The Pete Quiñones Show **Throwback** How They Used Opioids as a Weapon Against White America w/ Trey Garrison
Dec 25, 2025
Trey Garrison, an investigative journalist and author of 'Opioids for the Masses', dives deep into the horrifying impact of the opioid epidemic, particularly on rural white working-class communities. He discusses how Purdue Pharma marketed OxyContin, leading to widespread addiction. Trey shares staggering overdose statistics and the devastating role of fentanyl. He offers poignant stories from affected communities and critiques the pharmaceutical industry's profit-driven motives. The conversation also touches on the cultural despair fueling addiction and the need for systemic change.
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How Opioids Were Marketed To Doctors
- Purdue Pharma and the Sacklers engineered a medical marketing shift that normalized heavy opioid prescribing to doctors first.
- They reframed pain as a vital sign and promoted OxyContin as time-released and 'less addictive,' enabling mass overprescription.
OxyContin As The Watershed Moment
- OxyContin's launch in the mid-1990s was a watershed that rapidly captured the painkiller market and drove addiction rates.
- Curtailing prescriptions later pushed many users toward heroin and fentanyl, increasing overdose deaths.
Evidence Of Willful Distribution And Callousness
- Corporate callousness was documented in internal emails and distribution records showing massive pill flows into small towns.
- Garrison concludes motives combined profit with disregard, making the campaign intentionally destructive to vulnerable communities.