Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 4026 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: DECEMBER 2016 I n case you haven’t heard, there’s a new drug dealer on the block. His name is Big Pharma. Now a former top DEA of- ficial is saying that Congress is putting the profits of phar- maceutical companies over public health and safety. Joseph Rannazzisi knows of what he speaks. He was the head of the DEA office responsible for preventing prescription medicine abuse until last year. Now free to say whatever he likes, Rannazzisi is likely to make some very powerful people extremely uncom- fortable. Rannazzisi says drug com- panies and their lobbyists have a “stranglehold” on Congress. Legislators are working in concert with the cor- porations to protect the billions made selling drugs despite the fact that many of those drugs were behind the deaths about 19,000 people a year. You can’t really expect for law enforcement to have much of an impact when the drug companies are making policy – which is what Ran- nazzisi says is going on. He’s not the only one to point out that the drug industry engineered legisla- tion limiting the DEA’s pow- ers to act against pharmacies endangering lives by dis- pensing disproportionately large numbers of opioids. The drug company lob- byists have been very suc- cessful in stopping any new laws or even guidelines for doctors intended to reduce the prescribing of opioid painkillers. This is why very little changes depending on who is in the Oval Office. Con- gress, at least most of it, has been bought and paid for. “Congress would rather listen to people who had a profit motive rather than a public health and safety mo- tive,” Rannazzisi told report- ers with the Guardian UK. “As long as the industry has this stranglehold through lobbyists, nothing’s going to change.” “These congressmen and senators who are using this because they are up for re-election, it’s a sham,” Rannazzisi said. “The con- gressmen and senators who are championing this fight, the ones who really believe in what they’re doing, their voices are drowned out be- cause the industry has too much influence,” he said. Rannazzisi points out that the Ensuring Patient Ac- cess and Effective Drug Enforcement Act was the work of a pharmaceuti- cal industry-funded group, the Healthcare Distribution Management Association. “This doesn’t ensure pa- tient access and it doesn’t help drug enforcement at all. What this bill does has noth- ing to do with the medical process. What this bill does is take away DEA’s ability to go after a pharmacist, a wholesaler, manufacturer or distributor,” he said. “This was a gift. A gift to the in- dustry.” “When you sit with a parent who can’t under- stand why there’s so many pharmaceuticals out in the illicit marketplace and why isn’t the government doing anything, well the DEA was doing something. Unfortu- nately what we’re trying to do is thwarted by people who are writing laws.” Recipients of political do- nations from the industry in- cluded Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the finance com- mittee, who took $360,000 and Representative Mike Rogers, who received more than $300,000, according to public records. DEA whistleblower blames lawmakers Some things don’t change, regardless of which people win elections No one is likely to get in the way of Big Pharma’s profit magins – even if they depend on the worst public health and safety crisis in generations. The DEA is still waging the war on pot, Congress is in Big Pharma’s back pocket and the FBI is now pretty much exclusively dedicated to investigating emails. Looks like it’s up to the American people to fight back. And the football stuff just keeps on coming. In New Jersey, the state chapter of the ACLU re- cently complained about a ceremony honoring law enforcement, military and first responders before a high school football game. The pre-game ceremonies to show support for law en- forcement, the military and the national anthem were organized by Middletown P.D. Deputy Chief Stephen Dollinger. On display were State Police Pipes and Drums of the Blue and Gold, state and local mounted units, military personnel from all branches of service and scores of offi- cers from nearby police and sheriff’s departments. Dollinger told the Asbury Park Press prior to event that the ceremony was not just about honoring cops but also a response to athletes, whether pros or not, who have taken a knee during pre-game performances of the national anthem. “It’s OK to stand up for social justice, inequality and reform,” Dollinger told the newspaper. “It’s another thing to not stand up for the national anthem.” That didn’t sit well with the New Jersey ACLU. “Law enforcement officers are sworn to protect the con- stitution, and it is a disservice to the students and players that an event that should focus on them, their families, and their communities is be- ing used to send a message that people who express concerns about disparities in the criminal justice system are unwelcome, disloyal or unpatriotic,” the ACLU wrote to the district. The letter was also signed by the Central Jersey Chap- ter of National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and the Greater Long Branch NAACP. At the ceremony, Doll- inger told the Asbury Park Press that his comments made before the event were taken out of context. “I said we respect the rights of everybody to stand up for social justice and equality and reform, but we also re- spect our country and want to celebrate the first respond- ers, the national anthem,” the deputy chief said. Maybe now that the election is over football can be “just football” again. Probably not. Has anyone noticed that football has gotten political?