000 Now, that brings me to something.

00:36:23.000 And again, my question to you guys was question of the day.

00:36:25.000 What is your opinion on prescription opioids, and how have you perceived the opioid crisis?

00:36:31.000 Fentanyl is a crisis.

00:36:33.000 The drugs coming over the Mexican border are a crisis.

00:36:35.000 I just want to be clear about all of this.

00:36:38.000 But what you think is the opioid crisis, for example, how it was presented in the show Dope Sick, and it made me sick to watch just the dishonesty that was taking place.

00:36:48.000 What you probably believe to be the opioid is not the actual opioid crisis.

00:36:51.000 So we've heard about this everywhere in the media and even from politicians, the opioid crisis ad nauseum.

00:36:57.000 I'm an emergency physician and I'm going to talk to you today about the opioid epidemic Last night we told you how the risk of dying from an opioid overdose is now greater than dying in a car crash.

00:37:07.000 But in 2016, there were 42,000 opioid-related overdose deaths.

00:37:15.000 That is 115 overdose deaths every day.

00:37:18.000 But also important for the country to see that the opioid crisis affects everyone, even Michael Keaton, even one of the biggest stars in the world.

00:37:27.000 Okay, so, Let me present this to you in a way that maybe is...

00:37:34.000 Let me be as reductive as possible, and then I'll substantiate it with some other facts and some clips.

00:37:38.000 Many of you believe that the opioid crisis, and this is how politicians have presented it on both the left and the right in the media, is little Johnny went in for a toothache, he got some Vicodin, and then he got hooked on opioids, and then it leads to an overdose.

00:37:51.000 And doctors were just prescribing opioids left and right, and people are now dying in record numbers of opioids.

00:37:57.000 I'm going to give you three key facts that tell you the opposite is true.

00:38:01.000 I just want you to think about this for a second.

00:38:04.000 Does this change your point of view?

00:38:05.000 I'll go through them, but okay.

00:38:06.000 The facts that you need to know.

00:38:08.000 Opioid deaths have skyrocketed since prescribing has gone down dramatically.

00:38:13.000 Nearly all opioid deaths that are taking place are from illegal drugs like fentanyl, like heroin, and the vast majority of people who even did abuse prescription opioids were people who already had long storied histories of drug abuse.

00:38:25.000 Those three facts.

00:38:27.000 Does that present a little bit of a different picture?

00:38:30.000 And especially to people out there who are against the drug war.

00:38:34.000 Is there an appropriate place for opiates, for opioids?

00:38:37.000 And just so you know, the difference is basically opiate means this sort of naturally occurring, and opioid is a synthesized version, but I'm going to use them relatively interchangeably because the media has irresponsibly.

00:38:45.000 Those three key facts.

00:38:47.000 The vast majority of deaths right now, the opioid crisis, are fentanyl and street drugs.

00:38:51.000 It's only increased as prescribing has gone down, and the people who abuse the prescriptions were not just people who walked in and happened to get painkillers, these were people who were seeking out painkillers because they had a drug addiction problem to begin with.

00:39:01.000 Now, if you know those three facts, does that mean we need to stop all opioid prescriptions?

00:39:06.000 Because I also know many people who, for example, I know someone who's been in a car wreck, who will never be without pain for the rest of their life.

00:39:13.000 And now they've been turned into What would be, they actually have a good doctor who's like, well I don't care what the DA wants to do, but they would be turned into a street drug addict.

00:39:23.000 So, if you're against the drug war because you're saying then people will get it on the street, we don't want to falsely present what the opioid crisis is.

00:39:30.000 So let's go first through those key kind of claims, and I'll explain to you why they're incorrect.

00:39:35.000 The first claim you hear a lot is the opioid crisis is a result of what?

00:39:37.000 What?

00:39:38.000 Doctors over-prescribing the drugs.

00:39:40.000 Addicted to a combination of prescription drugs for seven years.

00:39:44.000 One woman says her doctor helped get her hooked.

00:39:47.000 Two investigator Pam Zachman reports the state is cracking down on doctors who use their medical license as a license to deal.

00:39:53.000 Whether it's wisdom teeth or a c-section, over prescribing opioid medications to control pain after surgery has fueled the opioid crisis.

00:40:02.000 For so many opioid addicts in this country, the addiction begins with a prescription from a doctor.

00:40:07.000 One of the most important ways to slow down this epidemic is to slow down those prescriptions.

00:40:13.000 Look, everyone has been touched by this to one degree or another.

00:40:19.000 Right?

00:40:19.000 Overdose or just someone with a drug problem.

00:40:21.000 But what they just said isn't true.

00:40:23.000 I know that people, I don't work for Big Pharma, I don't have a sponsorship from Pfizer like Stephen Colbert, it's just, that's not true.

00:40:30.000 You're gonna break into song?

00:40:31.000 Right, yeah.

00:40:31.000 Pfizer!

00:40:32.000 Needles!

00:40:33.000 We didn't write any of their lyrics, just buy Pfizer, buy Pfizer, buy Pfizer, buy Pfizer, and Sketch.

00:40:37.000 So, first, the vast majority of overdose deaths, they come from illicit street drugs.

00:40:42.000 Fentanyl and heroin.

00:40:43.000 Okay?

00:40:44.000 They're not coming from prescription painkillers.

00:40:47.000 Just to be clear.

00:40:47.000 And also, the DEA is not even being accurate in how they track opioid deaths.

00:40:51.000 It's sort of like death with COVID is just COVID death.

00:40:53.000 Someone could have 15 drugs in their system.

00:40:55.000 Yes.

00:40:56.000 So here's another one.

00:40:57.000 Opioid deaths, like I just said, they've actually skyrocketed.

00:40:59.000 Skyrocketed!

00:41:00.000 And that's true.

00:41:01.000 They have skyrocketed.

00:41:02.000 As prescribing has taken a nosedive.

00:41:06.000 Wow.

00:41:07.000 It's almost like the gun issue, right?

00:41:10.000 So you say criminals have guns and they kill people.

00:41:13.000 Then, okay, let's take the guns away from society.

00:41:17.000 Right.

00:41:17.000 And it doesn't work that way because the criminals still have the guns.

00:41:20.000 Right.

00:41:20.000 You do the exact same thing with opioids.

00:41:23.000 You're saying doctors can't prescribe them to people that have actual medical reasons.

00:41:28.000 Yeah.

00:41:28.000 And a prescription is a specific way to use the drug.

00:41:32.000 Right.

00:41:32.000 And then... People abuse it.

00:41:34.000 You're taking it away from them It's not going to take it away from the criminals that are on the streets in San Francisco.

00:41:39.000 Or it turns people into criminals because they're like, well, I've got a shattered hip and I have a broken face.

00:41:46.000 You know, a chimpanzee ripped off my face on a red wine and Xanax bender and my doctor is afraid of the DEA so they go to the street to get some kind of a pain relief. 0.81

00:41:53.000 By the way, these same people are often pro-legalization of marijuana.

00:41:57.000 They are the same states that want to ban kratom, which is a tea that has naturally occurring opiate agonists.

00:42:03.000 So, and again, I'm not encouraging people out there to go use any type of supplement or medication.

00:42:07.000 That's not what this is about.

00:42:08.000 But as prescribing has gone down, the deaths have gone up.

00:42:11.000 To be very, very clear.

00:42:13.000 And another thing, like I just said, but the references are available.

00:42:16.000 I'll expand upon this a little bit.

00:42:17.000 The vast majority of people who did use the prescription drugs, they already had extensive drug histories.

00:42:23.000 You've heard of doctor shopping.

00:42:24.000 Most of the time, the people who were abusing a prescribed drug, they were doctor shopping.

00:42:29.000 Now, let me give some credence to the fact that late 1990s, early aughts, there was an overprescription problem, specifically of a drug, OxyContin.

00:42:40.000 And this was, people just like to blame Purdue Pharma.

00:42:44.000 Now, they were dicks.

00:42:45.000 Kind of like Pfizer, AstraZeneca.

00:42:47.000 They're very dishonest.

00:42:49.000 Far from me to trust, you know, Big Pharma, Carte Blanche.

00:42:52.000 But Purdue, what they did was they actually got the FDA to create a label based on inaccurate or incomplete research that said oxycontin, which is just a time-released form of oxycodone, which is very common, right?

00:43:04.000 Percocet is oxycodone.

00:43:06.000 You can get oxycodone in a multitude of ways.

00:43:08.000 Oxycontin said, since ours is time-released, it's less addictive than other Opiates.

00:43:14.000 Doctors before that all knew that there was addictive potential to opiates, and so they were very careful in prescribing them, and they would taper people down.

00:43:21.000 What happened is one company, in bed with the FDA, got an inaccurate label, and so there was.

00:43:27.000 There was an overprescribing problem.

00:43:30.000 Sales grew from 48 million, I think in 1996, to 1.8 billion by 2000.

00:43:32.000 That's a bit of growth.

00:43:37.000 Prescribing pills.

00:43:39.000 By the way, 80 milligram pills is what they were up to prescribing.

00:43:43.000 When I had surgery on my back, I think they gave me 10 milligram pills.

00:43:46.000 Was it Oxycontin or was it, no, it was like Percocet.

00:43:48.000 It was something, I don't remember exactly.

00:43:50.000 I don't think they prescribe Oxycontin anymore.

00:43:52.000 Norco, it was like Norco or something.

00:43:53.000 Norco is, that's hydrocodone, that's like a Vicodin.

00:43:55.000 Okay.

00:43:56.000 Yeah.

00:43:56.000 So I think this is a little higher.

00:43:58.000 Yeah, well, it's because it's supposed to be time-released.

00:44:00.000 So if it's 80, that's supposed to be 20 milligrams and it's released slowly.

00:44:03.000 The problem is they didn't really take into account that people would crush it, snort it.

00:44:06.000 Again, that's the problem with the pill.

00:44:07.000 People were crushing it, snorting it, getting rid of the time-release.

00:44:10.000 Again, you can't, you can blame the company and you can blame the FDA for creating a label saying there's, you know, little to no addictive potential.

00:44:18.000 And if you've watched Dope Sick, you know this story, but they just sort of skim over the fact that the FDA did it.

00:44:21.000 They're like, Oh, it was just Purdue lied to them.

00:44:24.000 Wasn't that the job of the FDA to make sure they're not lied to?

00:44:27.000 Their only legitimate purpose should be to tell you, should be to inform you of the risk.

00:44:33.000 If you believe in complete drug legalization, meaning you don't believe in the drug war at all, right?

00:44:38.000 You're anti-abolitionist.

00:44:40.000 If that's your point of view, the FDA's only job should be to let you know what's on the label.

00:44:44.000 That's what I believe.

00:44:45.000 In other words, I don't think the FDA should be able to tell you, well, you can't take this because it hasn't gone through our process.

00:44:49.000 They just need to be able to inform you as to the risks.

00:44:53.000 That's their job.

00:44:54.000 That's how they protect you.

00:44:55.000 Not to be a babysitter.

00:44:57.000 So after this, what happened is the DEA went after, not just doctors, pharmacists in 2011.

00:45:04.000 They arrested over 22 doctors.

00:45:06.000 There were 40 pill mills, is the term that's been used, that were closed.

00:45:09.000 Now, um, I'll, uh, tell you this, too.

00:45:11.000 This is something that I experienced recently.

00:45:13.000 I went through a, uh, a major surgery.

00:45:14.000 I think we have some just B-roll from, uh, um... That's not me.

00:45:19.000 I can't show my actual surgery.

00:45:22.000 This is just the general procedure that I went through, where they actually, you know, they went in, they had to turn my ribcage around and put in three titanium rods.

00:45:31.000 That last part where they turn it upside down.

00:45:34.000 I might be able to get the actual footage of my surgery at some point.

00:45:37.000 Put your hand up.

00:45:38.000 I just want to see.

00:45:39.000 Come on, pull them out. 0.94

00:45:40.000 I want to see it.

00:45:41.000 What?

00:45:42.000 Come on, you got the titanium in your chest and not in your hands.

00:45:44.000 Come on.

00:45:46.000 I asked for the adamantium, but my insurance wouldn't cover it.

00:45:49.000 It's an upgrade.

00:45:50.000 Yeah.

00:45:50.000 Something about a deductible. So, that happened. Okay. And then I ended up in the emergency room

00:45:58.000 and overnight because what happened is, and this was my fault, I pushed too hard too quickly to

00:46:02.000 try and come back to work, where they had to, I don't know if you call this a surgery, but certainly

00:46:10.000 They had to drain about a gallon and a half of fluid from my lung.

00:46:13.000 My lungs collapsed.

00:46:14.000 I think this is something you guys can actually... And I warn you, if you're squeamish, maybe... I don't know when a needle becomes a pipe.

00:46:20.000 This is going through the back of my ribs.

00:46:22.000 What you're seeing is it has to go through the back of my rib all the way to the front of the lung area to drain my thoracic cavity.

00:46:29.000 Here you go.

00:46:30.000 Lots of pressure.

00:46:32.000 That's not pressure!

00:46:34.000 Look at this.

00:46:34.000 It looks like it's a disappearing trick.

00:46:35.000 Like a knife.

00:46:36.000 It's like a fake knife that you stab.

00:46:38.000 Watch, watch.

00:46:38.000 That whole thing is about to go in.

00:46:40.000 Watch.

00:46:40.000 Oh.

00:46:41.000 Ow. 0.99

00:46:42.000 Uggggghhhh! 0.99

00:46:44.000 Ow! 1.00

00:46:46.000 Ow! 1.00

00:46:46.000 Fudge! 1.00

00:46:47.000 But you see me trying to fight off the choke at the same time trying to pop it off.

00:46:52.000 Yeah for oh, that's right that was the last day of fluid three days

00:46:59.000 And the reason why was because there was so much fluid that built up that after the first day they removed too much and I was like, I was like a noodle because it creates this pressure in your body cavity that you get used to.

00:47:09.000 So yeah, that happened.

00:47:11.000 It was very unpleasant.

00:47:11.000 And again, this is why I would advise to everyone, listen to your doctor's advice.

00:47:15.000 It's partially their fault.

00:47:19.000 It's entirely my fault.

00:47:24.000 The people at Mayo Clinic were unbelievable.

00:47:26.000 If you ever have something wrong with you, go to Mayo.

00:47:29.000 There's nothing even close.

00:47:30.000 But what happened is they told me, I said, how long until I can start working?

00:47:35.000 They said, 12 weeks before you even look at working.

00:47:36.000 I said, OK.

00:47:37.000 How long before I start walking?

00:47:38.000 You're like, what about three?

00:47:39.000 Yeah.

00:47:40.000 I think I did it in eight and came back and said, hope you like those shows.

00:47:44.000 So I said, I said, how long before I can walk?

00:47:47.000 They said, you can walk, like, probably, you know, as soon as you leave the hospital, a couple of days.

00:47:50.000 Then they call me to check up on me.

00:47:51.000 They go, how are you doing?

00:47:52.000 I go, I'm getting pretty, you know, tired.

00:47:54.000 Like, when I was at Costco, I had to sit down.

00:47:56.000 And they go, what, you were at Costco?

00:47:57.000 Like, wait a second.

00:47:58.000 Are you out of your mind?

00:47:59.000 I said, you said I could walk.

00:48:00.000 I said, we went from, like, the bathroom to the kitchen.

00:48:02.000 You were at Costco?

00:48:04.000 I walked.

00:48:05.000 Were you by yourself?

00:48:06.000 I was like, I got a cart.

00:48:07.000 So.

00:48:08.000 Those huge carts at Costco?

00:48:10.000 I tore some stuff and it created fluid, but here's my point.

00:48:12.000 Went through that, what you saw, that major surgery, then ended up in the emergency room.

00:48:16.000 Seven days.

00:48:18.000 Prescription painkillers.

00:48:20.000 Ah!

00:48:20.000 Seven days.

00:48:21.000 Nowhere throughout the history of mankind, going back to the Shootist days with John Wayne and Gregory Peck, would they give you tincture of opium for just seven days. 0.78

00:48:31.000 It typically would be a couple of months because, you know, I wasn't even able to prop myself up on my bed.

00:48:37.000 Yeah.

00:48:37.000 And just for reference, you can actually see here hair follicle testing that I did within 90 days of having been in the ICU, and it came back mormon, as you can see.

00:48:48.000 Uh, because I wasn't able to take anything.

00:48:51.000 And what ended up happening is, do I think that was more productive?

00:48:53.000 I was just in excruciating pain for a very long time.

00:48:56.000 Well, you had to travel too, and that was one of the reasons.

00:48:58.000 And then people are so scared to prescribe this because of all the information that's out there and all of the focus from the DEA that they are like, no, no, no, you have to come in.

00:49:06.000 We have to go through a whole thing.

00:49:07.000 It's like, look, can you just call Mayo?

00:49:09.000 They will tell you I had this surgery seven days ago.

00:49:12.000 I'm just in pain.

00:49:12.000 Please.

00:49:13.000 Yeah.

00:49:14.000 That's the reasonable thing to do.

00:49:14.000 Right.

00:49:15.000 And they did.

00:49:16.000 They did.

00:49:16.000 Mayo did go, and then doctors were like, well we're just afraid because if we didn't pour him the surgery, you know, the DEA will be on our ass.

00:49:21.000 And I'm like, can you, can you see I'm not faking it?

00:49:24.000 Can you, can you see the scars?

00:49:26.000 I'm not, this is almost a year removed.

00:49:29.000 Let alone, I have a, I have a, I have a pockmark on my back.

00:49:32.000 From that.

00:49:32.000 Oh.

00:49:33.000 They're like, what did you have, did you have body acne?

00:49:35.000 No!

00:49:35.000 They put a metal pipe, they put a Super Mario sewer in my back!

00:49:43.000 sick. And my point here is I've experienced this personally but you did

00:49:46.000 you obviously on the flip side you did say that you took some painkillers. I did yeah

00:49:51.000 and it made me feel like I'd always had back pain and like difficulty sleeping

00:49:54.000 and so when I would take this it actually after surgery I was like oh man

00:49:57.000 I can actually sleep and rest it was really really nice to be able to do that

00:50:01.000 and then I realized that I was supposed to be tapering down a little faster

00:50:04.000 based on what we wanted to do not my doctor's recommendations.

00:50:06.000 Right.

00:50:07.000 And then I was like, I actually started, like, not telling my wife that I was taking more.

00:50:11.000 I was like, no, no, no, I'm tapering down to, like, half, and I was actually taking a full pill.

00:50:15.000 And then I told her, I was like, hey, I think I need to stop, just like a week later.

00:50:18.000 Wait a second, this might be a problem.

00:50:19.000 And I was like, wait, Gerald, are you on pain pills again?

00:50:21.000 No, she was just encouraging me, like, hey, those are addictive.

00:50:23.000 No, no, I am not.

00:50:27.000 I'm not.

00:50:28.000 So, so happy, right?

00:50:29.000 Why are you listening to Pink Floyd?

00:50:32.000 I don't know.

00:50:33.000 It just makes so much sense to me now.

00:50:36.000 No, I actually cut completely off, and I started having some jitters and some other stuff.

00:50:41.000 I was going through withdrawal symptoms, and she noticed it because she's obviously this incredible nurse.

00:50:46.000 And she goes, hey, you can't go completely off.

00:50:49.000 You have to step down.

00:50:51.000 And so I did over the next week, week and a half, two weeks, and it was fine.

00:50:54.000 But I could very easily have seen like, man, this makes me sleep so much better without that pain.

00:50:59.000 And it wasn't just surgical pain.

00:51:00.000 It was just uncomfortable.

00:51:02.000 Doctors can be, like you said, it's on you that you tapered off.

00:51:07.000 It wasn't the doctors.

00:51:08.000 Doctors can be careless.

00:51:11.000 My grandfather, he had chronic severe back pain for basically his whole life.

00:51:16.000 And they were giving him so much Yeah.

00:51:19.000 narcotics and opioids to deal with it and then whenever this kind of came

00:51:24.000 around whenever everybody started turning around and saying no we're not

00:51:27.000 gonna give you this anymore they started treating him like a crackhead yeah it's

00:51:32.000 like what you put him in this situation and let me guess saying hey take all

00:51:35.000 these pills for a long time and not take Yeah, your body gets used to it.

00:51:39.000 And then whenever you decide, oh, well, you know, we're not going to give it to you because you're a crackhead and all you want is opioids.

00:51:44.000 It's like, well, he's 88 and he has a severe back problem and you've been doing this to him for 20 years.

00:51:51.000 So like, what are you going to do?

00:51:52.000 Let me guess.

00:51:52.000 Still has back pain.

00:51:54.000 Still has back pain.

00:51:54.000 So that's the problem, is does he live the rest of his golden years in pain?

00:51:58.000 Or, you know what, do you provide some relief?

00:51:59.000 I do think that there is a relief approach to dying.

00:52:01.000 Especially if you're in your 80s or 90s.

00:52:03.000 I would just do all the drugs and steals.

00:52:06.000 Let's get actual crack in here. 0.94

00:52:07.000 Yeah, it's like if you're a drug addict, well it's because of you!

00:52:10.000 But here's what I do want to say, and I'll leave you with this.

00:52:12.000 We're about to go to Mug Club.

00:52:14.000 We need to separate, I think, in this country.

00:52:16.000 And let me know if any of this has changed your opinion.

00:52:18.000 I'm not going out here saying that everyone should be taking opioids, and I'm not saying that doctors should be over-prescribing them.

00:52:23.000 But I do think we need to separate.

00:52:25.000 Addiction, physical dependence, and habit.

00:52:28.000 They're different things.

00:52:29.000 Someone can be physically dependent on something and that doesn't necessarily mean that they're an addict.

00:52:33.000 For example, if someone has a shattered spine and they have a choice of lifelong pain or pain management, I think that pain management should be an option.

00:52:42.000 And you obviously should too if you think, by the way, marijuana is not going to work for that.

00:52:46.000 Marijuana will work for neuropathic pain.

00:52:48.000 It doesn't work for that kind of pain.

00:52:49.000 It's actual tissue damage.

00:52:50.000 I believe that CBD and low amounts of THC, yes, there is medical legitimacy.

00:52:56.000 There are certain uses, of course.

00:52:58.000 But someone like that, it's not going to fix it.

00:53:00.000 So you're telling me there's a chance.

00:53:02.000 They're telling you there's a chance.

00:53:04.000 Get granddaddy thunderscrewed. 1.00

00:53:07.000 What's the dosage?

00:53:08.000 I don't know.

00:53:08.000 Just smoke this.

00:53:09.000 Whatever you want.

00:53:10.000 See what happens.

00:53:11.000 So we need to separate between addiction, physical dependence, and habit.

00:53:15.000 These are different things.

00:53:16.000 And again, the final three facts.

00:53:18.000 You believe that there's an opioid crisis.

00:53:20.000 Now there is a problem right now with drug overdose deaths.

00:53:23.000 And the reason that the left certainly wants to make you think that it's the doctor problem is because they don't want to acknowledge what's happening in the border.

00:53:28.000 And the reason people on the right don't want to actually address the problem is because this does affect a lot of red states.

00:53:36.000 For example, a lot of red states where people are in rural areas and they do have drug problems.

00:53:39.000 Fentanyl has ravaged these areas.

00:53:41.000 But the three key facts you need to know.

00:53:42.000 I want you right now to picture in your mind what you believe the opioid crisis to be.

00:53:47.000 Someone went in, was given painkillers unbeknownst to them, then they became an addict, then they died.

00:53:52.000 The three key facts to know.

00:53:54.000 Almost all the deaths come from illicit street drugs.

00:53:57.000 Fentanyl and heroin.

00:53:58.000 They're coming over the border from Mexico, largely made in China. 0.76

00:54:02.000 As prescribing has gone down, like you just discussed, and like I experienced, because doctors are afraid to, deaths have gone up dramatically, and the people who actually did abuse prescription painkillers were drug abusers, by and large.

00:54:16.000 They had a long history of abusing substances when they were doctor shopping.

00:54:20.000 So understanding all of that, do we think it's responsible to just throw out the term opioid crisis and crack down on doctors and pharmacies so that they can't provide this medication when appropriate to people who need it?

00:54:32.000 I actually think that it's cruelty, I think that it's medical malpractice, and I think if we're going to say end the drug war, we need to take a balanced approach to all of it and we've gone too far the other way.

00:54:41.000 But that's just my opinion, I know a lot of people are going to be pissed off.

00:54:43.000 You let me know what you think, smash the like button, share it with me.

00:54:46.000 Nerd Roddick, thank you so much Quarterback Garrett for being here.

00:54:49.000 Hey, I miss you guys.

00:54:50.000 We're going to Mug Club.

Louder with Crowder - April 12, 2022

The American Opioid Crisis Explained | Louder with Crowder

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