The Biden administration is facing growing criticism about its slow response to the nation’s drug crisis. With more than 200 Americans dying every day from drug overdose, urgent action is required. But so far Biden has yet to appoint people to lead key federal agencies tackling the drug epidemic. And he has put on hold a last minute Trump rule change to allow more doctors to prescribe an addiction-withdrawal medication that many say could save lives with immediate effect. During the campaign, Biden made a firm commitment to combating the opioid epidemic, including a $125 billion program over the next decade. Obviously, the president is tackling a series of major crises—and hopefully he will soon turn his attention to the drug epidemic.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the consulting firm McKinsey, which aggressively advised opioid manufacturers on how to boost sales—and therefore contributed to the opioid epidemic—is in settlement talks with states attorneys general to avoid civil lawsuits. The potential deal could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and follows the release of court filings detailing its recommendations to Purdue Pharma at a time when the country was reeling from opioid addiction and deaths. Last month McKinsey acknowledged the “terrible impact” of opioid misuse and addiction on millions of families.
And finally, the New Yorker points out that the cannabis boom in the United States is not exactly environmentally friendly. In fact, large-scale indoor grow sites suck up huge amounts of electricity, and that means “efforts to reduce the carbon footprint are going down the drain because of indoor-grow greed.”