Drugged!! | Philip A. Farruggio

Philip A. FarruggioPhilip A. Farruggio -- World News Trust

Sept. 20, 2018

You don't have to be a genius sometimes to just "connect the dots."

Since 2012, Big Pharma ads for prescription drugs, especially on the boob tube, have risen 62 percent. You cannot channel surf without seeing a myriad of ads pushing almost every drug out there for almost every condition (Thank God for the law making these Big Pharma predators notify the suckers of the side effects).

Meanwhile, let's just mention one statistic from just one state, Arizona, where 949 people died from opioids in one year, 2017. Here's the interesting kicker: This was a 109 percent increase since 2012.

Duh, am I just paranoid or is there something going on here? Let's see, the legal drug pushers bombard us all with "Drugs help you" ads day and night on all our channels. While this is going on, more and more Americans are swallowing opioids, most of the time by prescription.

Of course, once they are hooked on these minor league narcotics, they resort to getting them black market if the availability is threatened by legal means. We all know that one of the largest industries in states like mine, Florida, is these "Pain clinic mills" where corrupt M.D.s sell their souls for the easy money. Opioid addicts drive from surrounding states, resembling the depression-era Dust Bowl refugees heading for greener pastures.

In essence, what those bombarding Big Pharma ads have done is legitimatized drug use for what ails us. Yes, there are some life-saving drugs needed for some extreme conditions, but they are in the minority. Big Pharma runs the show, as they did a few years ago when they pushed the shit out of those opioid painkillers.

Our "bought and paid for" Two Party/One Party politicians did nothing at the time to curb this horror. Now they all, including this Johnny-come-lately president, jump on the bandwagon.

Meanwhile, few out there can see the connection I just made between oversaturation of drug ads on television and opioid addiction. The endless propaganda of "Drugs are good" makes it easier for troubled Americans, many in actual physical or emotional pain, to go for the opioid.

Imagine if we had real affordable and comprehensive health care. Maybe many in physical and of course emotional pain could get the therapy needed to help alleviate things.

While on the subject of drugs, especially legal ones, let's not forget the best one of them all, THE ELECTION DRUG. During the turbulent 60s, millions of Americans took to the streets of their towns and cities and peacefully protested our involvement in Vietnam (I won't call it a "War," except it being a civil war between the Vietnamese people).

This, in fact, got the politicians' attention. The threat of being voted out of office or not getting in office made many of them follow the temperature of the masses. Sadly, when the Bush/Cheney gang prepared for their illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, there was (Yes) a myriad of protests worldwide on one February day... and that was really it.

Even after the invasion and occupation of Iraq, we who stood on that street corner each and every Tuesday afternoon were lucky, in our town of 55,000 to attract 20 folks each week. Why? Well, the Two Party/ One Party syndicate kept hammering home the point that change comes via the ballot box.

"Just wait and vote" we were all told. Sadly, the only media-driven choices were from that same syndicate, and both sides kept voting to increase the spending on phony wars and occupations.

Mr. "Hope and Change" himself presided over the biggest military spending of all time!

PA Farruggio

September 2018

(Philip A Farruggio is a son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC, longshoremen. He has been a freelance columnist since 2001, with more than 400 of his essays posted on sites like Global Research, Greanville Post, Off Guardian, Consortium News, Information Clearing House, ,Nation of Change, World News Trust, Op Ed News, Dissident Voice, Activist Post, Sleuth Journal, Truthout and many others. His blog can be read in full on World News Trust., whereupon he writes a great deal on the need to cut military spending drastically and send the savings back to save our cities. Philip has an internet interview show, "It's the Empire... Stupid' with producer Chuck Gregory, and can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)