DRUG ADDICTION EPIDEMIC CRIPPLING CALIFORNIA

    The Leftist leadership in California have long been in denial about the severity of the narcotics epidemic in their state. The Northern part of the state has been particularly hard-hit. However, when President Trump recently allocated a $485 million program to fight this national problem, California was earmarked for almost 10% of the total budget. Two reports from Federal authorities illustrate why.

      The FDA issued a report this week on Opioid prescription abuse in California. Five counties in the north actually had more Opioid prescriptions than county residents. Fourteen others had per capita prescription rates higher than the State average.

      According to the Sacramento Bee, there were 1,925 Opioid overdose fatalities in California last year. Almost 15% of Californians are taking Opioid prescriptions, and the numbers are almost twice that in the most badly-affected counties.

      The CDC states that Opioids are the second-most abused narcotic in the US, with Marijuana in first place. Marijuana is legally cultivated in California, but there are illegal operations all over the state. The FBI estimates that 90% of illegal marijuana comes from California. Regulated Marijuana has strict quality-control standards; that sold on the Black Market is often adulterated with other narcotics, or contains toxic levels of pesticides, or both.

     In Northern California, drug pushers often take advantage of the vast state and national forests to conceal their operations. The EPA this week issued a report showing that water pollution in the region has reached critical levels. Local ranchers and farmers have reported livestock illnesses have increased from drinking contaminated water; and last month, two policemen and a police dog were hospitalized after coming in contact with a cesspool from an illegal Marijuana operation.

       Mourad Gabriel, who inspected raided operations with the EPA told reporters that the waters and grounds are saturated with chemical pesticides such as Carbofuran and Diazinol, Both are banned in the United States for food and tobacco crops, and banned completely by the European Union. If in ingested or inhaled through smoking, both can cause symptoms similar to botulism and death/coma in sufficient dosages.

      Gabriel noted that residuals in the ground are almost impossible to remove and may stay present in waters and soil for years before nature takes its course. Forest Service Rangers have pointed out that sportsmen who kill wild game face safety issues---not only from eating contaminated meat and fish, but because of the potential of encountering heavily-armed thugs in the deep woods.

      It's clear from these two reports that California has a serious problem; and the first step to solving it is acknowledging its existence. The State Government really cannot deny the problem any longer and they should start cooperating with the Trump Administration to resolve it. But instead, the State Attorney-General announced on Friday that he planned to sue the Administration over DACA; and anti-Trump riots broke out in the Bay Area and Sacramento once again. Given that these are two of the worst-hit cities by the narcotics epidemic, the motives for their opposition to Trump is self-evident.