>

I'm not saying that fentanyl is necessary, but to claim that it has no medical use is science denialism. I for one want laws based on evidence, not emotions, and the evidence is that fentanyl ought to remain Schedule II along with crack cocaine and crystal meth.
President Joe Biden will pitch new actions against two of the biggest killers of Americans ― fentanyl and cancer ― during his State of the Union speech

Well I sure hope he's announcing a 180 degree shift in his (and Dems and feds) attitude on cannabis, considering it's been shown to lower opioid use/abuse and alleviate certain cancers and their effects. We'd know even more by now if the research hadn't been prevented for decades. >

Nope, just making a medicine schedule 1
Joe Biden's America has no interest in creating sustainable change but it is "tough on crime." >

Cops? >

And suicide? >

42% of Americans are obese.  Obesity leads to a range of poor health outcomes.  It's weird we don't talk about that more. >

Then we will be blamed for wanting to take away everyone’s food . >

I want to blame you for taking away my High Fructose Corn Syrup. Please. I'll shake my left fist at you (while shaking your hand).
Oh and I really want to blame you for making whole container calorie counts as big as the branding on the front of the container. No more "serving size" and fine print shit. Whole container calories and per weight/volume unit should be standardized and required.     
Fuck "suggested serving sizes" and "only 100 calories per serving! ^^^contains157.3servings" >

That would be too demanding on corporations forcing them to raise prices . /s >

Customers breathing is forcing them to raise prices.     
Believe it or not, customers not breathing is also causing them to raise prices. >

Guns and healthcare costs? >

Firearms are way down on the list. They're not even close to the top 10.
42K people died of all firearm elated deaths in the US in 2022. 43% of those were homicide, 54% were suicide and 3% were other, largely accidents. 
We'd have to approximately double the number of firearms deaths to get it into the top 10.
There is no need to exaggerate firearms deaths. The numbers should be able to stand for themselves. >

But what's the average age of someone who dies from heart disease, cancer, etc. compared to the average age of someone killed by a firearm?
Any death is a tragedy, but a 16 year old getting his head blown off because of a dumb teenager argument plus a gun is a bigger problem than someone 80+ years old having their body just finally give out. >

Correct.  We need to be factoring in the tragic nature of a death.  Its quite different for someone at the tail end of life to die versus a young person just getting started. >


permanently list fentanyl as a Schedule I drug, the same level as heroin and LSD

Schedule I is supposed to be reserved for substances with "no currently accepted medical use" (per dea.gov). Hmm.
"Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery." -- dea.gov  
"Fentanyl is a strong opioid painkiller. It's used to treat severe pain, for example during or after an operation or a serious injury, or pain from cancer." -- nhs.uk
It's definitely reassuring that despite best evidence and medical practice, they're finally recognizing that fentanyl is just as dangerous as cannabis. >

Pain management is broad though, there's so many alternatives to fenty or even opioids in general. The gate theory of pain management is back in vogue; When I worked in a childrens' hospital for training in gradschool, the surgeons would use local anesthetics and music therapy (banging on drums) when doing skin grafts on a child who couldn't handle stronger medication. The kids hardly knew they were being peeled like an orange (though I was trying my hardest not to wince, ugh!)
My worry is that simply rescheduling fentanyl isn't going to do much for those already suffering. A lot of the medical community has self corrected against the old ways of pain management that are partly to blame for this mess as it is, it's street level trade that people are getting their opioids now, and as we know, increased penalties doesn't necessarily mean less crime or access.