The FDA & our government played a major role in the manmade opioid epidemic and now they need to take responsibility and address it. The creation of successful humanitarian programs (housing with rehabilitation) for our veterans, homeless and suffering (active addiction) needs to be established immediately!
This is in memory of my son, Corporal Nicholas Hawkins, USMC who had multiple surgeries during active duty, followed the doctors orders of opioid prescription intake and became severely addicted. When he approached his superiors in 2015 and asked for help, they gave him an honorable and medical discharge instead. Here’s a poem he wrote 2 years before he died:
Honor, courage and commitment is what I used to live by
But those principles slowly faded away all for a temporary high
Because this disease alters what you stand for, it doesn’t care if you are
Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corps
That’s why it’s so hard for me to keep my mouth shut the way Veterans are medicated
When doctors know it’s going to leave their lives completely devastated
When they send a vet home with a bottle of pills
Without a warning label that says, this fancy Heroin kills
See, the true drug dealers are masters of disguise
They’re not standing on street corners, this might catch you by surprise
But it’s the crooked politicians, old and wise
It’s so hard to depict when they’re wearing suits and ties
You can take it or leave it and turn a blind eye
I could care less what you think, cause I’m sick of the lies
What’s on my chest now, I can say proudly, “Semper Fi”.