Overcoming Opioids: This Crisis IS Opportunity

Slowly but surely, the opioid epidemic has been breaching media headlines.

It's a simple observation that I lightly remarked on early this morning to myself.

"This is bigger than you can possibly imagine," came the reply from behind me. I hadn't even realized I had said it out loud, but my colleague Jeff Siegel had once again hit the nail on the head.

I'll confess that at first, I didn't fully understand how much he had unearthed on this crisis.

At this point, it's nearly impossible to come across someone who has not been affected by opioids, whether it was themselves, family, or friends.

Nobody is coming out of this unscathed.

"The destruction it's exacting on America is utterly devastating," he continued, "and it's a rabbit hole that most people don't want to go down, because it makes them face the truth behind the curtain."

After a little prodding, he laid it all out for me.

The shocking part was that it was all 100% true.

Crisis IS Opportunity

"At what point did you realize the opioid crisis was transforming into a full-blown epidemic?" he asked.

I honestly didn't have an answer.

When DID opioid abuse start take hold?

Well, it didn't happen overnight.

The crisis hit us in several periods.

Back in the '90s, people started to really take notice of the death toll from opioids.

Patients were being prescribed opioids for pain that wasn't cancer related. By the end of the decade, nearly nine out of ten patients were taking them for non-cancer pain. Pills were readily available, and the pharmaceutical companies insisted that the opioids didn't come with a high risk.

Some reports suggest that one-third of patients taking opioids were abusing them, and nearly one in ten of those patients move on to heroin.

Now consider the stat that 80% of heroin users started off abusing prescription opioids.

A decade later, the number of deaths swelled again, this time from heroin.

You see, in an effort to curb opioid prescription abuse, things got worse. Clearly, the low risk of addiction was complete and utter bullshit... and eerily similar to the way giant tobacco companies preyed on the public.

And year after year, the numbers got worse.

When synthetic opioids (think fentanyl) burst onto the scene a couple years ago, it led to tens of thousands of deaths.

Here in Maryland, the number of opioid overdoses jumped almost 15% during the first half of the year, with 1,185 souls dying from an overdose.

In 2016, roughly 115 people died from an opioid overdose every day, which at that rate would be like a new September 11th attack approximately EVERY THREE WEEKS!

Look, I'll be the first to tell you that the numbers are absolutely horrifying.

When you dig deep into the statistics, the enormity of the situation takes hold. However, Jeff's approach to this nightmarish situation wasn't what I expected.

Some people can't get over the gruesome impact of the opioid crisis.

Then there are the few like my colleague Jeff who search for a solution.

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Playing for the Right Team

We live in a dope-sick nation.

And if there's any redeeming part to this story, it's that the spotlight is starting to shine brighter on America's drug crisis.

Now is the time for solutions, dear reader.

And we both know that change won't come from those Big Pharma companies - yes, the same ones that said in the 1990s that opioids weren't that addictive.

Jeff, however, has always been heavily invested in more socially aware companies.

Then, after laying out all of the horrifying statistics associated with this crisis, he left me with some hope.

Remember, Jeff was one of the analysts who raked in a fortune as the clean energy boom burst forward. And to be honest, I'm rather jealous of his deeply connected list of contacts that stretches across the world.

So, he put his head down started uncovering life-changing opportunities in this ugly crisis.

What he found was nothing short of remarkable.

Tomorrow morning, he's finally releasing his report to the investing public, and I strongly urge you to take just a few moments out of your day and let him tell you what he divulged to me earlier.

Stay tuned.

Until next time,

Keith Kohl

@KeithKohl1 on Twitter

A trueinsider in the energy markets, Keith is one of few financialreporters to have visited the Alberta oil sands. His research has helpedthousands of investors capitalize from the rapidly changing face ofenergy. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as theManaging Editor of Energy & Capital as well as Investment Director of Angel Publishing's Energy Investor. For years, Keith has been providing in-depth coverage of the Bakken, theHaynesville Shale, and the Marcellus natural gas formations - all ahead of the mainstream media. For more onKeith, go to his editor's page.