The Hamilton Morris Podcast
c/hamilton-morris
The Hamilton Morris Podcast is a series focused on the chemistry, history, and cultural impact of psychoactive substances
c/hamilton-morris
The Hamilton Morris Podcast is a series focused on the chemistry, history, and cultural impact of psychoactive substances
…of bloodlust oriented at the Sacklers has been really alarming to me. And I, of course, understand why somebody might hate Richard Sackler. But hatred of the Sackler family doesn't bring back the dead. It doesn't save the people who are struggling with…
…has been really alarming to me. And I, of course, understand why somebody might hate Richard Sackler. But hatred of the Sackler family doesn't bring back the dead. It doesn't save the people who are struggling with addiction currently. And even after the…
…And even after the media was completely saturated with coverage and documentaries and books about the terrible crimes of the Sackler family. the number of opioid overdoses continued to rise. And the traditional argument that everyone had been manipulated, that…
…be. But instead, I saw more enthusiasm oriented toward attacking art museums that had received philanthropic contributions from the Sackler family, something that is as far as I'm concerned, utterly meaningless. Yeah. Well, unfortunately, we live in a society…
…read a great book called Empire of Pain and anyone that has seen me talk on various podcasts in the past about the Sackler family, Purdue and opioids know that I have a somewhat contrarian perspective on all of this. Undue emphasis is placed on the…
…are telling them? So that's one aspect of it. But this book really did change the way I thought about Purdue and the Sackler family on a few different levels. One is there's some subtle points that I don't think were sufficiently emphasized in most media…
…the assholes who have no regard for their customers? And Empire of Pain really makes it clear that that was the case. Richard Sackler was an enormous asshole. a bigger asshole than i ever realized he not only built a billion dollar empire on selling…
…entire book. So these are from emails that were legally required to be disclosed as a part of a lawsuit. So, okay. So Richard Sackler says, I'd like to try an argument on you. I believe the media has nefariously cast the drug abuser as a victim instead…
…this maybe somewhat contrarian, maybe somewhat stubborn attitude where they would say, well, we've uncovered documents that show that the Sackler family knew that oxycodone was addictive. And I would think, well, of course they knew. And they say, and we've…
…was addictive. And I would think, well, of course they knew. And they say, and we've uncovered documents that show that the Sackler family was trying to sell it aggressively. And I think, of course they were. My basic take on all of these matters…
…but it was, you know, its formulation, people swore by it, like it had changed their lives. But what the sappers, especially Richard Sackler, the head of the company and a few people who worked with him, what they did was they grossly overpromoted it.…
…collectively responsible. So that if you look at the founding fathers, the founding brothers of the company, one of them, Arthur Sackler, one of the three brothers, he and his children and grandchildren had sold their share of Purdue Pharma by the time…
…other drugs. Right. And that they should be speaking out more vociferously. And I know one of the Sacklers. I mean, Elizabeth Sackler, who's the daughter of Arthur. I mean, she co-hosted an event for Drug Policy Alliance. Right. She's the chair of the…
…did. So it's, you know, all these stories are complex and complicated. So I'm not shedding a tear for Purdue Pharma or Richard Sackler and some others when they're getting beaten up in the courts and being pushed out of business and having to pay…
…important that the public and also the policy folks understand the complexity of this story. Yeah, I thought the attacks on Arthur Sackler were a little bit less persuasive. So he was involved in advertising for Valium and Librium. But Those are not really…
…But I think Carl was right on about that point. Yeah. One of the claims that is dismissed in Empire of Pain that the Sackler family was making was, well, how do we know that these are even overdoses? How do we separate an overdose from a suicide? And…
…that's what worries me. And that's why I was initially sort of resistant to what I felt was a simplistic blaming of the Sackler family or of Purdue, because I thought, well, isn't this the way that it always goes? There's a good story that explains…