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Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

washingtonpost.com

11–20 of 246 posts

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#12

Is this somehow different fentanyl for the stuff that in the UK gets handed out in litre bottles to old ladies with dodgy hips? Because the whole point of fentanyl is the massive therapeutic window and difficulty of overdosing.

You must be thinking of something else. Pure fentanyl has a lethal dosage in the microgram range.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#13
post #5

Sort-of-related, for Americans reading this, from a Brit, when I watch US TV programmes, the inclusion of drugs (prescription and illegal) in scripts is so matter-of-fact, it's actually shocking. Comparing like-for-like programs (police dramas, hospital dramas, thrillers), the UK version will invariably have entirely different plots. Sure the US != UK, but it's so weird. Isn't the USA the only country other than NZ t…

Single buyer, is not what the lobbyists wanted. It would make the lobbying sellers less powerful...

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#16
post #11
post #4

Quoted post unavailable.

> Reminds me of heroin overdoses in Europe in the 80s Regardless of your comment (which will likely soon be dead) I don't think heroin was the leading cause of death in Europe at any point.

No, you are right. This is indeed much much worse. But back at the time heroin use here was so so common, it was bad. I can't imagine how bad whatever is happening in America is given it's the leading cause of death now.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#17
post #6

And yet marijuana is still illegal in my state. The impact of legislation like Citizens United and the outsized influence of large institutions on American politics is really unfortunate.

I think you’re conflating things. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance. So while yes, it’s “legal” - it’s an extremely controlled narcotic. Said differently, it’s illegal if you’re in position of it and it wasn’t prescribed by a medical doctor. Unlike marijuana that doesn’t need a prescription where it’s allowed.

It's not about the legitimate/medical/supervised usage, it the recreational use that kills. Marijuana (MJ) is used a lot recreationally; if people to use MJ instead of Fentanyl the OD cases would not pile up like they do today.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#19
The phrase "leading cause of death" has circular reference there. Each article is pointing to the other. I wanted to see where they got that figure. At the bottom of the current article it says "in a provisional tally seven months ago, [The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] calculated the overall number of drug overdoses at 107,622. Two-thirds were due to fentanyl."

So fentanyl is the drug most people overdose on, or is it killing more people than heart diseases, traffic accidents, etc do?

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#20
All drugs should be legalized. That is the only solution.

You should be able to buy cocaine, heroin, fentanyl at the local grocery store. No question asked. Maybe even subsidize it for poor people who can't afford market prices.

The local pharmacy should provide training on how to inject/consume them safely and give for free the associated consumables.

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