03x27 - Opioid epidemic in the United States

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[cheers and applause]

- Welcome, welcome, welcome

to "Last Week Tonight."

I'm John Oliver.

Thank you so much
for joining us.

And unfortunately,
we must begin yet again

with the 2016 election,

or, as you may know it,

"I honestly don't even
know if I can make it

"another two-and-a-half weeks.

"I've been drinking a lot
and lashing out,

and frankly my family
is worried 2016."

Now, the most anticipated event

of this week was on Wednesday,

with the final presidential
debate of this election season

and possibly ever.

Uh, it was the candidates'
last chance

to show that they can elevate
the tone of this campaign.

How did that go?

- Look, Putin...
Wallace: Wait, but--

- From everything I see,
has no respect for this person.

- Well, that's because he'd
rather have a puppet

as president
of the United States.

- No puppet.
No puppet.

- And it's pretty clear--
- You're the puppet.

- It's pretty clear
you won't admit...

- No, you're the puppet.
- That the Russian--

- That is a pretty
childish tone.

"No, you're the puppet"

sounds like something
teenage Pinocchio

would yell at Geppetto

before slamming
his bedroom door.

"You're the puppet!
You're the puppet!

I wish I'd never been carved!"

And look, I would love to say

that that was Trump's
low point of the evening,

but there were so, so many more.

- We have some bad hombres here,

and we're gonna get 'em out.

Nobody has more respect
for women than I do--nobody.

In the ninth month,
you can take the baby

and rip the baby out of the womb
of the mother.

- Well, let me translate that
if I can, Chris,

because, um--

- You can't.

- My Social Security
payroll contribution

will go up, as will Donald's,

assuming he can't figure out
how to get out of it.

Uh, but what we want to do

is to replenish the
Social Security trust fund--

- Such a nasty woman.

- Now, now, now, now, now.
Now, now.

To be fair, the questions that
the moderator asked there were,

"What is an offensive way
to describe Mexicans,

"state an objective falsehood,

"describe a nonexistent
medical process,

"mansplain in two words,

and incorrectly name your
favorite Janet Jackson song,"

so he kind of went
five for five.

But--but the most notable
moment of all

came when Trump was
simply asked whether,

given his constant claims
that this election is rigged,

he would accept the results
of the vote,

to which the easy
and only answer

is yes.

But he took a different path.

- I will look at it at the time.

I'm not looking at anything now.

I'll look at it at the time.

Wallace: Are you saying
you're not prepared now

to commit to that principle?

- What I'm saying is that
I will tell you at the time.

I'll keep you in suspense.

- What do you mean,

you'll keep us in suspense?

This is a presidential election,

not an "American Idol"
result show.

"Oh, I'll tell you whether
or not my followers

"will plunge the country
into anarchy

after the break."

Now, after significant
criticism,

Trump appeared to walk back
his statements the next day,

before throwing in a twist
at the last moment.

- I would like to promise
and pledge

to all of my voters
and supporters

and to all of the people
of the United States...

[cheers]

That I will totally accept
the results

of this great and historic

presidential election

if I win.

- [laughing]

Oh, you got us.

You got us.

That's so funny, 'cause we
thought you were gonna

say the rational thing

that would have put
the country at ease,

but instead, you pulled
the old switcheroo

and you continued to destabilize

the foundations
of our democracy.

Ah.

That is a solid bit.

Ah.

And look, as we have discussed
on this show before,

the odds of voter fraud
are very slim.

A study found that out of
the billion-plus votes cast

between 2000 and 2014,

there were just 31
credible instances

of voter impersonation.

By comparison, in 2009 alone,

there were 32 newborns
in the U.S.

named ABCDE.

And I would argue we should be
less worried about voter fraud

than we should be about those


But--but Trump and Clinton

didn't only share the stage
during the debates this week.

The following night, they were
at the Al Smith dinner

in New York,

an annual fundraiser
for Catholic charities

where traditionally,
presidential candidates

gently roast themselves
and one another.

This should have been
an easy win for Trump,

because Hillary Clinton is,
to put it kindly,

less than side-splittingly
hilarious.

And Trump is basically
an insult comic writ large.

It is hard to imagine
a philanthropic event

he'd be better suited for

other than of course
a charity groping booth.

And yet--and yet, somehow,

somehow, he completely
lost the room.

- Hillary is so corrupt...

she got kicked off
the Watergate Commission.

[crowd booing]

Here she is tonight,
in public,

pretending not
to hate Catholics.

[crowd booing]

Everyone knows, of course,

Hillary's belief that
it takes a village,

which only makes sense,
after all, in places

like Haiti, where she's
taken a number of them.

[crowd booing]

- How are you blowing this?

It's a charity roast.

In fact, just watch the face
of the man sitting next to him

after that first joke.

It says--it says something

about how horrifying
Trump's speech was

that his expression is that
of someone who just realized,

"My God, I've been shot.

I've been shot."

And the crazy thing is,

of all the negative things
you--you could, should,

and are morally obligated
to say about Trump,

being unentertaining
is not one of them.

He is a born showman,
and that room

couldn't have given him more
of a home field advantage.

This wasn't a town hall
or a debate.

It was a $3,000-a-plate
fund-raising gala

at a moth-eaten Manhattan hotel

organized by
the Catholic Church,

a real estate-owning,
male-dominated,

sex scandal-plagued
organization

with whom Trump obviously shares

a uniquely unqualified
interior decorator.

I mean, just--just look
at the audience there:

white bow ties.

They are dressed like they're
about to play a game

of steerage darts
onboard the Titanic.

"Oh, terribly high-stakes,
steerage darts.

If you're not careful,
you could lose a dart."

But perhaps there
is no better index

of just how badly he did

than this.

- People were really cringing,
I think,

a lot of times
with Donald Trump.

I was sitting next
to Henry Kissinger,

and he said,
"This is not good."

- [chuckles]
- "This is not good."

- It's true.

Henry Kissinger thought
Trump bombed horrifically.

And Henry Kissinger
is pretty much

the world's leading authority

on horrific bombings.

And yet despite the audible boos
he heard during his speech,

Trump somehow did not seem
to be aware

of how badly he was doing.

- Hillary believes
that it's vital to deceive

the people by having
one public policy...

[crowd booing]

And a totally different policy
in private.

That's okay--I don't know who
they're angry at, Hillary,

you or I.

- It's you.

They're angry at you,

and I'll tell you why:

because you are treating
a benefit for needy children

like open mic night
at Rascal McBigot's,

Long Island's fourth-best
alt-right comedy club.

But perhaps the reason
that Trump did so poorly

is that the Al Smith dinner
is supposed to involve

a healthy share
of self-deprecation,

and he's almost pathologically
unable to acknowledge

any flaw or fault.

In fact, there was
one revealing moment

in Wednesday's debate

when Hillary Clinton hit
something of a nerve.

- There was even a time when

he didn't get an Emmy
for his TV program

three years in a row,

and he started tweeting
that the Emmys were rigged.

- I should've gotten it.

- Of course.

Of course.

Of course he wants an Emmy.

It's a woman, it's gold,
and it's proportionate

to his tiny hands.

It's basically Trump's
ideal mate.

And here's the problem.

Here's the problem here.

It increasingly seems like
if Donald Trump loses,

we are not going to get
the concession speech

that the country badly needs,

because he is medically
incapable of accepting

that he's a loser.

So we need to find a way for him
to give a concession speech

while he's still able to claim

that he won something.

And--and I think I might
have the answer here,

because I have a proposition
for Donald Trump.

Let's bet on the outcome
of this election.

I will take the side
that you win.

You take the side that you lose.

That way, if you lose,
you still win.

And--and--and as for
the stakes--

as for the stakes of the bet,

I have something
I know that you want.

She's so small.

She's so shiny.

You don't even have to take her
furniture shopping.

Take the bet, Donald.

Take the f*cking bet.

And now this.

[trumpet flourish]

- In a moment, we'll be joined
by NBC News'

chief White House correspondent
Chuck Todd, who's in London

with the president, but first,

here's a clip from the great
movie "Love Actually."

It's been brought to the fore
so many beautiful times

in movies, my favorite
being "Love Actually."

We're gonna show
a clip from that.

Well, we still remember
this scene,

and we'll play it again,
probably tonight again,

from, uh, "Love Actually."

Like in that great, memorable
scene from "Love Actually."

Did you see the very popular
movie "Love Actually"?

- I did.

Matthews: I see him every time
I re-watch

that incredible movie
"Love Actually."

I think everybody on
the planet fell in love

with that guy Colin Firth
in "Love Actually."

One of my favorite movies,
"Love Actually."

My favorite movie,
"Love Actually."

Is "Love Actually"...
"Love Actually"...

And that reminded me
of this scene from the movie

"Love Actually," which I've
seen about a million times.

- Moving on, for our--

for our main story tonight,

I would like to talk to you
about dr*gs.

And I know, I know,
I already sound

like a middle school
health teacher

about to show you
a video like this.

man: The pattern is
generally the same.

Take a life of responsibility,

the inability to make
right choices,

add to it ignorance
and indifference,

and top it off with a desire
for escapism and kicks.

The sum total is then
conceivably found

in the bennies, the reefer,

the pot needle.

- Yes, the pot needle.

Now--now--now, you may laugh,
but that film works.

Think about it: when was
the last time that you saw

a pot needle?

Exactly.
Exactly.

But unfortunately,

America is now in the midst

of a new drug crisis,

and it seems that no one
is safe from it.

woman: Laura, Charlie's owner,

who asked us not to use
her last name,

says Charlie had to be
rushed to the vet.

You can't see the suspect
throw the dr*gs over the fence

in the video,

but that's Charlie,

and what she's eating is
a full bag of heroin.

- You can't process the fact
that your dog ate heroin.

- Yeah, and if she
can't process it,

imagine how it must have felt
for her dog when it kicked in.

"Who's a good boy?
I--I'm a good boy.

"I'm a really good boy.

I'm the best boy."

[exclaims]

But--but here's the thing:

even that lighthearted
local news story

had some chilling context.

woman: Here, Bishop runs
the Bark and Play

where it happened.

He says it highlights
a much bigger problem.

- This whole heroin problem
around here is--is ridiculous.

You know, we find needles.

We find everything around here.

And it's--it's getting
to the point

to where I can't let my
employees go outside.

- Okay, that is terrifying,

although, honestly,
rampant heroin abuse

near a doggie day care center
is the first case

that McGruff the Crime Dog is
actually qualified to solve.

But the thing is, that--
that is symptomatic

of the fact that America
is facing an epidemic

of addiction to opioids

like heroin and prescription
painkillers.

As of 2015, an estimated


were addicted to them,
and they're now involved

in almost 30,000 overdose deaths
a year in the U.S.

And the prevalence
of this problem

astonishes some people.

Just listen to Donald Trump
up in New Hampshire.

- They said the biggest single
problem they have up here

is heroin.

And I said, "How does heroin
work with these beautiful

"lakes and trees and all
of the beautiful--

it doesn't."

- Yeah, it does, though.
It does.

Heroin works
basically everywhere,

because it's heroin.

It's not a cell phone.

Heroin has full coverage.

So--so tonight,

we're gonna look at one
of the major causes

of this crisis:

prescription painkillers,

which are chemical cousins
of heroin.

Around 75% of heroin users

started with
a prescription opioid:

dr*gs like OxyContin,

uh, Vicodin,

and Percocet,

which some take recreationally

and others take as prescribed
by a doctor.

But however it starts,

it can get out of hand fast.

- So how many,
if we start from this side,

have moved--moved from
prescription dr*gs to heroin?

Everybody.

man: Once people became
dependent on painkillers,

they said they'd do almost
anything to get them.

- One time, I--
I was hurting so bad

that I ended up punching a 4x4

and breaking all three
of these fingers and this bone

to get pain meds
from my doctor.

I did that several times--

- So you'd hurt yourself
in order to go to a doctor?

- Absolutely.

- I had nine teeth pulled out
of my head for prescriptions.

- At the time,
that's how my mind--

- To get a prescription?
- Yeah.

- I've been in with, like,
groups of people

where they've taken, like,
bats to their wrists.

man: Broke arms.
- Snapped 'em easily.

- Uh, I mean, how many people
do know someone that's died

of overdose from...

- Well, I mean--
- Everybody?

- This is happening everywhere.

The odds are, right now,
you probably know someone

who is struggling or who has
died from an opioid addiction.

Some towns have been devastated.

Just two months ago,

in and around
Huntington, West Virginia,


in one five-hour span.

And given their risks,
it's kind of amazing

how freely doctors
have prescribed them,

because there are a lot
in circulation.

- We have, currently,
nearly 250 million prescriptions

for opioids written every year.

That's enough
for every adult in America

to have a bottle of pills,

and then some.

- Holy shit.

And those bottles
aren't necessarily

sitting on a shelf unused,

like that bottle of wine
that you are saving

for a special occasion

that now serves as a reminder

that you haven't had
a single event in four years

that was deserving of getting
"fancy drunk."

No, the--these--
these pills are getting used

or falling into the hands
of others, from--

from those who are
already addicted

to just bored teenagers.

So how has this happened?

Because interestingly,
as recently as the early '90s,

doctors were excessively wary
of prescribing opioids.

- Back then, there was a thing
called "opiophobia."

A lot of health care
professionals did not

want to prescribe opiates at all

because they thought
you give the slightest amount,

you turn your patients
into addicts.

And so even people with,
uh, stage four cancer

weren't being given opiates.

They were left to suffer.

- Yes, "opiophobia,"

which is not to be confused
with "Oprah-phobia,"

which is the irrational fear
of screaming talk show hosts

giving you a brand-new
Pontiac sedan.

"Oprah, I can't afford
the taxes on this.

You haven't thought it through."

Now, obviously, that level
of under-treating pain

was a huge problem in itself.

And to their credit,

pain care advocates
worked to dispel

some dangerous myths.

But in doing so,

they made a key mistake,

as you will see right
at the end of this clip.

- Today, the federal government
said in a report

that about half of all
surgery patients

suffer needlessly because
doctors and hospitals

don't pay enough attention
to painkiller.

Health Secretary Louis Sullivan
talked about myths

that pain builds character--

myth, he said.

That infants don't feel pain--

another myth.

That elderly patients have
a higher tolerance for pain

or that painkillers
are addictive--

all myths.

- Okay, okay.

Okay, first, of course
babies feel pain.

How the f*ck did we
ever think otherwise?

But more importantly, the fact
that painkillers are addictive

was not a myth.

It's like a book
of Greek mythology

featuring the stories
of Zeus, Sisyphus,

Oedipus, and Yanni.

Come on, that last one
is very real,

and it cannot be dismissed.

And look, a nuanced discussion
between the medical community

about the complexities
of pain treatment

is clearly important.

The problem is,

that discussion became dominated

by the pharmaceutical industry,

who started amplifying
the message

that opioids should not just
be used for acute pain,

like that from cancer
or surgery,

but for all sorts of pain,

like arthritis and backaches,

which makes sense as a motive
coming from the pharma industry.

End-of-life pain care
is a narrow business.

It's hard to make a lot of money

off of a product exclusively
marketed to people

who are close to death.

Honestly, I don't know
how Fox News even does it.

I have no idea.

I--it's a mystery.

Volume, I guess.

But I--I don't know.

And--and within
the pharma industry,

the loudest voice was Purdue.

In 1996, they released
the blockbuster drug OxyContin,

and they marketed it
to doctors aggressively,

giving out swag like,
uh, fishing hats,

uh, swing music CDs

bearing the slogan,
"Swing in the right direction

with OxyContin,"

and Oxy-branded
stuffed plush toys.

And if you think we didn't
get hold of one of those,

you have clearly never
watched this show before,

because yes, here he is.

And yes, he is
my new best friend,

and yes, his name is Harold.

And I've got to say, Purdue,

this is the perfect
choice of mascot,

because much like a gorilla,

OxyContin might seem appealing,

but if you're not careful,

it will tear your
f*cking life apart.

Won't you, Harold?

Yes, he will.

Purdue also distributed
inspirational videos

like "I got my life back"

featuring seven patients
whose lives were turned around

by the magic of OxyContin.

- Since I've been on this
new pain medication,

I have not missed
one day of work,

and my boss really appreciates
that Lauren is there every day.

So I'm able to be
very productive.

And one of the things that's
really dear to my heart

and, uh, which I'm especially,
um, excited about

is just the fact that
I'm able to spend time

with my grandchildren.

It's amazing just to be able
to keep up with them

and not have to, uh,
always constantly tell them,

"Grandma can't play now.
Grandma can't do this.

Grandma's hurting.
Grandma's back hurts."

- That's genuinely sweet.

And it's also
a powerful message,

although I will note,

"It makes time with your
grandkids more fun"

could apply to literally
any drug.

"Hey, kids."
[sniffing]

"Uh, Grandpa's gonna
take you to the park.

"I'm gonna--I'm gonna
take you on the swings.

"I'm gonna push you real high.

"And then we're gonna
stay up all night,

"and I'm gonna come up
with inventions,

"and you're gonna
write them down.

"And you're gonna write
them down fast.

We're having quality time!"

[sniffing]

And it--it wasn't just--

it wasn't just
uplifting stories.

Other Purdue videos sought
to reassure patients

who might have been nervous
about taking such a strong drug.

- Less than 1% of patients
taking opioids

actually become addicted.

- Less than 1%.

And I know it may seem like
they are pulling that number

out of their ass.

But they actually pulled it

out of the letters
to the editor section

of "The New England
Journal of Medicine."

Seriously, this is it.

That paragraph is
the whole thing.

It wasn't peer-reviewed,
and it was only about

short-term use of opioids
in hospitals.

But it became the main source

for that 1% claim.

And letters pages are not
a solid source for information.

Just this month,
a Pennsylvania newspaper

published a letter, uh,
featuring a man's question

about Hillary Clinton's
fitness for office,

uh, because, and I quote,

"What if that time
of the month comes?"

To which the obvious answer is,
one, she's 68,

and two, f*ck you.

Maybe just a little bit.

But--but--but even if doctors

started noticing that a lot more
than 1% of their patients

were getting addicted,

Purdue had a ready answer:

"What if they're not?"

Because they had doctors
on their payroll

like Alan Spanos,
who were happy to explain

the helpful new concept

of "pseudo-addiction."

I'll let him tell you about it.

- Pseudo-addiction
is when a patient

is looking like a drug addict

because they're pursuing
pain relief.

So pseudo-addiction is
relief-seeking behavior

mistaken as drug addiction.

- Wow, that is so convenient.

That is like Chipotle going,

"Have you heard of this
fascinating new thing

"called 'pseudo-diarrhea'?

"It--it looks a lot
like diarrhea,

"but it's not diarrhea.

And the cure may actually
be more tacos."

And Purdue's overall message
of a quick, easy cure for pain

was very appealing,

especially for primary care
doctors who might only have



So it is no wonder
that by the year 2000,

doctors were writing
nearly 6,000,000

OxyContin prescriptions per year

and its sales were more
than even Viagra.

And remember, that was a drug

that had the distinct advantage

of being sold by Bob Dole,

the red-hot,
late-'90s "it" boy.

However, evidence
started piling up

that it was far riskier
than promised,

with headlines like
"OxyContin Abuse Is Increasing"

and "OxyContin abuse
called 'a plague,'"

or, as I'm sure Purdue
would call it,

a "pseudo-plague."

And--and even the stars
of Purdue's

"I got my life back" video

were not immune from this trend,

because a later investigation
discovered

two out of the seven of them

died as active opioid abusers.

And that grandmother
you saw earlier

became addicted and nearly
lost everything.

- I lost my house.

Oh, yeah, I've lost cars.

I've lost--
I lost a lot.

A lot.

I--I've lost a lot

to keep, um, the high
and taking that drug

when I did lose my job.

Mm-hmm.

Had I not lost
my medical insurance,

well, as I said, if I was to go
to the mailbox once a month

and I would find a bottle
of OxyContin in it,

I'd probably still be on it,

and I'd probably be dead.

- Think about that.

Losing her health insurance

might have saved her life.

That is an irony so deep

it would vaporize
Alanis Morissette

into a cloud of f*cking steam.

Now, by now, I'm guessing

you are pretty angry at Purdue.

So you may be glad to hear
that in 2007,

they admitted
some responsibility

in a lawsuit so big, it actually
led the evening news.

- Good evening.

The maker of a hugely
popular painkiller

has some pain
of its own tonight.

The company and its top officers

will pay $634 million in fines

for lying to the public.

- Wow.

You know they f*cked up

if they had to pay
over $600 million

for misleading marketing,

because you get a lot
of leeway on that.

That's why Dunkin' Donuts has
not yet been sued for saying,

"America Runs on Dunkin'"

when we all know their
real slogan should be,

"Sometimes You Can't
Find a Starbucks."

And--and look, it wasn't just
Purdue pushing the envelope.

Cephalon paid
a $444 million settlement

for over-marketing dr*gs

and INSYS has been investigated

for some of its practices
surrounding a drug they made

containing fentanyl,

an opioid which can be 100 times
more powerful than morphine.

Their drug is only approved
for cancer patients,

but INSYS is accused

of not just pushing it
for non-cancer patients,

but even helping convince
insurance companies

to pay for it.

And to do that,

according to one ex-employee,

they used a particularly
shady technique.

- If you don't have cancer
and breakthrough cancer pain,

no insurance company is gonna
pay for this medication.

So if you call up
and you tell them

that the patient
doesn't have cancer,

it's automatically denied.

- So instead,
what were you doing?

Nixon: They would always ask,

"Does the patient have cancer?"

"Uh-huh."
That's what we would say.

- So you'd do, "Uh-huh"?
You would--

- Right.
- Say yes.

- But I'm not saying,
"Yes," right?

I would just say, "Uh-huh."

- Isn't that a yes?

- Well, and that's what
they did think.

Um, but I wasn't
blatantly saying yes.

- Oh, my God.

Except everybody knows

"uh-huh" means yes.

If you go to Thesaurus.com

and type in "uh-huh,"

literally the first word
that comes up is "yes,"

followed by options such as
"absolutely,"

"definitely,"
"unquestionably,"

and "yep."

And--look, and at this point,

I--I should say that Purdue
and Cephalon's, uh, owner

told us that those practices
were in the past.

And INSYS has denied wrongdoing

and didn't respond
to any of our questions,

not even with a "nuh-uh."

But at a certain point,
the question has to become

less "What did we do wrong?"

and more "What do we do now?"

Because these dr*gs are still
the most effective solution

for certain types of pain,

and many patients need them.

So we can't get rid of them,

but we have to be
much more careful

about how they're prescribed.

And to their credit,

the CDC issued voluntary
guidelines this year

suggesting doctors use
non-opioid therapies

when possible and,
if and when one is needed,

to start patients
with a lower dose

and a shorter supply,

a technique that they call

"start low and go slow,"

which does sound good,

but also sounds like how your
creepiest high school friend

described cunnilingus.

"Dude, start low,

"go slow,

"and afterwards,
take her to Friendly's.

"Chicks love
root beer floats, dude.

"They love them, dude.

"Low and slow.
Low and slow, dude.

Low and slow."

Look, and while--
while all that sounds great,

unfortunately,

not all areas of the country

have access to alternative
pain treatments.

- It's easy to say,

"Use some non-opioid
alternative,"

but in a lot of rural areas,

patients don't have access
to things like physical therapy

and mindfulness meditation,

and insurance companies
won't pay for it.

- And that is a big problem,

because even in a rural area,

alternative pain treatments

should be at least
as easy to find

as Waffle Houses,

which, like heroin, are both
hazardous to your health

and dangerously addictive.

And--and to put it mildly,

it does not seem that
the pharmaceutical industry

is expecting any major reversals

in opioid sales anytime soon.

In fact, they are now
marketing extra dr*gs

to fight one of opioids'
side effects:

constipation.

[toilet flushing]

[melancholy string music]

♪

man: If you need an opioid
to manage your chronic pain,

you may be so constipated.

It feels like everyone can go,

except you.

[laughter]

- You know painkillers
are powerful

if people use them
despite the s--

the side effect "being jealous
of a dog's butthole."

And that commercial aired
during the Super Bowl this year,

which means, A,
it is a big business,

and B, I can only assume
there was a reverse commercial

during the Puppy Bowl
featuring a jealous dog

and a sh1tting man.

But we cannot just work

to prevent future addicts.

We're going to need to do more

to help the millions
that already exist,

which means more investments
in treatment programs

as well as increasing
availability

of dr*gs like nalox--
naloxone,

commonly used in a nasal spray
to rescue people from overdoses

because, as this firehouse
makes clear,

it is a tool that they use
with depressing frequency.

- So every single firefighter
in the Revere Fire Department

knows how to use this--

has been trained on this?

- Yeah.
- Has used it.

- Yes, we--
- And has used it?

- Yes, uh, from the chief down.

We tend to have more
overdoses than we do--

- Fire?
- Fires.

So it's a piece of equipment
that we can't go without now,

just like we have the hose.

- It's true.

Firefighters might be more
likely to use a nasal spray

than a hose,

which is really going to f*ck up

those hot firefighter calendars,

because something about
an overdose-reversing

nasal spray isn't quite as sexy.

It's still sexy, but just
not quite as sexy.

It is still sexy, though,
just not qui--

but still--
and that's not the point.

The point is,

there is no
one simple answer here.

Not all opioid addicts will
respond to the same treatment,

and not all people in pain

will find relief
from alternative therapies.

This is going to take
a massive effort

and a significant investment.

It won't be cheap,

it won't be quick,

and it won't be easy.

And it is hard
not to be angry

at the drug companies
like Purdue,

whose promise of cheap,
quick, easy pain solutions

helped put us
in this f*cking mess.

Because while they may not
be solely responsible,

if you were to ask me if they
bear significant blame

for reckless, greedy behavior

which contributed to this
massive public health crisis,

I might not say yes, exactly,

but I would definitely say,
"Uh-huh."

man: Elected officials:
whether at the local,

state, or federal level,

these are the men and women

who diligently make us look
like f*cking idiots

for electing them.

Let's meet another
in our ongoing series...

This week's person
who somehow got elected:

Glenn Grothman,

U.S. Representative from
Wisconsin's 6th district,

the picturesque home
to cheeseheads

and that creepy prosecutor
from "Making a m*rder*r."

Grothman was elected
to Congress in 2014,

but before that,
he spent 22 years

in the Wisconsin
state legislature

making his name as a fiscal
and social conservative,

taking bold stances

such as speaking out
against an equal pay law.

- Senator Glenn Grothman said,

"You could argue that money
is more important for men.

"I think a guy
in their first job--

"maybe because they expect to be
a breadwinner someday--

may be a little more
money-conscious."

man: Yes, Glenn Grothman talks

like a character
out of "Mad Men"

and dresses like a contestant
on a 1987 episode

of "Jeopardy!",

which is not to say
Glenn Grothman

does not support women.

He loves all of them,

even the single moms.

- I know a lot of gals

who are having kids
out of wedlock,

and I love them.

I've been outside
abortion clinics,

and I've encouraged them.

man: See?

Would a man who hates women

go talk to them outside
of abortion clinics

or end that same speech
this way?

- Our country is not
gonna survive

if we continue this w*r on men.

Thanks for having me.

[cheers and applause]

man: But if there's one issue
dear to Glenn Grothman's heart,

it's racism,
or as he calls it...

- Well, this is one more example

of, I think, screaming rashism

where obviously none exists.

The idea that somehow--

you know, opponents say,
"It's rashist,"

is ridiculous.

man: Yes, for some reason

Glenn Grothman
pronounces this word

"rashism," which is weird,

because he clearly
has no problem

making an "S" sound.

- Governor Walker is gonna
be giving the tech schools,

the schools, the prisons,

the counties, the cities,
all less money.

man: And Grothman's
obsession with "rashe"

is especially strange,

given that his district
is so overwhelmingly white.

It wasn't just the location
of the state's



It was also the birthplace
of OshKosh B'gosh,

the closest wardrobe equivalent

to dressing your child
in an actual banjo.

But that doesn't mean Grothman
can't link rashism

to any story.

Take Planned Parenthood.

- Given the rashist background

of Planned Parenthood,

and not liking people
who are not white,

I wonder if one of the reasons
why Planned Parent

likes to do these, uh,
sex-selective abortions is--

disproportionately are done on
people of an Asian background.

man: Incidentally,
that's 100% falsh.

But that's just scratching
the surface of Grothman's

rashe-based opinions.

He's also opposed to making

Martin Luther King Day
a holiday.

- I would bet the vast majority

of African-Americans,

as the vast majority
of everybody else,

isn't doing anything
for Martin Luther King

on Martin Luther King Day.

I think most employees
who are off

are shopping at the mall.

Maybe they're taking
an extended vacation

somewhere over the weekend.

Let's be honest.

man: And that's not the only

African-American holiday
he opposes.

- Wisconsin state senator
Glenn Grothman

isn't backing down
on his stance

that the African-American
holiday Kwanzaa

should "die a quick death."

- I think the underlying
problem here

is not enough TV types,
when they talk about Kwanzaa,

talk about the horrible,
rashist, violent past

of its founder.

- Grothman says Kwanzaa
is a holiday that, uh,

quoting here, "Almost no
black people today care about."

man: And if you're wondering
how he can be so sure,

don't worry, he checked.

- I spent some time--
happened to be at the Rose Bowl,

and I spent some time
interviewing, briefly,


California or Arizona

or people getting on airplanes,

and none of them
celebrated Kwanzaa,

so I don't think Kwanzaa's
really important

to the average African-American.

man: That's a flawed study,

though it was published
in "The New England Journal

of Harassing Strangers Who Are
Just Trying to Board a Plane."

But Glenn Grothman knows,

whether it's African-Americans
at airports

or women at abortion clinics,

everyone's entitled
to his insane opinions,

and that's why it's
so remarkable

that Glenn Grothman
is a politician

who somehow got elected.

- That's our show.
Thank you so much for watching.

See you next week.
Good night.

[cheers and applause]