Stephen D Forman
Aug 31, 2018 · 1 min read

Thank you, Dr. Kline. I’m afraid you have more tenacity than I do — although my own “opioid fact file” has grown to several hundred reports, charts, stats, graphs, links and the like, I’ve grown dispirited from trying to combat the tide of misinformation which clogs public discourse. What can one man do when the forces are so powerfully aligned against us?

The media are “addicted to opioids” and too craven to admit it (this topic has fed story after story, from all-caps headline to human interest tear-jerker, and I’m sure some journo will win a Pulitzer before all is said and done), while legislators inwardly acknowledge the political suicide of placing themselves before this growing snowball and daring to voice opposition; meanwhile, as “Reefer Madness” consumes a Puritanical populace unsympathetic to others’ suffering, we find Big Rehab descending like vultures to exploit the gravy train.

I’ve put hours into my magnum opus (a Twitter Moment called “Fact Checking the ‘Opioid Epidemic’,” but abandoned the project once it dawned on me that this useful information — designed to inform good public policy — would sit unread in a dark corner of the internet, doing about as much good as any other tweet I’ve posted over the last few years on the subject. Sorry if this post is coming through as self-pitying — that’s not the point. Rather, it’s to compliment you on doing what I could not. I’ve followed you for a long time, and admire the necessary work you do.

Keep up the good fight!

Stephen

Stephen D Forman

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