In Norton, the drug industry sold 8 million opioid pills in a 7 year period. to this remote city tucked amid rugged, lush mountains in sw Virginia’s coal country. "They were sold liberally at pharmacies. manufactured in bulk, prescribed by doctors promiscuously, prosecutors say. The DEA database that tracked the manufacture and sale of opioids across the U.S. shows that the pharmaceutical industry pumped out 76 billion pills over that seven-year period, are sold and distributed at proportions that are poisoning not just individuals but an entire community.” A jurisdictional quirk of Virginia — cities are fully independent units, and not considered part of the surrounding counties — explain why Norton, with the Walmart and the CVS and fewer than 4,000 residents, is off the charts when it comes to the per capita sales of opioid pills, with a grim death toll and shredded families.
At www.washingtonpost.com
