Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - As a geezer, well into geezerhood, I read AARP News and Senior & Boomer News to see how I am fairing; AARP says we geezers are being screwed. Is there any other real news?
Well yes, Senior & Boomer News prints an article by Jack Pflug whom I read occasionally. He writes that Oregonians are paying the price for untreated drug & alcohol abuse which costs Oregonians $5.9 billion a year. One of his subjects is the Drug Free Workplace Initiative. Actually this for some really perverse reason is aimed at legal cannabis/medical marijuana users.
A recent article I found on my computer indicates the 20 most dangerous drugs/causing most deaths. I will include those of pharmaceutical importance:
1. The Opiates; Oxycontin, M.S.Contin (morphine) & Percodan, et simila;
2. Barbiturates
3. Methadone
4. Alcohol
5. Valium et simila
6. Amphetamines
7. Tobacco (it acts like a drug and kills 100 thousand per year)
8. Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
9. Anabolic steroids
10. Vioxx (has been taken off the market)
11. Tylenol
12. Warfarin
13. Statins
14. Aspirin
15. Cannabis (which has never killed anyone although all the others have killed)
He prints 258 thousand Oregonians have drug abuse problems.
According to other related statistics, cannabis users are 75 percent of the total. It is really strange that it is reported that way as it is a legal medical agent in 12 states and the U.S. Govt. estimates maybe 70 million use it with very few, mostly juveniles, having minor problems with it. I must repeat, cannabis has caused NO deaths EVER. I had many geezers using it for up to 50 years with minimal adverse effects.
Alcohol is certainly the most abused drug and causes by far the most problems including death. Mr. Pflug has printed suggestions for reducing the $5.9 billion drug abuse costs. He proposes several taxes, lottery funds, drug settlement funds, correction funds, Intoxicated Driver Program funds, etc.
One type of program he does not address is the 400 thousand plus Oregonians who can’t get to a doctor but alcohol, the poor mans universal medicine, is readily available at the expense of almost anything else.
The medical care situation in Oregon and elsewhere is a disgraceful shambles. Emergency Departments in Hospitals are the primary care facilities for hundreds of thousands of patients at about ten times the cost of a regular doctors visit. The tax paying public pays for these outrageous costs. Any kind of regular doctors care would be cheaper.
WHY NOT FUND THAT?
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More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole".Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.
Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.
Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com:Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES
Dangerous Drugs: Dead PatientsSalem-News.com