Live data from Hacker News

Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

washingtonpost.com

211–220 of 246 posts

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#211
post #46

This 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

Drug abuse is a much smaller problem in east Asia where it is intensely criminalized. In Singapore drug trafficking is a capital offense. Drug abuse is a massive problem in those parts of the US where it is de-facto decriminalized on the west coast. I think the evidence is fairly clear on what would constitute a solution, rather the debate is on whether we’d be willing to pay the costs of that solution.

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.outlookindia.com/international/thai-temple-left-...

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#212
post #113

I 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, becau…

You are an auditor, you see legal and nefarious activity and apparently you don't report the nefarious activity? Because then it would probably stop.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#215
post #212
post #113

I 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, becau…

You are an auditor, you see legal and nefarious activity and apparently you don't report the nefarious activity? Because then it would probably stop.

They never said that.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, everything you laid out is perfectly logical and what they should be doing, but unfortunately, progressive politics in the US philosophically opposed to enforcing camping and theft laws. E.g., in San Francisco, it’s legal to steal under $900.

So if I don’t have the money to pay rent, what should I do? Should I commit suicide? And the extremely high rents means in the US you don’t even need to be jobless to not be able to afford rent. The lowest 10-20% of paying jobs may not pay enough money for a person to live in the area the job exists. Homelessness in the US is a massive problem. But the homeless are not the cause of homelessness. They’re the victims.…

Not everyone needs to concentrate in a couple big cities. You can't afford to rent in the city go somewhere else that's cheaper. There is an abundance of land in the US not being utilized.

Why must people be subjected to witnessing others misery and self-destruction? If you care so little about their public camping would you also let someone camp in your yard?

You seem to have no sympathy for shop owners that get robbed constantly, if someone robbed you on your way to the car from the grocery store would you also be ok with it?

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#217

Black market opiate & opioid users need to get off the danger train and start taking kratom. It may not get you quite as 'high', but it can stave off cravings and withdrawal symptoms, and help you find stability. Harm reduction is a viable solution.

You’re probably right, but Kratom would then be banned. They’re not going for harm reduction, otherwise they would make it easier for people to get and use drugs like Methadone.

doesn't necessarily follow. there is a huge disconnect between the facts and what "they" make legal.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#218
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hard line policing is the problem, not MJ/opiates itself. If you get in as much trouble doing/buying/selling/etc MJ as Fentanyl, you might as well do the latter. If MJ is legal, many would stick to that. Same for MJ-to-alcohol: and the alc producers know it, they lobbied fiercly against legal MJ and when it became legal (like in Canada) they were the first to invest heavily in it.

Why not just do alcohol then? It's much stronger than pot, legal and cheap.

it's a lot worse for your health, for one. also, they don't have remotely similar effects

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#219
post #74
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prescription drug sales reps market to doctors , attempting to convince them to prescribe certain drugs more frequently. Who pays for the drugs is largely irrelevant to that interaction, but I wouldn't be shocked to learn it's illegal in the UK.

It’s not. They have drug sales reps in the UK. I actually don’t know of any country that bans them. I mean, if a doctor has a question about a drug, who better to ask than the rep from the company who makes it? I worked in the industry and reps are generally account managers for the company.

>if a doctor has a question about a drug, who better to ask than the rep from the company who makes it?

ideally a third party in the form of a board of scientists who don't have a direct conflict of interest. Look at the billion dollar settlements of J&J in the last decade alone for misleading marketing and health risks from products including hip replacements, psychoactive drugs and implants.

Re: Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

#220
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prescription drug sales reps market to doctors , attempting to convince them to prescribe certain drugs more frequently. Who pays for the drugs is largely irrelevant to that interaction, but I wouldn't be shocked to learn it's illegal in the UK.

> Prescription drug sales reps market to doctors, attempting to convince them to prescribe certain drugs more frequently. I dated a girl who went into pharmaceutical sales. They're basically bribed. They get kickbacks in some form or fashion. They get invited to speak a medical conferences by drug company reps, those conferences just happen to be at luxury retreats.

I worked in the industry and it’s not really like that (at least the ones following rules).

Certain hotels and resort chains are banned for those types of events (Ritz Carlton, etc). All payments are “fair market value” based on the doctor’s typical compensation rate (say $500/hour for oncologist). All payments are reported to the government under the Sunshine Act.

To be honest, it’s not that lucrative for the doctors at all. They could be making more money elsewhere.

Post reply on HN