"The Politics of the Opioid Crisis" Max Haiven on Against the Grain

Opioid drugs were widely and readily prescribed, and hundreds of thousands of people became addicted and died. What explains the opioid epidemic in the U.S.? What kind of pain were these drugs taken to alleviate – and what is the root of such suffering? Max Haiven draws connections between the opioid crisis and racial politics, corporate malfeasance, the Opium Wars, and neoliberalism’s impact on our psyches. Originally broadcast on KPFA's Against the Grain --> https://kpfa.org/episode/against-the-grain-march-9-2020/