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Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

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61–70 of 171 posts

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#61
post #57

Fentanyl is a huge problem in Vancouver, where we are usually ground zero for all new opiate trends. Besides killing over 1100 people a year in BC, the money also seeps back into our overheated real-estate market through casino money laundering. It is a crazy cycle. I have no idea why world governments and our own don't say and do more against China. Spineless.

When did this start in Vancouver? I am actually surprised that something like this happens in Canada, usually seems that news report these sorts of "epidemics" mostly from the US.

Downtown Eastside has been what seems the heroin center of North America since the early 1980s, well before it spiraled out of control south of the border.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#62
> A police officer suspected the windows of her silver Mitsubishi Galant were tinted too darkly, then found her license was suspended. He arrested her, and a search of her car

Straight up parallel construction, until demonstrated otherwise. Gotta love that strategically built weaseling - "suspecting" the tint and "suspended license". Regurgitating this uncritically shows just how little credibility the entire article has.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#63

When drug kingpins + dealers kill off their customers, instead of addicting them to make as much money possible, then it feels like something more dark and ainister is at hand. Given the history in the USA (i.e., black communities) perhaps American officials are just culling the herd?

There doesn't need to be anything sinister about it. Fentanyl is cheap and potent. You can take cheap, low quality heroin, mix it with a little fentanyl and sell it for more profit as high quality heroin. However, if it's not mixed perfectly, you end up with "hotspots" of fentanyl. If someone ends up with a hotspot they can easily overdose. The occasion overdose also attracts more users because it gives the impressio…

The occasion overdose also attracts more users because it gives the impression of potent, high quality heroin.

Is that really the case? Do people think "Oh my god, that stuff almost killed me, must be good stuff -- give me some more!"

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#64

When drug kingpins + dealers kill off their customers, instead of addicting them to make as much money possible, then it feels like something more dark and ainister is at hand. Given the history in the USA (i.e., black communities) perhaps American officials are just culling the herd?

Even a proper scale that's all of a sudden miscalibrated could cause an overdose. -don't blame on malice what can be blamed on folly

True. But that still doesn't explain why the dealers' approach is to (literally) kill off their subscribers. That's a complete 180 from Successful Drug Dealer 101.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#65
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet another reason we need a strong estate tax to prevent intergenerational overaccumulation of wealth.

Stealing someone's wealth away from their children just because they happen to die is one of the most repugnant things I can think of.

How about Pablo Escobar's wealth?

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#66
post #57

Fentanyl is a huge problem in Vancouver, where we are usually ground zero for all new opiate trends. Besides killing over 1100 people a year in BC, the money also seeps back into our overheated real-estate market through casino money laundering. It is a crazy cycle. I have no idea why world governments and our own don't say and do more against China. Spineless.

When did this start in Vancouver? I am actually surprised that something like this happens in Canada, usually seems that news report these sorts of "epidemics" mostly from the US.

Vancouver has been addicted to heroin and opiates my whole life, we had a nice flirt with meth in the late 90s early 00's (good frontline on its west coast spread). East Hastings is ground zero. We used to have the highest concentration of AIDS in North America because of needle sharing. Combination of being a main pacific-rim port, mild weather, aboriginal poverty etc. Lots of people are blown away when they get here and see it.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The attack that never happened and/or has never been proven? From the line you yourself posted: "Webb's series led to three federal investigations, none of which found evidence of any conspiracy by the CIA or its employees to bring drugs into the United States."

Where do you think the CIA fucking learned it from? MI6 (who learned it in opium wars 1&2) taught to OSS (CIA) how to get funding off books so congress couldn't pull the purse strings and they could do whatever they wanted... and this has indeed been proven multiple times... You are the same kind of person who called us talking about NSA pre-Snowden "tinfoil hat conspiracy theorists" and then post-Snowden came out wi…

So MI-6 learned it from wars they were never involved in, then taught it to the US intelligence service during WWII in case they needed it to jail black people? Which the CIA then decided it needed to do 20 years after the Civil Rights movement? Ok.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#69
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The attack that never happened and/or has never been proven? From the line you yourself posted: "Webb's series led to three federal investigations, none of which found evidence of any conspiracy by the CIA or its employees to bring drugs into the United States."

You're right, it may not have been proven but based on the amount of coverage and writing on it, there must be some truth behind it. Do you really think these people decided to make it up? And regardless of whether they smuggled the drugs, they knowingly supported the people doing it. Also, I haven't downvoted you and I'm quite confused by the votes on my original comment. Went straight into the negatives and now it'…

> You're right, it may not have been proven but based on the amount of coverage and writing on it, there must be some truth behind it.

There has also been lots of coverage of Obama not being a natural born American, and thus an illegitimate president. Do you think that means "there must be some truth behind it?"

The kind of thinking you displayed in your comment leads to damaging nonsense like birther-ism. Don't go there.

Re: Deadly Chinese Fentanyl Is Creating a New Era of Drug Kingpins

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a proper scale that's all of a sudden miscalibrated could cause an overdose. -don't blame on malice what can be blamed on folly

True. But that still doesn't explain why the dealers' approach is to (literally) kill off their subscribers. That's a complete 180 from Successful Drug Dealer 101.

The people that manufacture are several levels away, so they aren't as affected as, say someone who sells it to the same 50 or so people every week/day or whatever.
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