Dear Editor:
Donald Trump put the screws to Canada to get what he wanted. We needed that kick in the butt to start fixing our system for ourselves.
However, it is hypocritical of Trump to insist on the cleaning of Canada when there is dirt on the front of his own shirt.
In or around 2008, Purdue opened Pandora’s box by creating, marketing and pushing oxycodone as a non-addictive alternative to opiate medication. It did so in a morally bankrupt manner and in swamping the marketplace with their product created a class of addict that needed to escalate his or her use to heroin, morphine and fentanyl in order to satisfy the craving and addiction that had been created because the drug that Purdue said was non-addictive was very addictive.
When the full consequences of the actions of Purdue were realized and assessed, Purdue and its directors were criminally charged. Later, a class action was initiated on behalf of those who got caught in the Purdue lie. The Purdue company and the Sakler family (owners of Purdue) were found guilty in 2020 of criminal liability, as were peripheral individuals.
A fine of approximately $600 million was made against the group. Also, three of the directors of Purdue were individually found guilty of criminal liability. None of these three people have ever spent a day in jail. In January the case against Purdue was settled with Purdue Pharma and Sackler family to pay $7.4 billion in settlement of OxyContin lawsuits.
Trump’s and the U.S. hands are not clean when they threaten tariffs against Canada and state that Canada is the source of their problem with fentanyl. The problem is a joint problem that was initiated in his own country. It has been spurred onward by addiction and greed.
If Trump wants our co-operation in fighting this scourge, then he must show his seriousness, not with tariffs but with holding those who initiated this problem accountable.
He needs to put the directors of Purdue found guilty of criminal liability in jail; and then seize all assets and anything of value from the Sakler family in order to assure the maximum compensation is made to each claimant under the class action settlement. There is now a huge problem with fentanyl – its creation, importation, exportation, use and availability have been the death of thousands.
Both Canada and the U.S. must work on the solution to the problem. If one or the other is not pulling their weight then harsh encouragement needs to be utilized.
The Liberal party and Justin Trudeau, who are without any business sense or accountability, are not the ones to be negotiating and seeking resolution to this issue.
Joy Lippai,
Arthur