Investigative journalist Ben Westhoff writes about culture, drugs, and poverty. In the first half, he discussed the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, which is causing the worst drug crisis in American history. Fentanyl, he noted, could be considered the third wave of the opioid crisis, which started in the 1990s with pain medications like OxyContin, and was then followed by street heroin after patients' prescriptions were cut off. Fifty times stronger than heroin, fentanyl is killing people at an unprecedented rate (around 28,000 Americans in 2017 alone). Many times users don't even realize they're taking fentanyl as it's increasingly cut into drugs like cocaine and heroin, he reported. The reason dealers are adding the dangerous substance into their drugs, he explained, is that it's very inexpensive, and may increase the user high, even though overdoses can readily occur.
An amount as small as two grains of rice is enough to kill a person, with their heart rate slowing down so much, they stop breathing, Westhoff detailed. He pointed out how the drug is primarily manufactured in China (along with many other synthetic substances), and as part of his research, he posed as a buyer and traveled to the country and met with representatives at their illicit lab. While the production of fentanyl is technically illegal in China, the manufacturers sidestep this by just slightly tweaking the chemical formula. "The most disturbing revelation from my book," he said, "is that not only is China not stopping fentanyl from being exported to America, they're actually encouraging the fentanyl industry in China,"...by offering tax breaks and subsidies.
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In the latter half, author, scholar, artisan, and scientist Kevin F. Montague talked about his two near-death experiences (NDEs), which opened his mind to how the world works as well as the science behind chronic disease and cancer, and viable treatment approaches. In his first NDE, at age 24, while lying on the operating table, he was injected with sodium pentothal and found himself transported to an environment of pure light. He described being re-educated to what we know before we're born, as he stood in front of a huge portal looking out into outer space. As he interacted with the light, his questions were answered at lightning speed. Then, a circular opening appeared, and Jesus stepped out in a blue-silvery light, he recalled. He felt a euphoria along with total clarity of mind, and as Jesus walked toward him, "entire planets were blasting out of his torso and going into the universe," indicating he was the entirety of creation.
After this experience, along with a second NDE at age 44, Montague, in tandem with naturopath Dr. Rick Santee, developed ideas on health and healing, particularly for what he calls the CDS/PD Process (Chronic Disease Syndrome/Premature Decomposition). He delved into the pH issue of the body and found that the Bob Beck blood electrifier and colloidal silver could transform and clean anemic blood into a fully functioning system.
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Dr. Peter Breggin