Chooper's Guide ... the Internet's most comprehensive substance abuse treatment, prevention and intervention resource directory.

X-Files

Several years ago Tim was speaking to a doctor from Colombia when they began discussing the issue of crime and corruption. Tim asked the doctor about the rampant violence and corruption in Columbia and the influence and impact that the drug cartels had on their society. The doctor’s reply was interesting especially as it validated Tim’s jaded perspective. He said that, yes, Columbia has violence and corruption but it was nothing compared to the United States as we had developed it into an "art form." Later on, Tim spent some time reflecting on this assessment and he concluded that America as a nation was a victim of the bystander syndrome. The persistent sensationalistic media blitz has desensitized the population creating  an information overload which has resultied in a massive diffusion of social responsibility. We have indeed been bystanders watching corporate America and the government partner to systematically and insidiously desensitize society through the media which has impacted legislation, social policies and transformed social mores. Human life has become the collateral damage of corporate profits. We will wake up one day and discover that the rights we took for granted have been relegated to the history books.

The United States has the highest prison census in the world with over 2.4 million prisoners. That translates to 25% of the world's prison population and yet we are only 3% of the total world population. 65% of this nation's prison population meets the DSM IV diagnostic criteria for Substance Abuse Disorder. States are busy enacting legislation that permits outsourcing corrections management to both publically traded and private companies who in turn spend millions of dollars lobbying for tougher sentencing legislation which insure industry growth, earnings growth and minimize economic volatility.

The Pharmaceutical industry spends hundreds of millions annually on marketing and lobbying. Certain high risk opioid and sedative substances are deliberately misrepresented as to addiction risk potential to the medical profession and to the public. The result is escalating profits, epidemic addiction rates, elevated healthcare costs, elevated mortality rates and overflowing prisons. Certain companies have spent as much as 100 million on  promoting one addictive substance.

As Don Corleone schooled his son, Sonny, in the Godfather, “Lawyers can steal more money with a briefcase than a thousand men with guns and masks."

This section will be dedicated to exposing the corporations that have played a significant role in escalating and perpetuating the drug epidemic and the drug war to ensure profits. We have named it appropriately, the X- Files, as this vulgar lack of regard for human life is indeed alien.

                    

                X Files                 

   

Pharmaceutical Companies

 

 


Name: Purdue Pharma

Type: Private Company

Stock Symbol: N/A

Products:

  1. OxyContin® (oxycodone HCl controlled-release) Tablets, for oral use, CIIButrans® (Buprenorphine) Transdermal System for Transdermal Administration CIII

  2. Dilaudid® (hydromorphone HCl) 2, 4, and 8 mg Tablets CII; and Oral Liquid CII

  3. DILAUDID® INJECTION (hydromorphone hydrochloride),CII

    DILAUDID-HP® INJECTION (hydromorphone hydrochloride), CII 

    For intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous use

  4. MS Contin® (morphine sulfate controlled-release) Tablets, for oral use, CII

  5. Ryzolt® (tramadol HCl extended-release tablets)

  6. Intermezzo® (zolpidem tartrate) sublingual tablet CIV

Comments:


   

Correctional Management Services Companies

   


Name:  Corrections Corporation of America

Type: REIT

Stock Symbol: CXW

Market Cap: 3.8 B

Services: Correctional Management Services

Number of Facilities: 65

Number of Beds: 90,000

Locations:  United States (19 Ststes)

Website: http://www.cca.com

Description:

Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) is a real estate investment trust. The Company is the owner and operator of privatized correctional and detention facilities and prison operators in the United States. As of December 31, 2012, the Company operated 67 correctional and detention facilities, including 47 facilities that the Company own, with a total design capacity of approximately 92,500 beds in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning of January 1, 2013, the Company has provided correctional services and conducted other operations through TRSs. A TRS is a subsidiary of a REIT that is subject to applicable corporate income tax and certain qualification requirements. In January 2012, the Company closed the operations of the 1,172-bed Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. In January 2013, the Company announced that it has completed an internal reorganization of its business operations.

 

   


Name: GEO Group Inc.

Type: REIT

Stock Symbol:  GEO

Market Cap: 2.6 B

Services: Correctional Management Services

Number of Facilities: 63

Number of Beds:  67,956  (12/31/12 Annual Report)

Locations:  United States (11 States) and International

Website: http://www.geogroup.com/

Description:

The GEO Group, Inc. is engaged in ownership, leasing and management of correctional, detention, and re-entry facilities and the provision of community-based services in the United States, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada. It operates in four segments: United States Corrections and Detention segment; GEO Community Services; International Services, and its Facility Construction and Design. United States Corrections and Detention segment primarily encompasses United States-based privatized corrections and detention business. GEO Community Services segment consists of its community based services business, youth services business and electronic monitoring. International Services segment primarily consists of its privatized corrections and detention operations in South Africa, Australia and United Kingdom. Facility Construction and Design segment primarily contracts with various states, local and federal agencies for the design and construction of facilities.

 

   

Government Officials

    We will be adding a searchable database that will enable you to search by state, legislator and voting records. This will allow you to connect the dots between contributions and policy and law.

 

 

**The bystander effect or Genovese syndrome is a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases where individuals do not offer any means of help in an emergency situation to the victim when other people are present. The probability of help has often appeared to be inversely related to the number of bystanders; in other words, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help. The mere presence of other bystanders greatly decreases intervention. In general, this is believed to happen because as the number of bystanders increases, any given bystander is less likely to notice the situation, interpret the incident as a problem,and less likely to assume responsibility for taking action.

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