BY JESSICA KWONG ON 2/6/18 AT 12:36 PM

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, selected by President Donald Trump to be his “opioid czar,” has reportedly sidelined drug policy experts as she takes control of the government’s efforts to curb substance abuse.

Conway, whose background is in polling and politics rather than public health, is relying on an "opioid cabinet" of political staff instead of the president’s drug policy office to tackle the epidemic ... The crisis is reportedly responsible for 64,000 deaths in 2016.

Under Conway's leadership, efforts have amounted to the promise of a "just say no" campaign and a call for a border wall ...

http://www.newsweek.com/kellyanne-conway-opioid-crisis-trump-800359

Michael Harriot
Tuesday 10:31am

Continuing his tradition of placing unqualified, mediocre white people in jobs for which they have no expertise, President Donald Trump has moved Kellyanne Conway from her Cabinet-level position in the Department of Lying Motherfuckers and put her in charge of the opioid crisis. Needless to say, it is not going well.

... most people who have dedicated their lives to drug policy believe that Conway’s résumé of being an unrepentant mouthpiece for the liar in chief does not necessarily mean that she is qualified to look into one of the biggest health issues of our time.

... Trump plans to propose major cuts to the drug czar’s office in this year’s budget, and people inside the government are beginning to suspect that maybe there’s a possibility that Trump doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing ...

https://www.theroot.com/why-is-kellyanne-conway-in-charge-of-the-opioid-crisis-1822760991

BY JAY WILLIS
4 days ago

In the 14 months that have elapsed since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, Kellyanne Conway has slowly transitioned from one of the administration's most visible public faces to a new role as its token "BREAK GLASS IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" person, who is released from the West Wing storage closet in which she presumably sits only when the White House needs one of her patented inane talking-head interviews to divert attention from its latest humiliating scandal. Unfortunately, it turns out that instead of disappearing from public life altogether, Conway has busied herself in recent months with the task of running the government's response to the opioid epidemic — a public health emergency that kills 175 Americans every day — into the goddamn ground ...

The Office of National Drug Control Policy has been without a permanent director since the president's first nominee for that position, Pennsylvania congressman Tom Marino, withdrew from consideration in light of history of zealous advocacy for legislation friendly to narcotics manufacturers. As a result, the ONDCP was briefly led by a 24-year-old former campaign staffer who lied on his résumé about the length of time he served as vice president of his college fraternity — a distinction that makes him the least-qualified person to hold a White House job who did not marry one of the president's children ...

In response to the Trump administration's habit of failing to execute its basic responsibilities, an often-repeated reassurance is that there are limits to the impact that any single president can have on the government. Much of the day-to-day work of running a country is entrusted to civil servants and subject-matter experts who, while attuned to political realities, are nonetheless insulated from them to a certain extent. When Trump decides to announce sweeping changes to federal policy on Twitter, we count on those people to do what's best for the country and politely ignore him. If they are quietly being marginalized in favor of stooges like Conway, however, it's hard to see how one of this country's most pressing and tragic and preventable problems gets better anytime soon.

https://www.gq.com/story/kellyanne-conway-opioid-crisis-response

Clarence Page

... In October, Trump declared a 90-day public health emergency over the opioid crisis but did not make new funding available to address it. The budget Trump is set to release Monday is expected to slash the drug office’s funding and pass much of its responsibilities to the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice.

State and local law enforcement officials are fighting a Trump administration proposal to move the Office of National Drug Control Policy, also known as “the drug czar,” that oversees the $275 million drug prevention program to the Justice Department. Such a transfer, crime fighters fear, could shift federal anti-drug efforts too much toward legal crackdowns and away from community-based social and psychological services.

And in a great leap backward to the “Just Say No” policies of the Reagan era, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has announced a move away from the Obama-era policy of allowing states to set their own marijuana policy. Change must come from Congress, he says. In the meantime, federal raids and busts will continue, regardless of what the states want to do.

At the same time, Team Trump has reduced funding to the drug czar’s office. Trump nominated U.S. Rep. Tom Marino, a Pennsylvania Republican, to serve as its director. But Marino withdrew after it was revealed that he had pushed for legislation to hamper the DEA’s ability to go after overprescribing pharmaceutical companies ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/page/ct-perspec-page-trump-opioid-drug-czar-jeff-sessions-20180211-story.html

By Matthew Chapman |
FEBRUARY 8, 2018

... Trump’s response to the opioid crisis was .. incompetent from the start and has not improved. With White House counselor Kellyanne .. taking a lead role and sidelining medical experts, even some Republican senators are dissatisfied ...

This week, Sessions gave a speech to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa ... "I mean, people need to take some aspirin sometimes and tough it out" ...

... places like rural Kentucky and West Virginia .. will need federal funding and support to properly fix this, not aspirin ...

https://shareblue.com/jeff-sessions-plan-to-end-the-opioid-epidemic-take-some-aspirin-and-tough-it-out/

The “opioid epidemic” is nothing more than a buzz word that can be brought out at rallies for this administration. They are trying to twist this into something that would support their dumb ass wall. In no way are they attempting to meaningfully address the root of the issue which is: overprescribing by providers and an industry far too willing to provide easy access to their products, all the while ignoring the fact that an alternative is available for chronic pain in the medical marijuana industry. In fact, they are attempting to return to the days of a “Reefer Madness” mindset. If we have learned anything in the last year of this administration it is this, they will support big business to the extreme without any concern for the harm that those businesses cause to the average citizen.

I really wish that I could try medical marijuana (legal in Oregon), but my pain clinic would bounce me out on my ass and I would probably be blacklisted.

All because of federal law. Speaking of which, I read on a chronic pain forum that the feds will probably sneak up and ban the plant Kratom. It's a good painkiller for a lot of people.

I agree with all your points.

I’ve seen people with uncontrolled chronic pain, who are on every medicine in the world, drop every single pain Med and narcotic once starting marijuana.

I’m so sorry for your struggles Kittycow. Hopefully we all come to our senses soon and there are better alternatives for you!

I was joking with my husband about growing some medical marijuana to be prepared for the big earthquake that's supposed to hit Portland one day.

I mean, we're getting our emergency supplies together so maybe it's not such a bad idea

Won’t hurt to be prepared!

What qualifies Crypt-Keeper Conway (see http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Crypt-Keeper ) to deal with problems of living?

"alternative facts".

Alternative facts -- that's how a border wall ends an opioid crisis fostered by U.S. pharmaceutical companies.

Sometimes I just can't think crooked enough to keep up.

see "alternative facts". Lying little-big motormouth.

A great and terrible day.

The weather's got to improve first, tho.