David Siegel’s Letter

FROM THE DESK OF DAVID SIEGEL

Dear David and Elaine,

First of all, I hope you are both in the best of health!

Second, I want to tell you what I have been doing during the last 11 months since Victoria passed away. It has been quite a journey… what an eye opening experience. Eleven months ago I had never seen a marijuana cigarette in my life and knew nothing of the drug epidemic, and now I feel I earned a PHD in drug addiction education. I traveled the country and met with the leading drug experts, including the Surgeon General of the U.S., as well as the Director of the DEA in Washington. I toured numerous drug rehabs and listened to dozens of drug addicts talking about their life stories. I have spoken at many gatherings, including Liberty University, where I spoke to over 15,000 students. I have also read as much on the subject as I can find. I have come to the conclusion that this pandemic can be eliminated if certain actions are taken.

First of all, you need to know some relevant facts:

• 50,000 people died last year from a drug overdose and most of them could have been saved by an antidote to a drug NALOXONE
• There are 25 million drug addicts in the U.S.
• There are 25 million former drug addicts in recovery in the U.S.
• Most drug addicts started experimenting with marijuana when they were 14-15 years old
• U.S. has 5% of the world population and issues 80% of the world’s prescription drugs

Based on the above, I have come to the conclusion that we can stop kids from using drugs by randomly drug testing them in middle school. The fear of getting caught will keep them from starting, and, if they are already started, get them to stop. It’s also the best defense against peer pressure. If they already started using drugs and won’t stop, then get them counseling, and if they are addicted, get them into rehab. This is not a punitive measure, as I don’t want them kicked out of school and have their lives ruined.  We must put pressure on the CDC and State Medical Boards, to advise doctors to stop writing so many prescriptions for pain, and to limit the number of pills.

We must equip our first responders, police officers and EMS with Naloxone, because every second is precious. If a person is lying on the ground, turning blue, one breath away from death and given Naloxone they will be on their feet within 2-5 minutes. It is the greatest miracle drug ever invented, and less than 1% of the population even knows about it, not even addicts or their families have heard about it. It buys 90 minutes of time, which is enough, to get them to the hospital. I want to bring in a cheap source of Naloxone and flood the market with it, so there’s no monetary reason why people don’t have it. I would like to see it in every addict’s pocket, as well as every medicine cabinet, and make it as common as aspirin.

I have spent a good part of the last month in Washington, D.C. lobbying Congress to pass numerous drug bills, and I’m happy to report 18 bills passed last week due to my efforts, as well as $108 million appropriated to distribute Naloxone.

As you can see, I have been extremely busy 24/7 trying to save lives – this is all I do. On my desk is a pile of work related papers, and a pile of drug related papers. I look at the work related and I see money, I look at the drug related and I think “lives,” and all I work on is the drug related stack.

I appreciate your efforts and the efforts of all of your state organizations in joining me in this battle to save lives. For those organizations that have raised money for Victoria’s Voice, please assure them it will be put to good use. We are just beginning, and I am already seeing results. We are getting close to a breakthrough, and this coming year will make a big difference. I could have written a lot more on what I have been doing, but I wanted to give you the highlights, so you can pass it on to everyone.

Sincerely, David Siegel

P.S. Please notify everyone that if a law to legalize marijuana comes up for vote in the November elections, to strongly oppose it.

David Siegel President & CEO

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