Since Washington's only response to drug problems has been to try to literally destroy everyone involved, this sounds like a massive improvement in public policy to me. Seriously though, this is a white person's problem and they aren't going to attack the white community like they did the black community during the crack epidemic. But they don't know how to do anything actually helpful either (new skills are hard for the elderly I hear), so they just sit there and stare at it. I just don't see the zeal to lock these people in cages forever that I'm used to. Funny how that works.
Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
111–120 of 246 posts
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#112Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#113I audit a lot of these Fentanyl API (Active Pharma Ingredient) factories in China. Its noticeable to me when I go through the warehouses as to how much product is going to Mexico. Other segments go to India for legal fill finishing prior to North America, while other small shipments are going to compounding facilities across the US. I always thought FDA might want to relay this information to homeland security, because its pretty easy for FDA inspectors to sneakily gather information during site inspections. At quite number of sites I often run into a mix of legal and nefarious activity at these massive API sites
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#114And 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.
> the outsized influence of large institutions on American politics is really unfortunate. The current populist wave has shown that the opposite is true. The threats posed by citizens united were overblown as small dollar donors are generally significantly more radical than large institution.
Disagree in the sense that politicians, even when receiving the majority of their donations from small donor citizens, still end up beholden to major non-citizen interests. In fact, I see this development as a kind of optimization the system took. Large institutional interests figured out they can save money and motivate private citizens to fund the puppet politician's campaigns.
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my limited experience, you get better results from GP visits if you come with opinions and data about your own conditions and care hopes. They’re too busy; the current system that has forced 10min bookings weeks ahead as the only means of access means it goes better if you do the research for them.
I agree, but wouldn't consider watching TV to be meaningful research.
It's not, but it's hard to argue that TV advertising is (or was until very recently) a great way to get your drug's name out to the public. It's hard to research something you don't know about, especially before the Internet was commonly available.
Of course, the drugs with ads are usually the most expensive name brand drugs that will earn the pharma companies a lot of money.
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Opiates used to be unregulated in the US and the US had an opiate addiction issue. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-story-americas...
And yet, it never got as bad as right now. Congrats, prohibition has made the situation worse.
1 out 200 people addicted to opiates during that time is worse than the reported 10 million users[1] of opiates in the country. Overdoses is higher because Fentanyl is stronger and easier to overdose off of than morphine.
1. https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/opioid-crisis...
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#117This would be solved if drugs were decriminalized and testing kits were very easy to use and come by but I guess a lot more people have to die before society as a whole acquires common sense
People keep saying this. I don't get it. What's the proposed cause/effect of decriminalization on drug overdoses specifically? Testing kits, sure. And I see the argument for much softer sentences for small amounts with regards to reducing the egregious number of people in the prison system, although that is also a tangential issue to overdoses.
I think this sentiment usually comes from people who have no experience with the problem, and who are used to being contrarians, especially with regards to drugs like marijuana.
The authority figure in their lives lied to them about marijjana, and now they think they they’re lying again about fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a poison. It’s killing people. It is not like marijuana.
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#118Why are people using Fentanyl? Maybe tackle that instead of further marginalizing people who use it? Are they using it to escape the grinding anxiety and desperation of their shitty lives? Are they using it instead of alcohol, again as escapism from reality? Is this use any different from how people used alcohol in past decades? I guess the point I'm poorly trying to make is that people aren't suddenly different to t…
> I guess the point I'm poorly trying to make is that people aren't suddenly different to those in the 1970s, 1920s, or the 1800s. They have a similar environment with similar anxieties, pains, responsibilities, etc etc. Not in agreement on this. 2020 looks profoundly different than 1920, for example from the lens of western societies. People are more atomized, have less friends, are having less kids, are getting mar…
> While man might not have changed much inherently, their environment has changed profoundly and seemingly not for the better.
Depends on which man, or woman. I would say the environment has changed for the better for quite a few.
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#119This would be solved if drugs were decriminalized and testing kits were very easy to use and come by but I guess a lot more people have to die before society as a whole acquires common sense
People keep saying this. I don't get it. What's the proposed cause/effect of decriminalization on drug overdoses specifically? Testing kits, sure. And I see the argument for much softer sentences for small amounts with regards to reducing the egregious number of people in the prison system, although that is also a tangential issue to overdoses.
I think part of the problem is that criminalization of heroin is what made fentanyl so wide spread, since it is much smaller volume and easier to smuggle about. A side effect is that it's much easier to dose incorrectly and kill people. If opioids could be decriminalized, then people may be given access again so safer versions of the drug. Also other benefits like getting testing kits from police etc. without the fear of jail time.
Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America
#120All 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.
Wouldn't the more reasonable approach be over-the-counter legalization of a safer opiate? Fent is inherently dangerous because it is difficult to dose safely. Addicts want an opiate, and fent is the cheap and available one.
Pretty much. Most modern drugs are a far, far more potent version of something that came before. Depending on how far you go with it, you could even apply this principle to the cigarette. The safer, lower-dose version is to chew tobacco leaves.
There are many reasons for the popularization of more concentrated drugs, but the two big ones are that more potent drugs generally make for cheaper doses, and that it's more profitable to create addicts than to create satisfied customers.
The latter is also an increasing problem outside the drug space, e.g. gambling and pay-to-win video games.