Let's Talk Epidemics: Are Guns Less Lethal Than Sugar, Soda And Going To The Doctor?

There's a lot of talk about the "epidemic of gun violence" in the US, but honestly, how does it actually stack up with other preventable deaths? Let's take a look at the numbers. There's a lot of talk about the opioid epidemic. Last year over 50,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. This is a record for the US. Heroin deaths alone rose 23% to 12,989. That means <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4015536/A-grim-tally-soars-More-50-000-overdose-deaths-US.html#ixzz5A6OGp2qQ/">more people died from black tar and china white that from homicides related to Smith or Wesson</a>. If you count accidental deaths and suicides in that number, the total comes to 36,252 which is still less than overall overdoses. <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/health_policy/monthly-drug-overdose-death-estimates.pdf">According to the CDC around 37,000 people died from opioid overdoses</> in 2017 as of August.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ask yourself why a certain group of people including MSM has focused on gun violence in schools, but is silent on gun violence in Chicago, silent on Big Pharma opioids killing 10s of 1000&#39;s, Nuclear Industry killing millions, and the medical industry killing 400,000+ each year. <a href="https://t.co/c6xPmG55t1">pic.twitter.com/c6xPmG55t1</a></p>&mdash; Fukushima=TheEnd ☠️ (@endcomputed) <a href="https://twitter.com/endcomputed/status/970038377603936256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 3, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://thegoldwater.com/news/17251-FDA-Starts-Crackdown-on-People-Using-Diarrhea-Drug-Imodium-to-Get-High

As much talk as there is about the epidemics of gun violence and opioid and other drug overdoses, these numbers are actually dwarfed by other sources. According to a study explored in the online journal Live Science, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/51385-sugary-drinks-global-deaths.html">sugary drinks (soda and energy drinks) are responsible for an astonishing 184,000 deaths annually worldwide</a>. Approximately 25,000 of those are in the US. That means, twice as many Americans will die from Coca-Cola and Monster energy drinks than die from shooting up smack or being shot dead with firearms each year. But what is even more dangerous than overdoses of pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs and gun violence put together? Around 111,000 die in the US each year from being dangerously overweight. That's about four times as many as from all gun-related deaths and ten times as many as gun-related homicides. How about taking the medicines prescribed by your doctor… as prescribed. That's right, <a href="https://health.usnews.com/health-news/patient-advice/articles/2016-09-27/the-danger-in-taking-prescribed-medications">according to US Health & News</a>, an astonishing 128,000 Americans die yearly from taking their medications as ordered.

Alcohol claims the lives of around 85,000 in the US each year. To put that into perspective that's all the overdose deaths in the nation plus all gun-related homicides, suicides and accidental deaths. I somehow missed the Remington ad spot for the Super Bowl, but beer ads are ubiquitous in any sporting event or broadcast. Everybody knows that cigarettes are not the most healthy thing you can ingest. In the USA around 480,000 people die from smoking related issues, but according to the numbers, processed sugar and related issues of adult onset diabetes and obesity account for some 21 to 38 million deaths per year worldwide. Compare that with 5 million a year around the globe that die from cigarettes and you'll see that <a href="http://www.olsonnd.com/what-kills-more-people-sugar-or-cigarettes/">nicotine in its many forms is likely far less lethal</a> than snack food sweets chock full of processed sugar and corn syrup. Not only as or more lethal, though, processed sugar is nefarious in that there is little to no stigma surrounding its consumption and it is cheap and easy to obtain despite being likely as or more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol and some studies suggest it may be <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/sugar-has-similar-effect-on-brain-as-cocaine-a6980336.html">as psychologically addicting as cocaine</a>.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Evidence reveals <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sugar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sugar</a> can be addictive. Experts say moderation is not the best option – elimination is. <a href="https://t.co/a6lFnuingm">https://t.co/a6lFnuingm</a></p>&mdash; Dr. Joseph Mercola (@mercola) <a href="https://twitter.com/mercola/status/975144884670693378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.thegoldwater.com/news/20849-Why-Guns-And-Freedom-Will-Never-Be-Separate

Oh, and we're not even done yet here. You know what kills 20 times as many people as heroin, 20 times more people than gun related homicide? <a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/">Medical malpractice claims the lives of some 210,000 - 480,000 US citizens</a>. Let's be conservative and take 210,000 and add it to the 128,000 and that's around 562,000 deaths per year that can basically be chalked up to going to the doctor. That figure is nearly 2/3 of the 900,000 estimated preventable deaths in the US each year <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0501-preventable-deaths.html">according to the CDC</a>. In other words, you're nearly 40 times as likely to die coming into contact with someone with a white coat and stethoscope than someone with a bullet (with or without a scope).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">US deaths 2016 <a href="https://t.co/FmYq1H4MxJ">pic.twitter.com/FmYq1H4MxJ</a></p>&mdash; Lainey/#InternetBillOfRights (@Thom_Thom9) <a href="https://twitter.com/Thom_Thom9/status/971435219126546441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://thegoldwater.com/news/12397-Family-Practitioner-Posts-Open-Letter-to-FDA-Regarding-Kratom

As you can see, despite all the talk of the epidemic of gun violence, by the numbers gun-related homicides and even all gun-related deaths can't touch some other causes that aren't nearly as represented as dangerous. <a href="https://www.cancer.org/latest-news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer.html">Cold cuts are a leading cause of colorectal cancer</a> which claims over 41,000 people in the USA annually. That's 30,000 more than gun homicides. Do we need Cotto salami control? Around 43,000 die per year from traffic collisions, around 13,000 more than all firearm deaths and nearly four times as many as the 11,000 estimated gun-related homicides in 2016. So despite all the talk of giving up our second amendment rights, it seems the USA would be a far safer place if we implemented sugar and corn syrup control or car control or doctor control rather than gun control.