This week on, On Point with Juandolyn Stokes, our guests were Drs. Walter Wrenn and Norman Clement, Founder the Blog, youarewithinthenorms.com. The doctors shared their views on the recent Atlanta Mass Shooting at Northside Hospital, which they believe is directly related to the War on Drugs and the Criminalization of Black and Brown Doctors.
When U.S. Coast Guard veteran Deion Patterson opened fire on patients in the waiting room at Northside Hospital on May 3, 2023, he was frustrated because his doctors refused to fill his prescription for Ativan, a medication that treats anxiety because they said it was an addictive medication.
"Ativan is not a problem. Medicines are developed with good purposes in mind. Emotional problems are individual things," said Wrenn.
"Suicides among veterans are up 75% because of illogical VA policies and forced tapers, which reduce the amount of medicine a person can receive," said Dr. Norman.
Dr. Norman cautioned Senator Raphael Warnock in his blog this week, "Thoughts and prayers are not going to do it this time. We need to hold hearings to make the DEA and CDC accountable for ending the War on Drugs."
Both doctors agreed that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) knows nothing about medicine because they are not physicians, they cannot grant waivers because they do not exist, and prescribing dosages is not within their authority.
Dr. Norman believes a solution to the problem with drugs in this country is to legalize them like other countries. He recalled Heroin was once a legal drug but was made illegal by the government.
"Cops cannot practice medicine; the DEA is only there to register, which is a task that should be assigned to the U.S. Surgeon General," said Dr. Norman.
"The DEA are criminals of the government. Illicit products are being blamed on doctors. The War on Drugs should remove the criminal drug element," said Dr. Wrenn.
He added, [The government] should stop staging a war on something that does not exist.
